Cancer isn’t just one disease. It is more than 100 diseases, and each of these 100 types can be divided into several sub-types.
The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) is the only national charity that supports Canadians with all cancers in communities across the country. No other organization does this.
CCS funds ground-breaking research, provides trusted information about cancer, offers programs and services to help people with cancer and their families cope, and advocates to governments for important social change and funding.
When you donate to the Canadian Cancer Society through the Spin For Life fundraising event, you’ll have the option to allocate your donation to any of four key programs.
A message from the Canadian Cancer Society...
Since the COVID-19 pandemic was announced by the World Health Organization, the Canadian Cancer Society had to make extraordinary decisions to suspend volunteer transportation services, close lodges and community offices, and cancel or postpone fundraising events.
CCS has worked hard to adjust to this new environment and has been able to safely re-open our lodges at lower capacity, implement travel subsidy programs and create online access to our wig and prosthetic programs now available online. We continue to transition our focus to delivering more online services such as Cancer.ca, Cancer Connections and Cancer Helpline to support the Canadians we serve. All of this has been done while experiencing a very significant decline in donation revenue. Fundraising programs like our Run for the Cure and Relay for Life were successfully moved to online platforms and our newest partner Spin for Life is helping us to recover some of that lost revenue.
During this unprecedented time, we need your generous support to ensure the Canadian Cancer Society can continue to offer critical programs and services to those with cancer, who are vulnerable to the virus.
Donation Allocation Options
COVID-19 Cancer Emergency Fund
Immunization Clinical Trial
During the pandemic, Canadians with cancer are at a higher risk of serious health outcomes from respiratory infections, such as COVID-19. In a groundbreaking study, researchers are testing a drug (IMM-101) to see if it can reduce the incidence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms in people undergoing cancer treatment. Results from this clinical trial are expected in 6 to 8 months, which is far quicker than most studies of this nature.
The research is being led by the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) and Dr Rachel Auer at The Ottawa Hospital, and supported by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). The study could inspire scientists to consider IMM-101 as a drug for people with chronic respiratory conditions and compromised immune systems. It could also inform international research teams with data as they develop a vaccine for COVID-19.
Cancer Support
A global health crisis does not stop cancer from being a life-altering disease. With stay-at-home measures, Canadians with cancer are experiencing greater anxiety and fear. With physical distancing, they feel lonelier and more isolated. With a compromised immune system, they have a higher risk of serious outcomes from the coronavirus.
Now more than ever, people with cancer are looking to the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) to find informed answers, express personal worries and voice deep fears. In nearly every call to the toll-free Cancer Information Helpline, Canadians ask about COVID-19 and cancer, and they talk about their distress. To help people in this challenging time, CCS is enhancing its digital and virtual connections to support Canadians with cancer during the pandemic’s uncertainty.
Regional Cancer Research Funds
The Canadian Cancer Society is the largest national charitable funder of cancer research and committed to funding the best cancer research in Canada. Donations to the Cancer Research Fund will support innovative and impactful cancer research conducted in all regions of Canada, as determined by their rigorous expert review process.
- BCY Cancer Research Fund (BC & Yukon)
- Prairies Cancer Research Fund (AB, SK, MB, & NWT) – ACTION Immunotherapy
- Ontario Cancer Research Fund
- Quebec Cancer Research Fund – Pediatric Cancer Research
- Atlantic Cancer Research Fund (NB, NS, PEI, NL)
ACTION in Alberta
ACTION is the Alberta Cellular Therapy and Immune Oncology Initiative. ACTION pulls together researchers across Alberta to collaborate on furthering T-cell therapy research. Many of the investigators are in Calgary at the University of Calgary and the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Secondary researchers are in Edmonton at the University of Alberta. Dr Doug Mahoney (Charbonneau and ACHRI) is the Lead Investigator, supported by a team of 11 Co-Investigators.
ACTION endeavours to develop a new way to study T-cells using advanced microscopy, to invent a new designer virus engineered to instruct T-cell therapies to thrive in cancer patients, and to seed an ambitious provincial research initiative that seeks to build next-generation T-cell therapies. Immunotherapies, which offer therapies outside of the traditional surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, currently work well in pediatric patients and for blood cancers. The next step for examination is the impact of immunotherapies on solid tumors.
Although the primary investigators are based in Alberta, the project has national impact. Results are to be shared and co-investigated by other immunotherapists across Canada. In bringing new engineered T-cell therapies and adjuvant strategies into a national health care ecosystem that is being established to support cost-effective point-of-care T-cell manufacturing, ACTION will contribute to better health outcomes for cancer patients at lower burden to our health care budget.
Pediatric Cancer Research in Quebec
The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) is the only national charity that funds research on all types of cancer. In 2019, the CCS invested more than $40.7 million in cancer research, supporting the projects of 207 researchers, including the pediatric cancer projects of Dr Sandra Cohen and Dr Cynthia Hawkins.
Dr Sandra Cohen and her team are helping to make stem cell transplants safer and more accessible to treat more children with blood cancers, while Dr Cynthia Hawkins and her team are significantly advancing precision medicine for young children with one of the most common types of brain tumours. Gliomas can now be diagnosed with greater accuracy, unnecessary treatments can be avoided, and better therapies make it more likely for children to live long and healthy lives.
Given that some 1,000 children under the age of 15 are diagnosed with cancer every year in Canada, your support is more important than ever. In addition to investing in the best childhood cancer research projects in Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society also offers support and information services to stricken families so they don’t ever have to face cancer alone.
Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG)
As a national network of more than 80 member institutions, the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) designs and administers clinical trials in cancer therapy, care and prevention. Located in every province, these trials are an essential step in bringing research discoveries from the lab to the people facing cancer. They bring new methods of treatment to patients who need them and give scientists an opportunity to learn how well new treatments or drugs work — all within a well-designed, controlled way.
A founding member of CCTG, the Canadian Cancer Society has provided core funding to its work since 1980. In that time, new cancer drugs, new combinations of treatments and new approaches to prevention and screening have been tested through CCTG-led trials, leading to improved outcomes for Canadians facing cancer.
Travel Treatment Fund & Wheels of Hope
Travel and transportation is one of the largest indirect costs of being diagnosed with cancer. In fact, 1 in 5 Canadians have trouble making it to their cancer treatment appointments. They often bear the burden of long car trips, air travel, fuel and parking, and sometimes, overnight accommodation when their treatment is provided far from home.
Without travel support, financially vulnerable Canadians are at risk of missing medical procedures that could save their lives. Through the Travel Treatment Fund & Wheels of Hope programs, the Canadian Cancer Society provides transportation grants or rides to those who need a lift. Demand for travel support will increase each year as Canada’s population ages and cancer care becomes more specialized and centralized in urban centres.
CCS Wheels of Hope volunteer drivers help lessen the burden of travel to and from treatment for those with physical or financial challenges.
