EDMONTON, Feb. 4, 2014 /CNW/ - Every day, 43 Albertans hear the words, "you have cancer." The Alberta Cancer Foundation launched a public awareness campaign on World Cancer Day that will push for results and improve the lives of Albertans facing the disease.
"The number 43 is more than a statistic—these are our friends, our loved ones, our neighbours," says Myka Osinchuk, CEO of the Alberta Cancer Foundation. "We act everyday on behalf of those Albertans and want to change that statistic."
The Alberta Cancer Foundation is the largest philanthropic investor in cancer research in the province.
Recently, the Alberta Cancer Foundation has changed it approach to the way it invests in research--creating an environment for collaboration and bringing science, patients and care together in a new and innovative way.
To achieve its goal, the Alberta Cancer Foundation will invest $120 million into cancer research, prevention and care by 2017. This five-year target was set in 2012 and the Foundation is well underway to meeting its commitment and already making an impact.
Because of the groundbreaking work being done here on glioblastoma, a deadly type of brain cancer, Alberta patients are living 14 months longer than patients cited in medical research. Donor investment plays a large role in that progress.
The Foundation, along with Alberta Health Services, also recently celebrated another breakthrough in western Canada, when a patient diagnosed with breast cancer became the first to receive brachytherapy—a novel procedure that places seeds near the tumour and delivers radiation more effectively and less invasively. It follows a provincial ocular brachytherapy program for patients with a rare type of eye cancer. Both innovations were made possible by Alberta Cancer Foundation donors.
"We are investing our donor dollars in research led by the most motivated scientists in Alberta," says Osinchuk. "These research teams will accelerate breakthroughs and deliver transformative new treatments to patients in Alberta and around the world. Collaboration unlocks solutions that would have been previously unthinkable."
The Alberta Cancer Foundation is the fundraising partner for all cancer centres in Alberta, including the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary.
Video with caption: "Video: Alberta Cancer Foundation launches campaign to improve lives of Albertans facing cancer". Video available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20140204_C7291_VIDEO_EN_36208.mp4&posterurl=http://photos.newswire.ca/images/20140204_C7291_PHOTO_EN_36208.jpg&clientName=Alberta%20Cancer%20Foundation&caption=Video%3A%20Alberta%20Cancer%20Foundation%20launches%20campaign%20to%20improve%20lives%20of%20Albertans%20facing%20cancer&title=&headline=Alberta%20Cancer%20Foundation%20launches%20campaign%20to%20improve%20lives%20of%20Albertans%20facing%20cancer
SOURCE: Alberta Cancer Foundation
For more information about Campaign 43, visit: http://www.albertacancer.ca/43 or contact
Phoebe Dey, Director, Communications, Alberta Cancer Foundation (780)700-6120 or [email protected]
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