eign nation should include in its new constitution a
list of civil rights and liberties. The charter symboli-
cally and practically marked Canada as one of the
world’s major democratic powers, and it provided
fundamental protections both to Canada’s citizens
and to all people within its borders.
Further Reading
Beaudoin, Gérald-A., and Erron Mendes, eds.The
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 4th ed.
Markham, Ont.: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2005.
Francis, R. Douglas, Richard Jones, and Donald B.
Smith.Destinies: Canadian Histor y Since Confedera-
tion. 5th ed. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada,
2004.
McRoberts, Kenneth. “Quebec: Province, Nation,
or Distinct Society?” InCanadian Politics in the
Twenty-First Centur y, edited by M. Whittington and
G. Williams. 5th ed. Scarborough, Ont.: Nelson
Thomson Learning, 2000.
Sharpe, Robert J., and Kent Roach.The Charter of
Rights and Freedoms. 3d ed. Toronto: Irwin Law,
2005.
Esmorie J. Miller
See also Aboriginal rights in Canada; Canada Act
of 1982; Education in Canada; Immigration to Can-
ada; Minorities in Canada; Multiculturalism in edu-
cation; Trudeau, Pierre.Cancer research
Definition Scientific investigation of the class of
malignant tumors threatening human health
Cancer research in the 1980’s dealt with understanding
the nature of the disease, as well as developing improved
methods for treatment. Funding for cancer research led to
the discover y of molecular mechanisms underlying the dis-
ease. The first “designer drugs” directed against specific
cancers were also developed.
With the discovery of ribonucleic acid (RNA) tumor
viruses in the 1950’s and 1960’s, a “War on Cancer”
was declared during the administration of President
Richard M. Nixon. The idea that cancer was an infec-
tious disease turned out to be largely incorrect, but
that idea served as an impetus for research that would
later prove more fruitful: During the 1970’s, studies
of RNA tumor viruses led to the discovery of viral
oncogenes, cancer-causing genes that could disrupt
normal regulatory mechanisms in the infected cell.
As that decade ended, J. Michael Bishop and Harold
Varmus discovered that these genes are actually found
in healthy cells as proto-oncogenes. The normal func-
tion of these genes is to regulate cell division, and
they are characterized as growth factors, factor recep-
tors, signal molecules, and tumor suppressors.Basic Research During the 1980’s, the roles played
by proto-oncogenes in cancer began to be clarified.
Mutations in these genes result in aberrant regula-
tion—in effect, a “short circuiting” of regulatory
mechanisms. The particular mutation determines
the type of cancer that may result. For example, a
mutation in the gene that codes for HER2/neu—a
receptor protein that is part of the process regulat-
ing cell growth—may cause certain forms of breast
cancer; overexpression of this protein represents a
poor prognosis for a patient.
It was well known that certain types of cancer fre-
quently run in families, suggesting an inherited ba-
sis for these forms of the disease. Geneticist Alfred
Knudson had suggested in the 1970’s that just as mu-
tations in certain genes may cause cancer, the func-The Eighties in America Cancer research 185
Queen Elizabeth II signs the new Canadian constitution, thereby
enacting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms into law,
on April 17, 1982.(National Archives of Canada)