Supporting young women with breast cancer – Dr. May Lynn Quan, MD.

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Dr. May Lynn Quan, MD, Photograph by Todd Korol

A breast cancer diagnosis is scary for anyone. But for women under the age of 40, breast cancer comes with a unique set of challenges: The potential loss of fertility, prolonged hormonal treatment and managing young families and careers during treatment. University of Calgary researcher and cancer surgeon Dr. May Lynn Quan, MD, is developing an online self-management tool (an app) to support the unique needs of these women.

 

Quan’s team interviewed 34 women diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 or younger, who were at least one year from finishing active treatment. These women identified key elements they would want in an app, including one-on-one peer group support, age-specific sexual health and fertility information, and increased support when living beyond the end of treatment. 

 

Quan will take all the feedback to develop a supportive tool that she says is “by the women for the women.” This innovative app will be tested by a network of clinics across Canada when complete.

 

“When talking to these young women, we realized they need more support than they are getting,” says Quan. “Currently, their care is very fragmented – there’s a new patient clinic at one site, a surgical clinic at another and treatment at another,” says Quan. “The new Calgary Cancer Centre will bring all those services, that expertise, along with research, under one roof,” says Quan.

“To me, I think the biggest benefit of the cancer centre is that we will finally be in a comprehensive breast centre. Currently, breast cancer care is very fragmented – there’s a new patient clinic at one site, a surgical clinic at another and treatment at another. The new Calgary Cancer Centre will bring all those services, that expertise, along with research, under one roof and to capitalize (or leverage) on the proximity and necessary collaboration and coordination of services in a more organic way. “

 

“Right now, women are literally driving all over the city to get the care they need. It will make it easier for a natural marriage between our research efforts and bringing those into clinical reality. Actually implementing it and building these support tools with the patient in a collaborative way,” says Quan. 

Click here to learn about the five critical areas in which we aim to tackle cancer.

You can help clinicians and researchers like Amanda perform world-class cancer research by making a donation to the OWN.CANCER campaign today.

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Data is power – Dr. Winson Cheung, MD, researcher and oncologist, believes that big data can be used to gather health information more efficiently

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Dr. Winson Cheung, Medical Oncologist and Provincial Director of Cancer Health Services Research. Photograph by Jared Sych.

Vast amounts of health information are collected across Alberta. This information, called ‘big data,’ is stored in massive databases and includes diverse, de-identified information about many people. A UCalgary team is using this big data to mimic clinical trials.

Randomized control trials (RCTs) are the gold standard to evaluate a new cancer drug or treatment. In RCTs, participants are randomly assigned to one therapy or another to compare effectiveness. While very valuable, RCTs can be expensive and last decades, and only represent less than 10 per cent of the population.

Dr. Winson Cheung, MD, a UCalgary researcher and oncologist, believes that big data can be used to gather health information more efficiently and on more patients than RCTs.

Using several Alberta administrative databases and the analytical expertise to interpret them, Cheung’s team hopes to provide real-world evidence to support better clinical decision-making. “The global pandemic over the past two years has taught us that data is power,” says Cheung. “Data and lessons learned from current patients can inform, model, and predict how we can improve the care of future patients.”

The new, world-class Calgary Cancer Centre will have hundreds of workspaces dedicated to data sciences. “Data scientists will be able to work side-by-side at the new cancer centre, making it easier to leverage and translate data to improve the lives of cancer patients and their families.”

At the new Calgary Cancer Centre, we’re bringing together researchers, medical teams, prevention experts, patients and families in ways never before possible.

Click here to learn about the five critical areas in which we aim to tackle cancer.

You can help clinicians and researchers like Amanda perform world-class cancer research by making a donation to the OWN.CANCER campaign today.

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Dr. Paola Neri – Taking control of blood cancer

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Multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer that often evades treatment. UCalgary scientist and medical oncologist Dr. Paola Neri, MD, PhD, is studying the genetic code of multiple myeloma to determine why it is resistant to many current drugs, hoping to find new, better treatments for fighting the disease. 

