Canadian researchers are embarking on a groundbreaking, $100-million project that will track 300,000 Canadians for up to 30 years in an effort to unlock critical secrets about the causes of cancer and how it can be prevented.
The largest study of its kind yet undertaken in Canada, it will collect information on people's lifestyles, environments and genetic makeup, giving researchers an enormous pool of information to help explain the development of the mysterious disease.
"By following average Canadians over this period of time, you'll be able to determine ... what makes some people stay healthy and others develop cancer and other chronic diseases," said Heather Bryant, vice-president of cancer control for the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, a federally funded organization helping to lead the study. "[It] will yield benefits for generations to come."
Researchers from across the country and around the world will be able to use the information to explore hypotheses about the links between cancer and environmental or genetic factors. For instance, scientists could use the project's massive store of blood samples to examine whether people who live in areas with little sunshine and have low levels of vitamin D are at a greater risk for certain cancers.
"As you go forward, you can get this richer and richer understanding of people's exposure and you can actually develop more questions as potentially more environmental or other causes are understood," Dr. Bryant said.
CPAC, along with other cancer organizations representing various regions of the country, officially launched the project yesterday and hopes to start the recruitment phase by the end of the year. The study is based on an Alberta project that has 30,000 participants and has been running for several years.
"This new initiative is the first of its kind in the world, and I congratulate CPAC for undertaking a study that will more closely examine the causes of cancer," Health Minister Tony Clement said in a news release. The federal government is providing $42-million to CPAC to help fund the work.
Instead of canvassing for volunteers, researchers will recruit people at random, ensuring the participants represent a cross-section of the country. In the Alberta study, participants were recruited by a random phone-dialling system, a method that may be used for the larger study in the coming months, Dr. Bryant said.
The project is expected to include 40,000 people in British Columbia; 50,000 in Alberta; 150,000 in Ontario; at least 30,000 in Quebec; and 30,000 in Atlantic Canada.
Participants must be between 35 and 69. People who have already had cancer, other than non-melanomatic skin cancer, will not be eligible. That's because the study will focus on the factors that could lead to the development of cancer throughout a person's life, rather than look retrospectively at the possible causes in those who have had the disease.
This type of study is considered the gold standard of population-based medical research because it recruits healthy people and follows them throughout their lives. Other studies often look at people after they have been diagnosed with cancer and must rely on patients' sometimes faulty memories of their lifestyles or environments.
The Canadian project's concept is similar to that of the Framingham Heart Study in the United States, which began in 1948 and is still tracking residents of the Massachusetts town after which the study was named. That research has led to major breakthroughs and has uncovered significant risk factors associated with heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular problems.
Participants in the Canadian cancer study will be asked to provide blood and possibly saliva samples. They must also answer detailed questionnaires on a continuing basis, supplying personal information such as what they eat, how often they exercise, whether they take vitamins, and possibly even their past addresses.
Marnie Mastel, 62, has been participating in the Alberta study since 2004 and said it is rewarding to know that information from her life could eventually help lead to a breakthrough in the fight against cancer.
"They'll follow me until I'm 85, and I just think it's really neat," said Ms. Mastel, who works full-time as a receptionist and bookkeeper for her husband, an executive recruiter. "Eventually, something is going to click. They're going to find out what you could or should or didn't do that maybe would stop someone from having cancer. ... You never know who it could help."
While the study will focus primarily on cancer prevention, the rich collection of information will enable researchers to learn about potential links to cancer in lifestyle, environment, genetics and chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
