Leading patient groups applaud Ontario's move to fast-track access to life-saving cancer drugs

TORONTO, Oct. 7, 2025 /CNW/ - Cancer patients and their families across Ontario are welcoming new hope with the launch of a provincial pilot program to accelerate access to high-priority cancer drugs - a step advocates say will save time, save lives and strengthen confidence in the health care system.

The Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network (CCRAN), in collaboration with Save Your Skin Foundation and 11 additional patient advocacy groups, applauds the announcement as a vital step toward timely access to promising new treatments.

Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Ontario and across Canada. Patients currently wait an average of two years after Health Canada approval to gain access to new medicines, and this is inclusive of a delay of more than five months before drugs are covered under Ontario's public drug plan. Patients simply cannot afford these delays. The accelerated access pilot program represents a vital step towards addressing this gap and ensuring patients have faster access to potentially life-saving therapies.

"An accelerated access program represents a critical step forward to ensuring cancer patients receive promising new treatments when they need them most -- not after avoidable delays that can cost lives and hope," said Dr. Michael Raphael, GI Medical Oncologist at the Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and Assistant Professor, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Toronto.

Patients, too, see the pilot as a lifeline.

"Having rapid access to these medications is not just reducing financial toxicities but directly saving lives and families," said Dianna, a metastatic endometrial cancer patient from Toronto. "Cancer can be very aggressive, and it's a race against time."

CCRAN emphasized that this announcement provides hope while laying the groundwork for the future.

"We commend the Ontario government for its leadership in launching this pilot program, which will bring much-needed hope to patients and families across the province," said Filomena Servidio-Italiano, President and CEO, CCRAN. "This initiative represents an important step toward improving outcomes, extending survival and restoring quality of life."

CCRAN and its partner organizations welcome this progress and stand ready to collaborate with all stakeholders to support the pilot's success. Together, patient groups, clinicians and government can ensure that adults, children and adolescents with cancer have timely, evidence-based access to the treatments they need.

The coalition encourages all levels of government, public drug programs, and regulatory bodies to work in unison to ensure the pilot is successful and sets the stage for a national shift toward faster, more equitable access to life-saving treatments.

Participating Patient Advocacy Organizations include:

• Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network (CCRAN)
• Save Your Skin Foundation
• All.Can Canada
• AYA CAN
• Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada
• Canadian Cancer Survivor Network
• Cholangio-Hepatocellular Carcinoma Canada
• HPV Global Action
• Liver Canada
• Lung Cancer Canada
• Lymphoma Canada
• My Gut Feeling -- Stomach Cancer Foundation of Canada
• Pancreatic Cancer Canada

These organizations remain committed to supporting the implementation of the pilot and offering their expertise to shape a patient-centered, sustainable long-term solution.

About CCRAN

The Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network (CCRAN) is a national, patient-focused advocacy group championing the health and wellbeing of Canadians touched by colorectal cancer and others at risk of developing the disease. We provide support, education, and advocacy to patients (and their caregivers) to help improve patients' quality of life, as well as their longevity.

CCRAN has recently expanded its patient-focused mandate to serve multiple tumour type patients through its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) patient evidence submissions, educational events, advocacy initiatives, and patient programming, to ultimately reduce the burden of cancer in Canada.

SOURCE Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network (CCRAN)

Media Contact: Alyssa Salmon, Communications Officer, Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network (CCRAN), Phone: [phone] x1006, Email: [email protected]