Neri has created a tissue bank that consists of bone marrow biopsies from myeloma patients. Information from these tissue samples led to a clinical trial combining two medications to treat relapsed myeloma patients. Her groundbreaking work has led to a better understanding of DNA repair defects in tumour cells. 

Dr. Paola Neri was recently awarded the Kenneth Anderson Young Investigator Award for her commitment to bringing basic research to the bedside. A mentee of Dr. Anderson, Neri was inspired by his dedication to research and patient care. “From Dr. Anderson, I learned the impact that basic research may have on a patient’s life.”

The new Calgary Cancer Centre will make it easier for Neri to take her research to the next level and provide world-class services for cancer patients. “To me, OWN. CANCER means taking control of your cancer, knowing that all the people involved with you in this complex journey are committed to improving clinical care through dedication to research and high standard medical practice.”

 

At the Calgary Cancer Centre, we’re bringing together researchers, medical teams, prevention experts, patients and families in ways never before possible. Help make more research like Dr. Neri’s possible, and donate to the OWN.CANCER campaign today.

Cancer, aging and DNA

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The cells in our bodies rely on the stability of our DNA to survive in a healthy state. When something goes wrong with our DNA, cells are compromised. Usually, the cell will repair itself, but if DNA repair is unsuccessful, this can lead to tissue and organ damage, and sometimes, cancer. 

UCalgary researcher Dr. Aditya Mojumdar, PhD, studies the factors that maintain DNA stability during repair. He has discovered that DNA repair switches from error-free to error-prone as cells age, leading to more mutations. This finding may explain why cancer occurs with age.

Dr. David Schriemer, PhD, and Susan Lees-Miller, PhD, UCalgary researchers in the Robson DNA Science Centre, assembled a team of scientists from Alberta and British Columbia to look at DNA repair and aging using cutting-edge molecular imaging approaches. They are currently seeking funding for a multi-year project that would be the first of its kind in Canada, bringing new state-of-the-art equipment to the Calgary Cancer Centre. 

“Every life-scientist dreams of making a difference in societal health with their research. The new collaborative Calgary Cancer Centre is paving the way for that dream to come true,” says Mojumdar. 

 

At the Calgary Cancer Centre, we’re bringing together researchers, medical teams, prevention experts, patients and families in ways never before possible. Help make more research like that done by Dr. Aditya Mojumdar possible, and donate to the OWN.CANCER campaign today.

Developing vaccines against childhood cancers – Dr. Aru Narendran

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Vaccines have effectively treated and even eradicated, some of the most devastating infectious diseases. Not only can vaccines protect us from viruses and other pathogens, but they can also train the immune system to recognize and destroy tumour cells. Based on research showing the effectiveness of anticancer vaccines against some adult tumours, pediatric oncologist Dr. Aru Narendran, MD, PhD is developing a vaccine for high-risk, difficult-to-treat cancers in children.

Malignant cells can make unique mutant proteins, called neoantigens, that aren’t found in normal healthy cells. Narendran’s lab gathers and analyzes data from tumours and normal samples of high-risk pediatric patients to identify candidate neoantigens. Once they have this information, they can develop and test effective anticancer vaccines for children with difficult-to-cure brain tumours, leukemias, and sarcomas.

The new Calgary Cancer Centre will significantly boost Narendran’s work by attracting new talent, providing access to critical study specimens and technology, and encouraging more collaborations between adult and pediatric oncologists. “This will help tremendously with important knowledge exchange and learning from each other more effectively.”

Narendran currently holds the Kids Cancer Care Chair in Clinical and Translational Research in Pediatric Oncology. His goal is to transform the treatment of childhood cancers in the future. “For me, OWN.CANCER simply means that we never have to tell a parent that there is nothing more that we can do to help their child with cancer. Ever.”

 

Click here to learn about the five critical areas in which we aim to tackle cancer.

You can help clinicians and researchers like Dr. Aru Narendran perform world-class cancer research by making a donation to the OWN.CANCER campaign today.

