 What started out as a high school science fair project examining the breast cancer fighting properties of flaxseed oil could one day result in the development of a new type of chemotherapy drug, according to a career research scientist at the Sudbury Regional Hospital’s Regional Cancer Program.
In the fall of 2006, Robert Lafrenie was approached by Lockerby Composite School students Kari Vierimaa and Monique House, who wanted to find a way to bring traditional and alternative medicines together for their science fair project.
They decided to test Vitamin E, Vitamin C and flaxseed oil bought over-the-counter at a pharmacy to see how they work to kill breast cancer cells in conjunction with a common type of chemotherapy drug, Taxol.
Vierimaa, who plans to study neuroscience at Laurentian University in the fall, said he and his partner chose Vitamin E because he’d heard that it stops the growth of cancer, and Vitamin C because it’s a common remedy taken by people when they’re sick.
Flaxseed oil was chosen by the students because a University of Toronto researcher, Dr. Lillian Thompson, has done research showing that flaxseed fed to lab animals slows the growth of breast cancer.
During the initial experiment, all three substances were injected along with Taxol into breast cancer cells grown in a laboratory.
While Vitamin E and Vitamin C in combination with Taxol had no effect on the breast cancer cells, the students discovered that flaxseed oil in combination with Taxol caused more of the cells to die.
“We found that flaxseed oil and Taxol kill the cancer cells statistically more than the chemo drug alone or any other combination,” said Vierimaa.
In the fall of 2007, Vierimaa and his current science fair partner, Chelmsford Valley District Secondary School student Tamsen Lahnalampi, decided to look at whether flaxseed oil works along with any other chemotherapy drug to better kill cancer cells.
They tested flaxseed oil along with five other chemotherapy drugs, and found that Taxol and flaxseed oil worked the best together.
Lafrenie was so impressed with the students’ initial results, he decided to give one of the cancer program’s graduate student researchers, Allison Buckner, the job of looking into why the flaxseed oil helped to kill breast cancer cells.
Buckner found that flaxseed oil impaired the function of the cells’ mitochondria, or organelles. In comparison, chemotherapy drugs such as Taxol work by inhibiting cell division and causing them to die.
“Allison, who is the grad student here, has found that the mitochondria are affected. Using MitoTracker Red, we dyed the cells. Bright red indicates healthy mitochondria and fainter red indicates unhealthy mitochondria,” said Lahnalampi, who plans to study biology in the fall and eventually become a doctor.
“The mitochondria were definitely faint (after Taxol and flaxseed oil were injected). Then using falloidin, which is a green dye, we saw that the cell structure had been affected by the Taxol. That’s what it’s supposed to do.”
Because commercial flaxseed oil manufacturers won’t release the exact chemical components of the substance, a professor at Laurentian University has been contracted to do an analysis.
“They wouldn’t tell us what was in the flaxseed oil, so we said ‘Screw ‘em - we’ll go and find out’,” said Lafrenie.
Once the chemical analysis is done, the researchers can do tests to find out which of the components of flaxseed oil is affecting the breast cancer cells.
The science fair project has already netted the students several awards. Vierimaa and House won first place in the life sciences category in the 2007 Sudbury Regional Science Fair, and their project was also voted best-in-fair by their peers.
At the 2007 Canada-Wide Science Fair, they received an honourable mention in pharmaceutical sciences.
At the 2008 Sudbury Regional Science Fair, Vierimaa and Lahnalampi tied for first place in the life sciences category, and also received the NSERC Award, the LifeLabs Award, and the Sci-Tech Ontario Stepping Stone Award.
They also translated their results into virtual reality technology for the EXTREME Virtual Reality Science Fair, and won the EXTREME VR 3D Technology Award because they participated in both fairs.
The students also brought their project to the 2008 Canada-Wide Science Fair, but didn’t place this year.
Lafrenie said he is extremely impressed with the students’ project, and said the results are “sufficiently novel” to be published in a medical research journal. He is hoping to write a scientific paper himself and have it ready for publication in late 2008 or early 2009.
The project could go to a clinical trial in a few years, with the possibility of a new chemotherapy drug containing both Taxol and the therapeutic components of flaxseed oil being developed, he said.
“This is the most involved with high school students I’ve ever gotten. In my lab I’ve had undergraduate thesis students from Laurentian, as well as both Master’s and PhD students. I’ve also had technician trainees from colleges,” said Lafrenie.
“I think working with these students has gone quite well. We’ve managed to get a number of things done over the past two years.”
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