‘Underdog disorder’
Donation to help University of Alberta become leader in lymphatic research
EDMONTON A $7-million donation is poised to make the University of Alberta a leader in lymphatic disorder research.
The money — to establish the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Chair in Lymphatic Disorders, the first of its kind in Canada — will help drive research to support the care of patients suffering under-reported, under-recognized, and underdiagnosed medical problems in the lymphatic system such as lymphedema.
“We’re at the ground floor of this because there really is no substantial collection of knowledge about lymphatic disorders right now,” said Irving Kipnes in a statement Wednesday.
The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Foundation has committed $5 million to the effort directly while the University Hospital Foundation (UHF) and its donors matched a gift of $1 million made by the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Foundation through the University Hospital Foundation.
“We’ve always wanted to do something in Edmonton,” added Dianne Kipnes, diagnosed with lymphedema in 2009, five years after undergoing treatment for cervical cancer.
“I think we can help a lot of people who are dealing with a lot of pain. How many times in anybody’s life do you get to develop an area where so much research is needed?”
Lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system. The disease can be inherited or strikes as a consequence of surgery, trauma, cancer therapy, inflammation or infection of the lymphatic system.
About 300,000 people in Canada are affected by lymphedema. It is suffered by about 60 per cent of cancer patients, and up to 80 per cent of breast cancer patients who have undergone a mastectomy. If untreated, there is a risk of loss of limb function and chronic infections.
Treatments include manual drainage using a specialized form of massage and limb wrapping.
Some European centres are experimenting with lymph node transfer.
“Because most people live with this disorder and it doesn’t kill them, they’re just told, ‘You’re a survivor. You should be thankful and good luck to you.’ It’s an underdog disorder,” said David Eisenstat, chairman of the department of oncology at the University of Alberta’s faculty of medicine and dentistry.
“It’s not been front of mind in the academic world or in the clinical world. So, to me, this chair is a wonderful opportunity to say, ‘This is important,’ and make some progress in research and clinical care.”
In addition to the endowed chair, for which an international search is underway, the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Foundation has helped establish the Salutaris Centre, an Edmonton-based clinic for lymphatic massage, donated millions for the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Lymphatic Imaging Suite at the University of Calgary, and helped form the Alberta Lymphedema Network.