Click here to Donate.

 

Cory Knutson – More than a job

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Cory Knutson is a project manager with PCL Construction, the company responsible for the construction of the new Calgary Cancer Centre. “I get to see the building come alive a little more each day.  I get great satisfaction from seeing my ideas and direction transformed into physical installations inside the building,” he says.

The construction is more than a job to Knutson, however. His father lost his battle with cancer in May 2020 after a five-year struggle.

Since then, Cory Knutson has had time to reflect on his father’s care.  “The AHS staff were so supportive through all the chemo rounds, ambulance rides, the many research sessions to locate potential treatment options, and the end-of-life home care,” he says.

“I know my efforts will help make this the best possible building for AHS staff to offer quality care for patients like my father.”

“I know what a difference this building will make to those who have yet to start their own cancer journey.”

The Calgary Cancer Centre is set to open in 2023.

 

At the Calgary Cancer Centre, we’re bringing together researchers, medical teams, prevention experts, patients and families in ways never before possible. Help us OWN.CANCER and donate today.

As originally published on Alberta Health Services

Barbara Munroe – Campaign Cabinet Members

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A campaign of this magnitude doesn’t happen without the support and dedication of our community. The OWN.CANCER campaign cabinet is made up of passionate Calgarians who are champions for improved cancer research, treatment and care in our province. Through their advocacy, donations and guidance, we’re closer to reaching our $250 million fundraising goal in support of the Calgary Cancer Centre. In this series, we’re sitting down with our cabinet members to learn what the OWN.CANCER campaign means to them and the impact it will have on Albertans facing cancer. 

Barbara Munroe is a former lawyer having retired as executive vice president and general counsel of WestJet Airlines. Prior to that, she held senior legal and executive positions at Imperial Oil, SMART Technologies and Blake, Cassels & Graydon. Barbara Munroe is now focused on corporate directorships within the oil and gas (Crescent Point) and utilities (ENMAX) sectors, along with being a Trustee of the Alberta Cancer Foundation. She is also a two-time University of Calgary graduate (BComm ’87, LLB ’90).

 

I am convinced that the Calgary Cancer Centre will change the landscape of cancer care and research, while also providing meaningful and diversified economic benefits to Calgary. It will be the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Canada – that’s impact!

– Barbara Munroe

 

What inspires you to OWN.CANCER?

In May 2012 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My world was displaced at the time I was full-stride in my career. One year following my diagnosis, my mother was diagnosed with cancer in her jaw that necessitated invasive surgery with long-lasting daily living effects, and my father is currently living with metastatic prostate cancer.

Having repurposed myself, I now have more time to give and the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the OWN.CANCER cabinet is the perfect fit to add my voice to the advancement of cancer awareness, prevention, screening and increased funding for research in Alberta, and for the new Calgary Cancer Centre.

I learned that the work of the Alberta Cancer Foundation supports every cancer-related clinical trial in Alberta – and that one positive clinical trial can help out hundreds of thousands of patients. That is real impact and is the practical inspiration that got me involved to advocate and fundraise for the OWN.CANCER campaign.

As the Lululemon tag goes “do one thing a day that scares you”. I am lucky as a survivor that I can try to live in the spirit of that adage – my personal inspiration to OWN.CANCER is that facing cancer should not be one of those things!

Why was it important to you to volunteer and contribute to this campaign?

You can’t help but be impressed with what has been built to date. With an investment of $1.4 billion, the Calgary Cancer Centre is the largest government infrastructure project in the province.

Construction will be complete in 2022 and it is anticipated that this facility will open to the public in 2023. That’s not a lot of time! But a lot of energy is going into attracting world-class clinicians and researchers to make the Calgary Cancer Centre the gold standard in care. Countless hours of professional and volunteer time have gone into this project, and we are on the doorstep of something that is going to be nothing short of game-changing.

