2008 Community Report

Saving lives with outstanding research

The most important thing to someone battling cancer is the hope that their treatment will be effective;
that they will survive and thrive.

The Canadian Cancer Society makes an ongoing substantial commitment to outstanding cancer research on all cancers.

Research is increasing our understanding of cancer, revealing prevention strategies, making advances in detection and diagnosis; developing better treatments that are saving lives and improving quality of life for people with cancer.

Today 60% of people with cancer will survive compared to 30% in the 1960s.

In 2008,

• over $7 million in funding was awarded to the best research projects in BC at leading research organizations
• An additional $20 million is currently funding another 23 projects
• approximately $43 million grants was awarded researchers outside BC
• 228 new cancer patients in BC joined clinical trials in 2008

The side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs are severe. UBC researcher Dr Grant Mauk and his team have identified a new agent that blocks the action of an enzyme which helps cancer cells avoid destruction by the immune system.  This inhibitor comes from a fungus grown from ocean sediment (collected by Dr Raymond Andersen at UBC). The goal is to create a therapeutic agent that could be administered and combined with lower doses of chemotherapeutic drugs and fewer side effects.