'It brings hope': How chicken eggs are helping UBC scientists fight childhood cancer

With every crack of a fertilized chicken egg, Dr. James Lim feels closer to helping save lives.

"It brings hope," said Lim, a UBC scientist and researcher with the Michael Cuccione Cancer Research Program.

"What drives me is the possibility that I might have an impact on a patient, on a family."

Lim has launched what's believed to be the first-of-its-kind laboratory that uses fertilized chicken eggs to test and analyze how certain medications affect children's tumor samples.

“This is the way to grow and test the efficacy of a drug, of a predicted drug, and test the response,” said Lim.

He says the eggs are a great host for the tumors and provide faster and more accurate results than other hosts, such as mice. Lim says instead of child cancer patients relying on chemotherapy, this research could help link the right medication to the right patient.

“In conventional treatments, we are using a drug that is known to kill the cancer cells but also oftentimes produces a lot of toxicity that we hope to avoid," said Lim.

He says his research using fertilized chicken eggs started early on during the pandemic and is making positive progress. He tells CTV News that approximately 20 per cent of patients do not respond well to typical chemotherapy, and that his research could lead to quicker, more effective treatments.

Tariq Bhat is a UBC PhD student who has taken a lead role on the project.

"(It's) definitely exciting work with the cutting-edge technology oncological research, which has a big impact on society, particularly for the families," said Bhat.

Lim and his team's work is part of the broader 'BRAvE' initiative aimed at revolutionizing pediatric cancer research and care across the country. The team has received support from the Michael Cuccione Foundation and BC Children's Hospital Foundation.