St. Albert residents have a unique opportunity to lend a hand in cancer research.
The Tomorrow Project, a long-term research study into the causes of cancer, is looking for roughly 150 locals to participate in the study to be held in St. Albert next week.
Dr. Paula Robson, principal investigator with the Tomorrow Project, said one in two men and one in three women will develop cancer in their lifetime, with 25 per cent of Albertans falling victim to the disease.
“If we’re going to make any impact on those numbers, we need to understand a whole lot more about what causes cancer in the first place and that’s what the Tomorrow Project is all about,” she said.
Participants are required to answer a series of health and lifestyle questions, provide measurements and provide a sample of urine and blood or saliva.
The information and samples will be stored and evaluated over the next five decades, although she said she expects meaningful data to surface before then.
“We know that a portion of people who join the project now will unfortunately develop cancer at some stage of their life,” Robson said. “What we’ll do at that stage is start to pull the samples out of the freezer and analyze them to try and understand what was different about people who developed the disease versus people who didn’t.”
Organizers hope to enrol 50,000 Albertans, both male and female, between 35 and 69 years of age who have never had cancer. Robson said she hopes to reach this number in the next year.
So far, roughly 21,500 participants have signed up to take part in this phase of the study. Males are needed, since the study is dominated by females with roughly 66 per cent.
“There’s probably not much benefit to those who do join the study right now, but the benefit will be for our future generations,” she said. “Providing information now will be extremely useful in helping prevent cancer in the future so people don’t have to go through getting that diagnosis and living with the uncertainty that comes with it.”
She said although the project is ambitious, it is necessary to ensure a future without cancer is possible.
A prior phase of the Tomorrow Project sought 30,000 participants to provide information on diet and physical activity. These individuals were invited to participate in the current phase with 60 per cent already enrolled.
A temporary study centre will be set up at the St. Albert Inn & Suites between April 16 and 18. Participants must pre-book the hour-long appointments by visiting www.in4tomorrow.ca or calling 1-877-919-9292.
Study centres like this will be held in various communities throughout the province in April and May.
This initiative is part of a larger project, called the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project, which aims to enrol 300,000 Canadians into the study.
The Canada-wide project is funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, which allocated $42.1 million over four years to a handful of provinces, with Alberta receiving $7 million.
The Alberta Cancer Prevention Legacy Fund and Alberta Cancer Foundation are also contributing funds to the study.