It keeps coming back to that for me – the integration of research to optimize care – a collaborative approach with all of the right groups represented. This is what will differentiate the new centre and most importantly, offer hope and save lives! Integrated care and research is a pretty involved subject, but I am convinced that through the partnership with the University of Calgary, the Calgary Cancer Centre will be one of the leading cancer centres in North America.

How do you believe this campaign and the Calgary Cancer Centre will impact Albertans facing cancer?

Experience offers some perspective. While going through my own treatment, and observing that of my parents, the care and options were very good. However, the system, and the scattered and various facilities, were complex to navigate and didn’t result in feelings of being intimately connected to the universe of care providers.

Having everything in one place will alleviate anyone from feeling that they are alone when facing cancer. The feeling when walking into the Calgary Cancer Center will not be one of fear, but rather one of belonging.

I am convinced that the Calgary Cancer Centre will change the landscape of cancer care and research, while also providing meaningful and diversified economic benefits to Calgary. It will be the largest comprehensive cancer centre in Canada – that’s impact!

But most importantly, there will be a one-word answer for patients and their families facing cancer who ask “Where do I need to go?”

Here.

 

Click here to learn more about the OWN.CANCER campaign and the amazing work done by our cabinet members, like Barbara Munroe.

Winning the battle of the brain

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Glioblastoma is a particularly aggressive brain cancer with a very low survival rate. But exciting new research suggests a common vitamin could help patients with glioblastoma.

University of Calgary oncologist Dr. Gloria Roldan-Urgoiti, MD, and neuroscientist Dr. Wee Yong, Ph.D., are leading a Phase I-II clinical trial in patients with glioblastoma to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of niacin (vitamin B3) being added to first-line radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The Neuro-Oncology team, headed by Dr. Paula de Robles, MD, at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre is currently enrolling patients.

Earlier work from Yong’s team, including Dr. Susobahn Sarkar, Ph.D., showed that niacin could stimulate the brain’s immune cells, microglia, to stop tumour growth and potentially save lives. “To me, to OWN. CANCER means we are winning the battle of the brain, where brain immune cells are directed towards conquering brain cancer,” says Yong.

Roldan Urgoiti and Yong believe collaboration is key to transforming how cancer is treated in the future. “The new Calgary Cancer Centre will facilitate communication between different specialists and researchers that need to work together for the benefit of patients diagnosed with cancer and their families,” says Roldan-Urgoiti. 

Click here to learn about the five critical areas in which we aim to tackle cancer.

This is our moment. Our once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the landscape of cancer research, care and treatment, like glioblastoma. We’re ready to OWN.CANCER. Are you with us?

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A simple blood test could improve lung cancer care and cut costs

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It may be possible to bypass expensive, invasive tissue biopsies to detect lung cancer with a simple sample of blood, thanks to research done by Dr. Doreen Ezeife.

Exciting new research has shown that specialized blood tests, or “liquid biopsies,” can identify many types of cancer and allow physicians to target therapies for patients. A University of Calgary researcher, Dr. Doreen Ezeife, MD, has shown that liquid biopsies could also save the health-care system a lot of money.

Working with researchers across Canada, Ezeife studied the impact of liquid biopsy on the cost of care in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients. She found that liquid biopsies can significantly reduce health care costs, resulting in more patients receiving personalized therapy. This research could change how lung cancer is diagnosed in the future.

For Dr. Doreen Ezeife, the new Calgary Cancer Centre will enhance opportunities to collaborate with other scientists and health care professionals to perform nationally and internationally impactful research, with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.

“To me, to OWN.CANCER means that cancer patients can feel empowered to learn ways to maintain their health and well-being throughout their cancer and survivorship journey, and the health care team helps to have their needs met,” says Ezeife.

 

 

Click here to learn about the five critical areas in which we aim to tackle cancer.

This is our moment. Our once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the landscape of cancer research, care and treatment. We’re ready to OWN.CANCER with Dr. Doreen Ezeife. Are you with us?

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How Jim Button Owns Cancer

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“A father of two, husband of one, brother of three, and friend to many.” This is how Jim Button describes himself. 

