CONDUCTING THE RESEARCH THAT WILL GUARANTEE A HEALTHIER TOMORROW
Created to help researchers discover what causes cancer, cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project (CPTP) is a longterm cohort research study that’s made up of 300,000 Canadian participants.
“It’s important that this is a cohort study because it means that we enroll people before they develop a disease, allowing us to monitor what their risk factors are as they age,” explains Dr. Heather Bryant ,Vice President of Cancer Control at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. “It means that we’re able to get a history of the participants’ exposures that’s not biased by their interpretation of what may have caused a disease that develops later on.”
By agreeing to share their health and lifestyle information throughout their adult lives, and by providing core biological samples, the participants are providing the medical research community with a wealth of high quality data to analyze. Researchers will then use this data to answer questions about why some people suffer with chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart and lung disease, while others don’t.
“If we do a study in which we ask people about their earlier exercise patterns and eating habits after they’ve developed a disease, we’re not going to get good quality data,” says Dr .Bryant.
For the greater good
As the study progresses, researchers can begin to look for, and understand, the regional, national and international patterns that lead to chronic disease. Ultimately, the information collected from the project will act as a direct guide for preventing serious ill- nesses and lessening their impact for future generations.
“This project gives everyday Canadians the opportunity to pay it forward, if you will,” says Dr. Bryant. “By joining this landmark study, Canadians will be contributing to the creation of a rich national bank of health information to help researchers answer fundamental questions about the causes of cancer and chronic disease.”
From a participant’s perspective, it’s a way of making a contribution to future generations in a unique and special way. Each participant is giving a small part of himself or herself in an attempt to help other Canadian families who may be affected by the tragedy that often accompanies chronic disease.
“Most people are not doing it for themselves, they’re doing it because someone close to them may have, or have had, cancer — so they want to contribute and make a difference,” says Dr. Jacques Magnan, who is the Scientific Lead of the CPTP. “It gives people a good feeling to be part of research that will, over time, allow the Canadian population to benefit from having lower incidence of cancer.”
National project, international value
By making all of the data and findings available for researchers throughout Canada and across the world to use in their own individual study projects, the CPTP will be responsible for aiding major medical breakthroughs for decades to come. This unrestricted access makes the project hugely valuable for the international research community because, usually, it’s extremely difficult for individual researchers to obtain such qualitative and quantitative data.
“From a researcher’s perspective, the importance here is that we’re creating a huge, pan- Canadian research platform that will serve the research commun- ity for years to come,” says Dr. Magnan. “Usually, when researchers are trying to answer population based questions, they have to recruit their own participants and that requires a huge amount of time at the onset of their projects.”
The underlying aim is to make the CPTP data available as a resource for all researchers to access when exploring possible relationships between exposures and disease.
The chance to make a difference
For organizations and individuals within the research funding community, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project acts as a fantastic opportunity to be part of a truly groundbreaking study.The enormous amount of investment and work that was necessary for the front-end of the project, the “heavy-lifting”, as Dr. Magnan puts it, has been done: the research platform is in place.
“What we need now is investors who are prepared to support high quality research that will utilize and sustain the platform in order to make a difference in the care of cancer for Canadians,” says Dr. Magnan.
SHELLY JAMIESON CEO, CANADIAN PARTNERSHIP AGAINST CANCER
Dr. Bryant sees CPTP as a legacy project, “something that will yield results for many years to come.” She continued, “There may be funders that haven’t been involved in the building of the platform, but will be involved in the harvest of the information.”
But, it’s not just the researchers, administrators, academics and funders that make CPTP possible, without the 300,000 Canadians who have voluntarily signed up none of this would be possible.Are you aged between 35 and 69? If so, head to www.Partnership- ForTomorrow.ca and sign up for one of the most important medical studies in Canadian history.
“I’ve signed up as a participant, and when I went to give blood I got a sense that I was doing something truly worthwhile,” says Dr. Magnan. “Together we can make a difference.”
For those participants who have already enrolled but not yet provided blood samples, do it today. The project is relying on you.
“The Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project has great promise to help us better understand cancer and other chronic diseases. With our partners, we have undertaken this legacy project, by building the largest ever population laboratory in Canada.We are excited about the opportunities this project offers to ultimately reduce the impact of cancer and chronic diseases on Canadians in the future.”