Together, let’s redefine the future for Albertans facing cancer.

Clinical Trials

43 Albertans hear the words "you have cancer" every day

These are our families.

Our friends.

Our neighbours.

Unfortunately, that number is expected to grow. By 2015, 18,500 Albertans will be diagnosed with this disease, up from 15,323 in 2010.

43 Albertans hear the words "you have cancer" every day

We are impatient for progress.

We know there is a need for new and effective treatment options.

Together, we can make a difference by investing in clinical trials.

Progress in the treatment of cancer depends on being able to translate scientific discovery in the lab to the bedside, so patients benefit. The only way to get there is through clinical trials.

The Alberta Cancer Foundation has supported clinical trials across the province for years, but we need you now more than ever. We have set the stage to propel Alberta to be a world leader in clinical trials, ultimately saving more lives and making a difference for those 43 Albertans.

All we need is you.

Why clinical trials?

Clinical trials are one of the few ways to provide a controlled environment for advancing medical knowledge and enhancing patient care. They answer two important questions: does the new treatment work in people and is the new treatment safe?

To answer these questions, clinical trials are grouped into phases. These phases are designed to answer specific questions, while making sure the people taking part are kept as safe as possible. Every new treatment is tested in

three or more phases before being considered safe and effective.

For patients, clinical trials offer another treatment option, when all others have run out.The questions answered in clinical trials lie at the heart of translational research and develop new and better strategies for detecting, treating and preventing cancer.

Why clinical trials?Why now?Over the past few years, there has been a deluge of discoveries generated by scientists about the genetic and environmental causes of cancer, findings that likely contain a wealth of new targets for treating the disease. At the same time, the rate at which new drugs and other therapeutics are reaching patients has not improved.

The Alberta Cancer Foundation has committed $10 million over the next five years to push our provincial clinical trials program to make a transformational impact on Albertans.

Together, we can reach that goal and make a difference not only in Alberta, but to the world around us.

To speed up the pace of development, scientists need more funding and more patients to produce meaningful results.

Alberta has a higher clinical trial enrollment rate than the national average and the goal next year is to increase the number of patients who take part in these studies by 10%. Over the past five years, more than 6000 Albertans have taken part in 500 trials.

Clinical trials benefit medical research and help future generations. But they also provide an advantage for participants, such as improved patient outcomes or quality of life.

Trevor’s StoryTrevor Sauer is a good example of how clinical trials save lives. In 2004, a newly married Trevor was diagnosed with melanoma. His lump was removed, but two years later it returned. And the news couldn’t have been any worse. As his oncologist, Dr. Michael Smylie says, at the time there were no effective treatments for melanoma. The only approved therapy was a mid-1970s-era drug of questionable efficacy

called dacarbazine. “It was a very depressing tumour to treat,” Smylie says. “For a long time we didn’t understand the biology.”

Eventually Dr. Smylie had to deliver the grim news to Trevor and his new bride, Melissa. Trevor had six months to live. He had run out of treatment options.

A few months later, however, there was a glimmer. A clinical trial for stage four melanoma patients, investigating a new immunotherapy drug opened up.

“We thought, ‘I can try it and, if it gives me another year or three months, it’s better than the alternative.”

It gave him more than that. It gave him his life back. Last year, Trevor celebrated his 40th birthday and is the grateful father to four-year-old, Sophia.

Without that clinical trial, Trevor knows he would not be here today.

The treatment tested, ipilmumab, is an immunotherapy drug that is part of a much larger, new approach to cancer treatment. Immunotherapy offers to treat cancers and patients in a more targeted way based on immune differences and genetic mutations that are particular to the patient. The success of ipilimumab inspired the New England Journal of Medicine to dub melanoma the “unlikely poster child of personalized cancer therapy.”

Scientists would not have learned that knowledge without clinical trials. They showed a marked improvement in survivor rates, from five per cent to 20 per cent and led Health Canada to approve the issue of this treatment in 2012 for metastatic treatment in patients who had not responded to first line treatments.

While that particular trial saved Trevor’s life, there is still a great deal more to understand. Why do some people respond to the drug and others not at all? What role do individual gene mutations have in cancer cells that are flourishing? What other cancers will respond to ipilmumab or to immunotherapy?

Such knowledge is what will improve the lives of other Albertans, so their stories can end as Trevor’s has.

Clinical trials in AlbertaThere are three types of clinical trials:

• Industry-driven trials – These types of trials are funded by pharmaceutical companies to test their new drugs; pharmaceutical companies often pay multiple clinical research units across North America to run these trials.