On Father’s Day, 2014, Jim and his family were on a rafting trip when he began to feel severe pain. A hospital visit revealed a case of appendicitis, but it also revealed a baseball-sized tumor on his kidney. Within hours, his appendix was removed, and his kidney three weeks later. But in 2016, cancer had metastasized in Jim’s lungs and his oncologist explained that he would be on treatment for the rest of his life – which they estimated would be about one to two years. 

“That was six years ago,” says Jim. “And the journey from here to there has been seriously up and down… I’ve had many times where I’ve been in near-death situations – many times where the family’s standing around the bed thinking [that] that was it.”

Over the last six years, Jim has been documenting his experience with cancer on his blog – Gather With Jim, a place where he shares some of the good, bad and ugly experiences of living with cancer. It’s now become a place where he has inspired countless others who are on their own cancer journey.

“I wanted to normalize conversations around the disease and death and dying,” he says. “People avert their eyes. It’s very hard for them to look at a sick person… I want to try to normalize that in order to allow people to feel, ‘Oh, okay, this happens.’ Even families have a hard time discussing and sharing these difficult conversations when instead they should all be on the same page working together.”

Through his blog, Jim has been able to meet other folks living with cancer. He often goes on walks with them where they converse about their shared experiences.

“I’ve been in many group therapy scenarios where you go in and everybody has cancer and they talk about all the things that cancer’s taken away from them and the futileness of it all. Once cancer owns you, then it’s a quick ride to nowhere,” he says. “Throughout the walk, I feel like my role is to give them back ownership of their journey.”

Jim explains that living with cancer can cause people to feel a loss of control. Based on his experiences, Jim advises them to manage what they can control and let go of the rest. He recalls how his wife, Tracey Button, experienced anticipatory grief and anxieties after Jim’s diagnosis. Concerns about the future regarding their children (Jack and Amanda), their finances, as well as her work. To address her concerns, Jim and Tracey took care of what they could – organizing their life insurance, wills, and estates – as well as practicing mindfulness to focus on the present moment.

“You can’t control everything,” Jim explains. “You’re not promised tomorrow, but you’ve got today – so make today the best you can with what you have.” 

 “I’ve never used the word ‘fighting’, I’ve never used the word ‘survivor’, never used ‘battle’ – because I’m living with cancer. I’d rather not have cancer but the cancer is here so I’m living with it and adapting to it. I very much believe that I am in control of owning cancer versus that cancer owns me.”

When the Centre opens in 2023, Calgary will be home to a world-class cancer hospital with a comprehensive approach that allows researchers, clinicians, patient-care specialists, and diagnosticians to work together in one place. Jim is all too familiar with the inconvenience of visiting a myriad of different medical practitioners across the city. “We’re bringing in researchers, medical teams, and patients altogether in one place,” he says about the Centre. “It’s the smart way to do it.” 

Despite being located beside busy roadways, the Calgary Cancer Centre will have more than 6,200 square meters of outdoor accessible spaces helping people connect with nature and providing a more relaxing healing environment. Something as simple as natural light and green spaces can make a world of difference for patients and families going through treatment. “There’s going to be color and energy and freshness… When I’m at the hospital for weeks at a time, it would be nice to [have] conversations with people in a positive space,” says Jim.

Jim and Tracey felt that it was important to address the unique needs of young cancer patients and their families. With the support of their network, they began the Button Family Initiative in Pediatric Psychosocial Oncology & Survivorship at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. The first project supported by this initiative is led by Dr. Fiona Schlute, Ph.D., whose research focuses on improving the health and psychological outcomes for young survivors and enhancing real-time communication between researchers, clinicians, and patients and families, alike.

 Together, we are making great strides to improve the quality of life for cancer patients and survivors by treating the body, mind and spirit as a whole. 

Click here to learn about the five critical areas in which we aim to tackle cancer.

This is our moment. Our once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the landscape of cancer research, care and treatment. We’re ready to OWN.CANCER. Are you with us?

Click here to Donate.