Cancer fight gets a boost

Sun Media -- Cancer researchers at the University of Manitoba have landed some major funding from the federal government under a program intended to award funds to the best of the best.

Two of the seven projects being funded across Canada as part of a five-year, $10.1 million initiative will take place here in Manitoba.

Each project will receive about $300,000 a year for five years.

"This is huge," said Donna Turner, an epidemiologist with CancerCare Manitoba who will work on both Manitoba projects. "This is a big coup for Manitoba."

All the projects, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, focus not on clinical research seeking a cure, but on the care received by cancer patients, both in terms of access and quality. The projects were selected by CIHR via a peer-review process that aimed to choose the most promising projects based on "scientific excellence," ensuring that only the cream of the crop were chosen.
One of the two Manitoba-based projects will look at patterns of cancer incidence, risk factors and care within aboriginal populations in the province.

"One of the things we've never been able to do is separate out what's happening with cancer in our aboriginal populations," said Turner. "We think, based on what other jurisdictions like Ontario have found, that cancer is probably on the rise (among aboriginal people)."

The project should produce a cancer control strategy specific to First Nations.

The second Manitoba project will focus on the role of primary health care providers like family doctors and nurse practitioners in screening for colorectal cancer, as well as their role following treatment.

Led by Alan Katz, an associate professor of family medicine at the U of M, the research team will try to determine how primary health care providers can help improve screening for a form of cancer with high death rates often linked with late detection.

The project will also examine the best way to transfer some of the post-treatment care back from the cancer specialists to the primary care providers.

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