•Cooperative trials – Organizations or hospitals work together on these trials and share results within the group. This sharing allows new treatments to be evaluated quickly.

• Investigator-initiated trials – These are the types of trials that researchers design through their work in the cancer field. Based on their day-to-day interactions with cancer patients, oncologists and cancer researchers often come up with unique ideas for new and improved treatment. To test their hypothesis, a clinical trial is needed. Typically, pharmaceutical companies are not interested in funding this type of research, but these clinical trials have a large potential to positively impact Albertans for cancer breakthroughs.

This is where you fit in. Alberta is filled with brilliant minds, waiting to test the next big discovery. The Alberta Cancer Foundation wants to help accelerate progress and deliver results. We want you to join us in this opportunity.

Trials that take place at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary and the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton focus on improving options and patient outcomes for Albertans. Patients involved in trials receive access to treatment years before it is available to the general public.

We depend on your generosity to take Alberta to the next level of excellence and push the pace of discovery.

Where your investment goesWe have committed to raising $10 million over the next five years to bring innovation to Albertans faster. Investing in clinical trials in this province is an opportunity to foster groundbreaking philanthropic impact. Your gift will fuel the promise of pioneering new treatments in Alberta for you and your loved ones.

We invite you to have a transformational impact on cancer research and discovery. Together, we can redefine the future for Albertans facing cancer.

The Alberta Cancer Foundation supports every single clinical trial that takes place in Alberta. Without your generosity, these trials would simply not take place. Your commitment supports the best and brightest minds to run these units, as well as front-line care teams to ensure trial participants are receiving excellent care.

Within the next year, more than 40 clinical

trials are expected to open in Alberta with

600 patients taking part. The cost to run one

clinical trial can be as high as $200K. Every

dollar invested by the Alberta Cancer Foundation

leverages an additional $4, ensuring the clinical

research units are well-armed to deliver the

best treatment and care possible.

Transformational return on investmentWith investments totalling $10 million over the next five years, this nation-leading clinical trials program will push for accelerated change, progress and above all else, results. We understand how important it is to make smart investments with your dollars, investments that have

a clear impact on patients-earlier detection, improved treatments and better quality of life.

Clinical trials can do that. Be part of the opportunity to decrease the occurrence of cancer, increase the survivability of patients with cancer and impact cancer at the individual, system or societal level.

$10M over 5 years

$2M/year $100–200K/trial $10–20K/person

Transformational return on investment Your gift will immediately• increase the number of Alberta patients

who enroll in clinical trials

•reduce the time between creating the trial and signing up the first patient

• increase the number of clinical trials available to Alberta patients

• increase communitcation and collaboration across all provincial units

• increased public awareness about clinical trial activity

• increase the contributions Alberta makes to the global cancer effort, through clinical trial knowledge

With your help, we can accelerate change for those 43 Albertans who hear the words, “you have cancer.”

Help us redefine the future.

Between two and five years, your gift will•change standard treatment practice

in Alberta

•develop and perfect use of existing therapeutics

•develop highly skilled and intuitive oncology professionals

Alberta is already considered a leader in clinical trials. And, with your support, we can do even better. Together, we can generate innovation and have a transformational impact on people’s lives in Alberta and beyond.

Foundation OfficesEdmonton710-10123 99 Street NWEdmonton, Alberta T5J 3H1P: 1.866.412.4222

CalgarySuite 300 1620–29 Street NWCalgary, Alberta T2N 4L7P: 1.866.412.4222

Cross Cancer Institute11560 University AvenueEdmonton, Alberta T6G 1Z2P: 780.432.8500

Tom Baker Cancer Centre1331 – 29 Street NWCalgary, Alberta T2N 4N2P: 403.521.3433

Jack Ady Cancer Centre960 19 StreetLethbridge, Alberta T1J 1W5P: 403.388.6867

Cancer CentresCross Cancer Institute, Edmonton

Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary

Associate Cancer Centres Central Alberta (Red Deer), Grande Prairie, Jack Ady Cancer Centre (Lethbridge), Margery E. Yuill Cancer Centre, (Medicine Hat)

Community Cancer CentresBarrhead, Bonnyville, Bow Valley, Camrose, Drayton Valley, Drumheller, High River, Hinton, Lloydminster, Fort McMurray, Peace River

Thank you for redefining the future for Albertan s facing cancer.