A $50 million private donation to cancer research — the largest ever in Canada — was announced Monday at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

The gift from breast cancer survivor Emmanuelle Gattuso and husband Allan Slaight, a broadcasting legend who built a radio empire, will go into a “superfund” to attract the world’s best scientists in personalized cancer medicine.

“This superfund will enable us to build and support research teams focused on precision genomics, advanced tumour biology, immune therapy and molecular imaging,” said Dr. Benjamin Neel, director of research at the centre.

“It will enable us to accelerate groundbreaking research and translate it to the clinic, helping us move from rapid diagnosis, to rapid molecular diagnosis, and ultimately, we hope, to durable cures,” he said during a media conference.

The donation, to be distributed over 10 years, will “add significant momentum” to the centre’s leadership in advancing personalized cancer medicine, said Dr. Robert Bell, president and CEO of the University Health Network.

Personalized cancer medicine uses genetic profiling of tumours to aid in earlier detection, a more precise diagnosis and to provide targeted treatment. This means, for instance, that two people diagnosed with breast cancer may undergo very different treatment because the genetic makeup of their tumours is different.

Targeted treatment and immune therapy — a way to reactivate the immune system against tumours — could lead to cures, Neel said.

The donation offers a big boost to a campaign, launched just 10 months ago, to raise $1 billion over five years for personalized cancer medicine. Thanks to philanthropic support and scientific grants, $243 million has so far been raised by the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.

Gattuso, who was diagnosed with breast cancer 10 years ago and treated at the centre, said her family and friends have been deeply touched by the disease. She and her sister are survivors of breast cancer, and her mother and best friend died of ovarian cancer.

Although the donation will go toward attracting some of the brightest minds in the world, their research will ultimately benefit cancer patients everywhere.

“We believe that personalized cancer medicine will revolutionize the way cancer patients are treated, and their outcome,” said Gattuso, who was treated with a lumpectomy and radiation — before the before the advent of personalized cancer care.

Recent advances in personalized cancer medicine, she noted, may help “conquer cancer” in our lifetime.

To date, Gattuso, her husband Allan, who was absent from the press conference Monday, and the Slaight family have committed $72 million to the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.