BCNETwork News

December 2006

Wired for Life: Advanced Networks Enable Cutting-Edge Virtual Cancer Research at UBC and Beyond

By Vanessa Scott

In an unprecedented example of the advancements made possible by super high-bandwidth connections, Maggie Cheang, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia (UBC), has developed a network application which is enabling groundbreaking research in cancer diagnostics and pathology. Cheang, who won first place in BCNET’s 2005 Coolest Applications Contest, developed this collaborative research tool as part of her work with UBC’s Genetic Pathology Evaluation Centre (GPEC). Since its inauguration, Cheang’s application has impacted the research and findings of scientists in Canada and the United States, and demonstrates how the power of advanced networks is becoming increasingly important to medicine and the health sciences.

Bringing Cancer Research Farther into the Digital Age

The digital identification of the genetic ‘biomarkers’ associated with cancer is vital to pathological research. Through closely studying these telltale tissue samples, GPEC hopes to help enable individualized cancer treatment, allowing doctors to uncover patients’ genetic susceptibilities and predict the effectiveness of various therapy options. However, there is currently a global shortfall in scientists’ capacity to validate and compare cancer biomarkers, which restricts the efficiency of this research. Cheang’s application represents a successful first step toward overcoming this obstacle.


The 2005 Winner of the BCNET Coolest Applications Contest, Maggie Cheang, UBC PhD student.

Harnessing the Power of Advanced Research Networks

Using tissue microarray (TMA) technology, which allows hundreds of tissue cores to be assessed from a single glass slide, Cheang and her co-workers have made microscopic images of cancer available online. This publicly accessible database allows for the viewing, panning, magnification and sharing of cancer slides through the advanced research network, which is provided to the university by BCNET.

Advanced networking connections are important to Cheang’s project because they deliver the high bandwidth necessary for the database to function as a successful and collaborative research tool. Through BCNET’s Optical Regional Advanced Network (ORAN), researchers may connect to CANARIE’s nation-wide CA*net4 and other networks around the world to collaborate and share data.

A tissue microarray sample identifying breast cancer.

Furthermore, large volumes of data must be analyzed through the network before producing any final results. “If one project has 4,000 patients and we are looking at two biomarkers,” says Cheang, “then we would be looking at 8,000 TMA core images.” Each image on the database contains approximately 300 KB of data that needs to be validated.

Enabling Faster, More Accurate Research and Diagnosis

The database’s online format demonstrates a number of advances in digital microscopy. In addition to allowing the parallel analysis of thousands of archival specimens, says Cheang, it has provided faster slide analysis, enhanced data integrity and increased the availability of research and educational information.

“We can scan the microscopic images in our lab in Vancouver and ask collaborators around the world to visually assess the biomarker expressions,” says Cheang. “In the past, we used to ship the stained glass slides to various sites for researchers to view under a microscope. The risk with mailing slides is that it not only takes time, but if you lose the glass slide, you also lose the data.”

The database represents a crucial first step in linking pathologists across Canada and the world to an up-to-date date, comprehensive data archive. GPEC is currently working with collaborators at Stanford University, McGill University and PhenoPath Laboratories, a national American pathology lab based in Seattle, Washington. It is also partnered with faculty from a number of American universities, including the University of Utah and the University of Washington.

The TMA Network Application Contributes to a Major Discovery in Breast Cancer Research

In June 2006, GPEC’s collaborative efforts with researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) contributed to a major US study that linked ethnicity to an aggressive subtype of breast cancer. Using pathological data supplied through the advanced research network, scientists at UNC applied GPEC’s analytical methods to a series of breast cancer cases in North and South Carolina.

The discovery, which offers a critical look at why pre-menopausal African American women face higher mortality rates when affected with breast cancer, represents a milestone in pathologists’ determination to gain a deeper genetic understanding of cancer.

The Future of Virtual Cancer Pathology

The next step for the TMA image database will be the development and implementation of automatic image analysis. “Instead of having pathologists interpret images visually,” says Cheang, “we are optimizing an algorithm to quantify the biomarker expressions.” Automatic analysis would further enhance the already substantial advantages of the database, including its
increased speed, accuracy and diagnostic output.

As one of the world’s leading centres in the use of TMA technology, this latest initiative at GPEC represents an important next step in the future of virtual cancer research. It offers to bring scientists in Canada and around the world closer to understanding the uncharted territory of this disease, and demonstrates how advanced online networking continues to push the boundaries of scientific research and innovation.