TORONTO - The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada is hoping that its new report card will help campaigning political candidates better understand what it means "to carry the physical, emotional and financial burdens of cancer."
Dr. Pierre Major, co-chair of the board of directors, said that perhaps some politicians will take hints from the report, released Tuesday, and realize that the country needs leadership on health issues.
"I strongly believe based on what I see daily and the input from colleagues that we do have sufficient funds to provide ourselves with excellent health care delivered in a timely way, but the organizational aspects of delivery of care needs some work," said Major, an oncologist in Hamilton.
The health care system should be making greater use of the skills of pharmacists and nurse practitioners to extend the work of physicians, who could then focus on the more difficult medical care issues, the report suggested.
"We really have to leverage the skills that are already there, and that needs some actions on behalf of government. We're seeing some positive direction in Ontario with expanding the role of nurses, and we've seen that in other provinces, but there's not that sense of urgency, and we'd like to see that happen in a quicker timeline," Major said.
He also noted that fewer cancer patients are being enrolled in clinical trials as hospitals try to contain costs, even though published information shows that patients treated in hospitals that support clinical trials have better outcomes.
"When you're doing clinical trials it's not only the patients who enter the trial who benefit -- there's an aura effect," Major explained.
"You have a discipline that you require to qualify as a centre conducting clinical trials and that impacts your care of patients in your hospital or clinic."
In addition, benefits are derived from clinical trials that make new cancer drugs available in a timely fashion that might otherwise not be available to patients.
The report says the percentage of patients enrolled in therapeutic clinical trials across Canada ranged from two per cent in the Atlantic provinces in 2009, to 11 per cent in Alberta. Last year, Cancer Care Ontario reported that cancer patient participation in clinical trials from 2007 to 2009 had decreased 28 per cent, citing "a changing environment for supporting clinical trials."
Among other things, the advocacy coalition is repeating its calls for access to catastrophic drug coverage for cancer patients and more timely access to cancer surgery and the medical oncology opinions needed for the treatment of cancer.
Major also said it is important to listen to advocates -- health care providers on the frontlines -- when they try to point to better ways of doing things. Rather, he pointed to "a disturbing trend" over the last 10 years of administrations that try to gag physicians.
In terms of the emotional burden of cancer, it was aptly described by Peter Laneas, 34, a Toronto actor who has been stricken by testicular cancer twice -- the first time when he was just 26.
"When dealing with testicular cancer, I find that the issue of a sense of male identity is what really needs to be addressed," he explained.
"You're kind of left there with your own thoughts, and it can be kind of harrowing because there is no book, there's no instructions on how to cope or how to deal with this."
Laneas has become a spokesman for the Canadian Testicular Cancer Association, and notes that the disease is the most common form of cancer for males between 15 and 29. Yet he laments that there are few support groups or support services for young adults with cancer.
There is a cure rate of 97 per cent, he said, but "we still have guys dying, and it's not just because they're dying from lack of diagnosis. In some cases, the therapy is killing them. So is there another way, and why aren't you addressing it?"
"As a charity ourselves, that's something where once we get to a point and we grow, where there is enough money within our bank account... we would want to fund clinical trials," he added.
The report notes that an estimated 173,800 new cases of cancer occurred in Canada last year. It says 40 per cent of women and 45 per cent of men will develop cancer during their lifetime.
