“When you get to tell someone that their cancer is shrinking, or even gone, it is the best feeling in the world,” said Dr. Natasha Kekre.The best part of Dr. Natasha Kekre’s workday is when she is able to offer hope to her patients through clinical trials. As The Ottawa Hospital’s new Research Chair in Advanced Stem Cell Therapy, Dr. Kekre is looking forward to many more hopeful conversations and even cures for her patients with blood cancer.
“When you get to tell someone that their cancer is shrinking, or even gone, it is the best feeling in the world,” said Dr. Kekre, a hematologist and scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and associate professor at the University of Ottawa. “We’ve seen huge advances in cancer research in the last decade, and I think we’ll be seeing even more in the next one.”
World-class physician-researcher was already in Ottawa
When The Ottawa Hospital’s Division of Hematology first proposed establishing a Research Chair in Advanced Stem Cell Therapy, they were prepared to search all around the world for the best candidate, but it turned out the best person was already there.
Dr. Kekre had joined The Ottawa Hospital in 2015 after completing postdoctoral studies at Harvard University and the Dana Farber Cancer Centre. As a physician in the Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program, Dr. Kekre specialized in stem cell transplantation for blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma. While this treatment can save lives, it doesn’t always work and patients can relapse after a few years.
While training in the U.S., Dr. Kekre gained extensive experience with a new kind of cancer therapy called Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) therapy. This treatment involves extracting immune cells called T cells from a patient, genetically engineering them to enhance their cancer-killing ability, and then giving them back to the same patient. It applies many of the same techniques used in blood stem cell transplantation.
“CAR-T therapy has been a game-changer for people with blood cancer, but the original therapies were restricted to people with just a few kinds of blood cancer, and only if they fell into certain age ranges and weren’t too sick,” said Dr. Kekre. “Traditionally, CAR-T therapy has also been very expensive and has involved shipping cells to the United States and back.”
Made-in-Canada CAR-T therapy saving lives and providing hope
In 2016, Dr. Kekre brought colleagues at The Ottawa Hospital, BC Cancer and BioCanRx together to develop the first made-in-Canada CAR-T therapy program, called Canadian-Led Immunotherapies in Cancer (CLIC). This program uses a different kind of cell manufacturing that opens the door to less expensive and more equitable CAR-T treatment across Canada. It also provides a platform for developing even better cellular immunotherapies that may work for more kinds of cancer.
Dr. Kekre launched the first clinical trial of made-in-Canada CAR-T cells in 2019. More than a dozen people with cancer who had exhausted all treatment options are alive and cancer-free today thanks to this clinical trial.
“Without this trial, I don’t think any of these patients would be alive today, so we are very encouraged by these results,” said Dr. Kekre.
Several patients who participated in the trial have shared their stories, including Camille Leahy and Owen Snider.
Community, patients and physicians provided support
“Dr. Kekre saved my life, not once but twice!” said Ottawa resident and radio host Stu Schwartz, who led the #StuStrong campaign to raise funds for the Research Chair in Advanced Stem Cell Therapy.The Research Chair in Advanced Stem Cell Therapy will directly support Dr. Kekre’s groundbreaking research and clinical trials, allowing more patients to be treated and new therapies to be developed. The Chair was funded by The Ottawa Hospital’s Division of Hematology, in addition to many generous donors to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
Ottawa resident and radio host Stu Schwartz led the #StuStrong campaign to raise funds for the Chair while he was a patient of Dr. Kekre’s.
“Dr. Kekre saved my life, not once but twice!” said Stu. “She’s my favourite woman next to my wife.”
Many physicians and donors also supported the Chair through events such as Dancing with the Docs, which Dr. Kekre participated in.
“Dr. Natasha Kekre is an excellent example of the calibre of talent at The Ottawa Hospital and why our research is so well respected globally,” said Tim Kluke, President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation. “For the many donors who have generously supported cancer research at our hospital, today’s announcement is a wonderful reminder that exciting work is underway, and with researchers like Dr. Kekre, breakthroughs will continue to happen right here in Ottawa.”
Taking cellular immunotherapy to the next level
Dr. Kekre and the CLIC team are now expanding their research thanks in part to a $4 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. An expanded clinical trial will treat patients in Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and Halifax with cells manufactured in Ottawa, Victoria, Calgary and Winnipeg.
“We hope this trial will lead to Health Canada approval of made-in-Canada CAR-T therapy, so patients across the country can access it as part of routine care and not just through clinical trials,” said Dr. Kekre. “Expanding our CAR-T and biomanufacturing infrastructure in Canada will also enable more Canadian innovations and clinical trials.”
The Ottawa Hospital’s Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre will continue to manufacture the viral vector needed to create the CAR-T cells and will also manufacture the cells for Ontario trial participants.
“Dr. Kekre’s research exemplifies the kind of translational, patient-focused research that we specialize in at The Ottawa Hospital,” said Dr. Duncan Stewart, Executive Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. “I want to thank everyone who supported this Chair, as well as all the donors who provide unrestricted gifts that allow us to support the world-class facilities needed by researchers like Dr. Kekre.”
In addition to the Chair in Advanced Stem Cell Research, Dr. Kekre’s research is supported and enabled by BioCanRx, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, the Department of Medicine, BC Cancer, BC Cancer Foundation, the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada and the Ottawa Methods Centre.
The Ottawa Hospital is a leading academic health, research and learning hospital proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and supported by The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
