Meet the Team Canada of Cancer Research: A Q&A with Dr. Laura Hopkins

Dr. Laura Hopkins is a gynecologic oncologist with the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency and a professor in the Department of Oncology at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine. She is a Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network member and leads a clinical trial contributing cases to the MOHCCN Gold Cohort. 

Dr. Hopkins studied medicine at the University of Toronto and then underwent postgraduate training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at McMaster University followed by subspecialty training in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Toronto. Since relocating to Saskatoon in 2019, Dr. Hopkins has opened Saskatchewan’s first tumour bank and initiated its first clinical trials program in gynecologic oncology.  Dr. Hopkins received funding support to acquire a next-generation sequencer in 2022 and, in 2023, launched the agency’s first investigator-initiated clinical trial exploring patient preferences for precision medicine in ovarian cancer, funded in part by the Network. This trial will provide ‘real-world evidence’ about how patients use information from their molecular tumour testing to guide treatment decisions. This trial also examines patient outcomes and quality of life following maintenance therapy, and has the potential to set a new standard of care for tumour testing in ovarian cancer. Dr. Hopkins's research is focused on precision oncology, pragmatic trials design, promotion of informed patient decision-making and surgical quality and safety. 

We spoke to Dr. Hopkins to learn more about her research and clinical work, how precision oncology can help empower patients to make decisions about their own care based on their values and preferences and how the Network is bringing together clinicians, patients and basic scientists to improve connectivity between cancer research and care. 

Why did you become a cancer researcher? Was there a particular moment or experience that led to this decision?  

I believe that better is always possible; we have the ability now to deliver care in a manner that is specific and individualized for every patient. As a gynecologic oncologist, I perform cancer surgery and deliver systemic therapy; becoming a cancer researcher has allowed me to connect research to the patients in a very direct and personal way. Bringing research advancement to patients when they need it most, is a very special and unique advantage.  I believe every cancer patient should have a connection to a team of researchers; we are now beginning to create that foundation and system that will help patients in a way that is possible but has been non-existent until now.  

Cancer research is difficult: progress is slow and for every step forward there may be quite a few steps backwards or sideways. What inspires you to keep going? What life lessons have you learned through cancer research?  

Great research takes time. It is often slow and implementation of research advances at the point of care can be even slower. We need to be careful and certain. I have always been an impatient person and yet, things that are worthwhile take time. Perseverance is the key; you can never be beaten if you don’t give up and so I keep going. I was taught early-on in my medical career to ‘act as if everything you do matters’ and I keep that at front-of-mind every day. I keep going because I believe it matters; even if sometimes no one else sees it yet, or even if we have to wait for approvals and permissions and processes and yes, even if we don’t get the funding. We have to find a way to improve cancer care and we will find a way. I am certain we will even find a cure. 

How would you explain your current research focus to a cancer patient or their family member? 

My research focus is precision oncology; providing care that is personal and individualized. All cancers behave differently and we have the molecular tests available to make these distinctions. Testing tumours allows us to provide information and prescribe therapy that is individualized so that patients do not waste their time taking drugs that don’t work. In Saskatchewan, we have opened a pragmatic trial in ovarian cancer where we provide tumour testing that allows us to be very specific about how much benefit can be obtained from taking a drug designed to delay relapse (called maintenance therapy). For some patients with certain changes in their tumour, the benefit is significant; for others who do not have those changes; it is minor. The drug can be toxic and for some, the duration of side effects is equivalent to the duration of benefit. Since the drug doesn’t make you live longer, quality of life is an important consideration. As such, we designed a patient decision aid to help patients decide for themselves, using their own preferences and values, whether the drug is right for the individual. We are also collecting ‘real-world evidence’ about the drug’s effectiveness and quality of life impact, as we know that the amount of benefit seen in randomized controlled trials is more than what is seen in everyday clinical practice.  

What impact do you hope your research will have on cancer treatment and the outcomes for patients? 

It is my hope that we can change the standard of care for ovarian cancer patients in Canada with the outcome of this trial. We need a standard that provides for funded molecular testing in ovarian cancer so that we can give precision information to patients about the amount of benefit they can expect from a given drug therapy. Right now, we do not have funding to approve the tumour testing, and so we have an ‘all-comers approval’ for maintenance therapy, despite the fact that the maintenance drug is a targeted therapy. We need targeted/biomarker testing so that we can match the treatment with the patient. We shouldn’t be prescribing therapy and then waiting to see if it works. We are in the age of precision oncology and it is time for implementation at the point of care.  

Just like Terry Fox united Canadians nearly 45 years ago, the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network is uniting researchers, clinicians, patients and administrators from cancer treatment and research institutions across Canada to accelerate precision medicine. How important is this collaboration and what impact do you think it could have on cancer research and treatment?  

The Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network has changed cancer care in Saskatchewan. We have formed a Prairie Ovarian Cancer Consortium and we are working to find new therapeutic options for all patients with ovarian cancer. I’ve learned so much about research progress and what is possible through this collaboration. At the same time, basic science researchers are learning about where the knowledge and treatment gaps are in clinical care. Bringing questions and patient care context to the researchers allows them to bring a ‘laser focus’ to their research direction, ensuring that their contributions to science have an immediate connectivity to patient care. 

If a researcher, clinician, patient or donor asked you why the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network is important, what would you tell them?  

The working relationships that are formed through the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centers Network are how we are going to cure cancer. We are leveraging the skills, knowledge and energy of the entire country right now, and I believe this is the way to make Terry’s dream a reality.