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A Visionary with a Zest for Life and a Drive to Help Others
 Name: Marianne Sadar, PhD – Program Leader for Prostate Cancer Research.
Title: Program Leader for Prostate Cancer Research, BC Cancer Agency; Senior Research Scientist, Genome Science Centre, BC Cancer Agency.
Previously: Post-doctoral Fellow, AstraZeneca, Molndal, Sweden, 1995; European Science Foundation Research Fellow, Sweden, 1993.
Research focus: Marianne leads the effort to develop therapies that disrupt tumor growth in prostate cancer.
Research Involves:
Design and engineer molecules in the laboratory that “confuse” prostate cancer cells into dying an early death, providing a better quality of life for patients affected by prostate disease.
Research Relevance
In cases of advanced prostate cancer, male hormones or “androgens” fuel cancer growth. In such cases drugs or surgery are used to suppress the hormones and slow the disease’s progression. But eventually the prostate cancer cells will continue to grow. Dr. Sadar’s team discovered that if they inserted part of a certain molecule – an androgen receptor thought to trigger new growth – into a cancer cell, it was somehow fooled into not growing. Work is now underway to develop drugs to mimic this “cancer killing” molecule.
Years at BC Cancer Agency: 12 years
In Her Own Words: “I want to find solutions that will have a direct impact on patients.”
Favourite sport/hobby: Golf.
More about this article in the BC Cancer Foundation 2007 Report to Donors.
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