Dr. Peter Forsyth (centre) and grad student David Liu stand with patient Lisa Sangregorio in Forsyth's lab in the University of Calgary medical centre on Tuesday May 5, 2010. Forsyth has received special funding from the Canadian Cancer Society to help continue his groundbreaking research in brain cancer research.
Sangregorio is a mom of two who is still fighting a brain tumour, but is still alive today thanks to Dr. Forsyth.
Lisa Sangregoria -- a mother of two young girls, still breast-feeding the youngest at 13 months of age -- awoke one morning to a terrible headache. She was in so much pain, she could hardly walk and was seeing double.
Knowing she had to take care of her kids, she shook it off, until the same condition, only slightly worse, happened again three days later.
A trip to emergency ended in the worst news possible: a malignant brain tumour was growing above her left eye, surrounded by a large cyst.
"I was so shocked, so confused. I was completely healthy, I was active, a marathon runner, busy taking care of my two girls," says Sangregoria.
"For our family, it was beyond traumatic, devastating, hard on my husband and the girls."
She survived two difficult surgeries that were able to remove up to 60 per cent of her tumour. She also endured radiation and two rounds of chemotherapy, the last of which forced her to a bloated weight of nearly 245 pounds.
But for more than two years, her tumour has stopped growing, and remains manageable.
The 37-year-old stay-at-home mom applauded the Canadian Cancer Society on Wednesday for granting her oncologist, Dr. Peter Forsyth, $300,000 for a study testing a new class of drugs on patients with brain tumours.
"He is such an amazing doctor -- his persistence, his patience amazes me. And he fights everyday to save the lives of people with brain tumours."
Forsyth, well-known for his progressive research, says brain cancer continues to be one of the most devastating cancers.
Close to 2,600 Canadians will be diagnosed with brain cancer this year. The most common form, malignant glioma, cuts life expectancy to about one year.
"Brain cancer is really nasty. Not only do we want to be able to treat it better, but we want to move to a place where we can match the type of treatment to a particular treatment."
Forsyth is also hoping to discover how to identify whether a specific patient will respond to a specific type of cancer drug by looking at proteins and genetic makeup.
"Every patient is different, and responds differently to certain drugs.
"We want to be able to make sure we are giving a patient a drug that will work, so they're not wasting their time," Forsyth says.
"And when we know a certain drug won't work, we can also tell them, 'You only have a year, you may as well go to Hawaii.' "
Sangregoria was one of the lucky ones who discovered her second chemotherapy drug inhibited the growth of her tumour.
But that was only after she lived through six months of radiation that had no impact, and nine months of an initial chemotherapy drug that inhibited some growth but allowed the tumour to spread elsewhere in her brain.
"It's almost like pouring chocolate syrup into milk, stirring it, and then trying to find where the chocolate milk started," Forsyth said.
"It's very difficult, but we have to keep trying."
Forsyth says the new class of drugs may one day benefit patients such as Sangregoria, but he adds, knocking on a wooden counter, she will hopefully continue to stay in remission and never have to find out.
She can't drive for fear of seizures, but is able to walk her girls to and from school, and enjoy a somewhat more normal family life.
Seven years after her original diagnosis, she's still in remission, and happy to tell her story with a smile and an inspiring sense of humour.
Forsyth is also receiving a $705,000 Canadian Cancer Society grant to test the ability of a common virus to destroy brain cancer cells.
The Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charitable funder of cancer research, contributed nearly $50 million to research projects across the country last year.
Today, more than 62 per cent of Canadians will survive a cancer diagnosis -- nearly double the survival rate of the 1960s.
Knowing she had to take care of her kids, she shook it off, until the same condition, only slightly worse, happened again three days later.
A trip to emergency ended in the worst news possible: a malignant brain tumour was growing above her left eye, surrounded by a large cyst.
"I was so shocked, so confused. I was completely healthy, I was active, a marathon runner, busy taking care of my two girls," says Sangregoria.
"For our family, it was beyond traumatic, devastating, hard on my husband and the girls."
She survived two difficult surgeries that were able to remove up to 60 per cent of her tumour. She also endured radiation and two rounds of chemotherapy, the last of which forced her to a bloated weight of nearly 245 pounds.
But for more than two years, her tumour has stopped growing, and remains manageable.
The 37-year-old stay-at-home mom applauded the Canadian Cancer Society on Wednesday for granting her oncologist, Dr. Peter Forsyth, $300,000 for a study testing a new class of drugs on patients with brain tumours.
"He is such an amazing doctor -- his persistence, his patience amazes me. And he fights everyday to save the lives of people with brain tumours."
Forsyth, well-known for his progressive research, says brain cancer continues to be one of the most devastating cancers.
Close to 2,600 Canadians will be diagnosed with brain cancer this year. The most common form, malignant glioma, cuts life expectancy to about one year.
"Brain cancer is really nasty. Not only do we want to be able to treat it better, but we want to move to a place where we can match the type of treatment to a particular treatment."
Forsyth is also hoping to discover how to identify whether a specific patient will respond to a specific type of cancer drug by looking at proteins and genetic makeup.
"Every patient is different, and responds differently to certain drugs.
"We want to be able to make sure we are giving a patient a drug that will work, so they're not wasting their time," Forsyth says.
"And when we know a certain drug won't work, we can also tell them, 'You only have a year, you may as well go to Hawaii.' "
Sangregoria was one of the lucky ones who discovered her second chemotherapy drug inhibited the growth of her tumour.
But that was only after she lived through six months of radiation that had no impact, and nine months of an initial chemotherapy drug that inhibited some growth but allowed the tumour to spread elsewhere in her brain.
"It's almost like pouring chocolate syrup into milk, stirring it, and then trying to find where the chocolate milk started," Forsyth said.
"It's very difficult, but we have to keep trying."
Forsyth says the new class of drugs may one day benefit patients such as Sangregoria, but he adds, knocking on a wooden counter, she will hopefully continue to stay in remission and never have to find out.
She can't drive for fear of seizures, but is able to walk her girls to and from school, and enjoy a somewhat more normal family life.
Seven years after her original diagnosis, she's still in remission, and happy to tell her story with a smile and an inspiring sense of humour.
Forsyth is also receiving a $705,000 Canadian Cancer Society grant to test the ability of a common virus to destroy brain cancer cells.
The Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charitable funder of cancer research, contributed nearly $50 million to research projects across the country last year.
Today, more than 62 per cent of Canadians will survive a cancer diagnosis -- nearly double the survival rate of the 1960s.
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