Canary Support Leverages Multimillion Grant in BC

The province of British Columbia Canada will be participating in the $42 million Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow (CPFT) project thanks in part to the Canary Foundation's 2007 gift of $110,000 to fund Dr. Rick Gallagher and Dr. Marilyn Borugian's I-HELP pilot project. The CPFT project is a study of 300,000 Canadians that explores how genetics, environment, lifestyle and behaviour interact in the development of cancer. The largest of its kind in Canada, the study will track randomly selected Canadians (ages 35 to 69) for at least the next 20 to 30 years. It will gather information on health and lifestyle through questionnaires and the collection of blood and other specimens. The information will help researchers, policy-makers and others understand how different combinations of risk-factors lead to cancer.

"This is a landmark moment for Canada," said Jeff Lozon, Chair of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer - an independent organization funded by the Canadian federal government to accelerate action on cancer control that is providing funding for the study. "Every Canadian is touched by cancer - whether personally or through family or friends. The Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project will build an enormous bank of information that Canadian and international researchers can draw upon in the short-term and create a legacy for future generations."

The CPFT is being driven forward by partner organizations in five regions: the BC Cancer Agency, the Alberta Cancer Board, Cancer Care Ontario with the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Quebec's CARTaGENE project, and Cancer Care Nova Scotia with Dalhousie University collaborating for work in the Atlantic Provinces. Study funding is comprised of $42 million in support from The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, along with regional commitments of $41 million. These committed funds will be leveraged to trigger further investment with an anticipated total of more than $100 million.

Canary's funding through the BC Cancer Foundation enabled the BC Cancer Agency to develop a breast and ovarian cancer biomarker comparison cohort in BC. The participants were recruited from women who are enrolled in the Screening Mammography Program of BC. These same women also agreed to be part of the Canadian Cancer Cohort, now called CPFT. "The I-HELP contribution by Canary ensured BC a place at the start of the CPFT by ensuring we had a cohort already in place," said Dr. Rick Gallagher of the University of British Columbia and the BC Cancer Agency. "We will be initially receiving more than $6 million from the Canadian Partnership for Cancer Control over the cohort period of 2008-2012."

The Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project is a prospective cohort study, meaning researchers will follow a large group of people over a long period of time. It is designed to regularly capture data from average Canadians who are randomly selected from a wide range of backgrounds and regions. The goal is to secure a more complete picture of people's health and habits including what they eat and how much they exercise, as well as environmental variables such as exposure to possible carcinogens in the environment and in the workplace. The impact of screening and prevention programs will also be assessed.

Researchers will regularly examine the data and, in the short-term, expect to gather insight into how Canadians are responding to public health and prevention programs. Longer-term, researchers will be looking for patterns among people who develop cancer. Over the life of the study, researchers will be able to test theories about cancer risks, and will be able to map the onset of other life-threatening and chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.