Dr. Ivan Litvinov

1.      We are trying to elucidate how hypopigmented Mycosis Fungoides (MF), which primarily affects adolescents and young adults differs from classic patch/plaque MF, which affects older individuals.

2.      We are actively developing a novel diagnostic/prognostic molecular test for CTCL patients, which would help distinguish this disease from its benign mimickers and help identify select (i.e. ~20%) patients, who are at risk of disease progression.

3.      We are also studying the expression and function of Cancer Testis (CT), Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC) genes as well as activation of retrotransposons in CTCL and how these mechanisms promote genomic instability in this cancer.

4.      We are studying epidemiology and conducting extensive analysis of clustering of cases for CTCL and other human cancers across Canada. The goal of this work is to help identify potential cancer triggers and for public health planning to predict care needs for our cancer patients in Canada.

5.      In addition, working with our collaborators, we are investigating novel treatment approaches using oncolytic viruses for CTCL, Basal Cell and Squamous Cell carcinomas.