University Health Network's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Partners with Helix to Test 100,000 Patients for Hereditary Risk of Cancer and High Cholesterol

TORONTO and SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 6, 2025 /CNW/ - University Health Network's (UHN's) Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Helix, a leading precision health organization, announced a partnership today to launch one of the largest population genomics studies in Canada. The OurGenes Study aims to enroll up to 100,000 participants over five years, advancing precision medicine and early detection of hereditary health risks.

Through this initiative, participants will receive testing for well-established genetic conditions, including hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (BRCA1/2), Lynch Syndrome (associated with colorectal and other cancers), and familial hypercholesterolemia (an inherited condition associated with high cholesterol and cardiovascular risk). These are classified as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Tier 1 genomic conditions due to their clinical actionability and population health impact.

The screening results from this study will allow participants and their healthcare team to make proactive decisions about their health, potentially delaying, reducing, or even preventing cancer or heart disease. By conducting screening at scale, the study will also allow Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Canada's largest comprehensive cancer centre, to identify and address health risks that may be disproportionately affecting certain communities. Participants' genetic information, which includes the entire protein-coding regions of the genome, will also be available to support future research at UHN.

"UHN's mission is to transform lives and communities through excellence in care, discovery and learning. This is an important project that will allow us to understand the benefit of early genetic screening and to develop approaches to help participants better manage their health in a personalized approach," said Dr. Brad Wouters, UHN's Executive Vice President of Science and Research. "UHN is moving beyond the current standard of care, offering patients and their providers a powerful tool to take greater control of their health outcomes."

"Collecting this data at scale ensures we can identify many more families who are at higher risk of cancer or heart disease, offer genetic counselling and more regular screening, and study possible interventions," added Dr. Keith Stewart, UHN's VP Cancer and Director, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

The study is led by Dr. Raymond Kim, Medical Director of Cancer Early Detection and the Bhalwani Familial Cancer Clinic, at Princess Margaret. Samples from participants will be sent to Helix for whole exome sequencing, which comprehensively analyzes the genetic code to identify meaningful genetic variations. Results will be returned to participants within eight to twelve weeks, along with access to genetic counselling and ongoing genomic insights about their health throughout their lifetime. 

"Population studies find that 90% of patients who carry serious disease risk are missed in conventional care," said Dr. James Lu, CEO and co-founder of Helix. "We are excited to expand universal approaches to the oncology population – improving underdiagnosis and improving care for these patients."

UHN joins Helix's leading group of partner health systems in the Helix Research Network, the largest and fastest growing precision clinical research network in the world, with population genomics programs spanning across North America. Participation in this research study is voluntary and free.

This study is proudly supported by donors to The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

About University Health Network (UHN)

UHN is Canada's Hospital. With 10 sites and more than 44,000 TeamUHN members, UHN consists of Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, The Michener Institute of Education and West Park Healthcare Centre. As Canada's top research hospital, the scope of biomedical research and complexity of cases at UHN have made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. UHN has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in neurosciences, cardiology, transplantation, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. UHN is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto. www.uhn.ca

About Helix

Helix is a leading population genomics and precision health organization. Helix enables health systems, life sciences companies and payers to accelerate the integration of genomic data into patient care and therapeutic development. Learn more at www.helix.com. 

SOURCE University Health Network

Media Contacts: Leslie Whyte Zhou, Senior Communications Advisor, Media Relations, University Health Network, Email: [email protected]; Ana Fernandes, Manager, External Communications, University Health Network, Email: [email protected]; Justin Wilson, Interim Head of Marketing, Email: [email protected]