Cancer society CEO doesn't want another 75 years

While 2013 may mark the Canadian Cancer Society's 75th anniversary, the organization's Ontario division CEO said he hopes the organization doesn't have cause to be around for another 75 years.

“We think we know what we need to do so we can begin to close down our shop,” Martin Kabat told Northern Life April 16 before a local luncheon celebrating the anniversary.

What the Canadian Cancer Society needs to do is go out and fight against cancers still considered to be lethal, such as lung, colorectal, brain, esophageal, ovarian and pancreatic cancers, he said.

Kabat said that includes finding ways to prevent these cancers, detect them sooner and treat them more effectively if someone does contract them, ultimately preventing pain and suffering and costs to the health-care system.

Research is what's needed to make these goals a reality, Kabat said.

A look at what's happened since the Canadian Cancer Society was formed in 1938 proves that, he said.

Back then, cancer was considered a death sentence, with fewer than a quarter of cancer patients surviving it. Today that number has increased to 62 per cent.

People used to be afraid to even whisper the word “breast cancer” because the idea that you might have it was terrifying, Kabat said.

Thanks to medical advances brought on by research, today more than 88 per cent of women survive breast cancer. Similarly, more than 82 per cent of those with childhood cancers now survive.

The Canadian Cancer Society has done its part to fund cancer research, raising more than $1.2 billion for that purpose since its inception, as well as more than $40 million a year.

Local breast cancer survivor and Canadian Cancer Society Delores Fortier, who also spoke at the luncheon, said she vividly remembers a patient she treated as a student nurse many years ago.

Despite having had a “radical mastectomy,” the patient was dying from breast cancer. “There was very limited treatment at that time,” she said.

Fortier herself has battled breast cancer twice — the first time 15 years ago, and then again two years ago — and is still around to tell the tale.

It makes her reflect on how much breast cancer treatment has changed since her early days in nursing.

“In fact, in the past 20 years, cancer treatment and quality of life have dramatically improved,” Fortier said. “Since 1986, the breast cancer death rate declined by about 40 per cent.”

That's why Fortier has committed herself to raising funds for breast cancer research funded by the Canadian Cancer Society. The Little Black Dress and Pearls Soiree, which started in 2009, has raised $125,000 to date for the cause.

Last year, she and other event organizers looked into whether they could support a specific breast cancer research project.

They settled on research, examining the impact of the breast cancer prevention drug Exemestane on bone density. The project is being conducted out of Toronto General Hospital by Dr. Angela Cheung.

The Northeast Cancer Centre has been involved in several clinical cancer drug trials funded by the Canadian Cancer Society, said Dr. Amanda Hey, the northeast primary cancer lead with Health Sciences North.

One of these was for a drug called Letrozole, designed to increase long-term survival after breast cancer treatment. Another was for the drug Exemestane, designed to prevent breast cancer from developing in the first place.

Both trials gave women access to drugs which eventually proved to be effective, and that they wouldn't have had access to otherwise, Hey said.

In addition to sharing his remarks at the 75th anniversary luncheon, Kabat visited several local schools on April 16.

École St-Paul students presented the cancer society with a cheque from a recent fundraiser, and Marymount Academy students were presented with a $300 cheque to help promote a tan-free prom. He then joined St. John Catholic Elementary School students to kick off the school's Relay for Life fundraiser.

“He's doing a tour of all of Ontario,” Canadian Cancer Society Sudbury unit manager Cathy Burns said. “Sudbury was one of the stops he wanted to make. He knows the people in Sudbury are so very generous, and we're a caring community.”