Question Period Note: PEDIATRIC CANCER

• Budget 2021 committed $30M over 2 years, for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to address gaps in pediatric cancer research and ensure sustainable funding in this area.

KEY MESSAGES

• Our government is committed to supporting the brave children and their families who are going through the devastating experience of pediatric cancer.

• That is why we are committing $30 million dollars over two years to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to fund targeted research into pediatric cancer.

• This funding will support promising research projects with the greatest potential for fighting pediatric cancers, and will establish research networks across Canada to address knowledge gaps in pediatric cancer research.

• These investments will help improve health systems and health outcomes for pediatric cancer patients and their families.

• It will lead to funding priority-driven research that leads to better healthcare and health outcomes, enhances job creation and acts as a strong lever to stimulate economic growth.

Cancer is one of leading causes of disease-related deaths in Canadian children over the age of one month. While childhood cancer accounts for less than 1% of all new cancer cases in Canada, it was estimated that 1000 children and youth (aged 0-14 years) would be diagnosed with cancer in 2019. In general, it is recognized that cancers in children act differently and are found in different organs than in adults while tumors in children tend to grow and spread throughout the body more quickly. In recognition of the significant impact that pediatric cancer has on both individuals and their families and caregivers, additional support is needed to increase access to clinical trials, the development of a pediatric cancer drug discovery program and increased funding for pediatric cancer research.
As Canada’s federal health funding agency, CIHR’s strong connections to the pediatric cancer research and advocacy communities in Canada ideally position it to deliver on this important priority and enhance pediatric cancer research from a national perspective. Between 2015-16 and 2019-20, CIHR invested approximately $927 million in cancer research, including more than $39 million specifically on pediatric cancer, while also building strong connections to the pediatric cancer research and advocacy communities across Canada.
With this new investment, CIHR will design and launch targeted multi-year, multi-component research initiatives on pediatric cancer. CIHR will leverage its suite of funding mechanisms including capacity building grants, team grants, network grants and knowledge dissemination grants to generate the evidence needed to address gaps in knowledge concerning pediatric cancer. Working closely with the pediatric cancer research community CIHR will identify the most pressing gaps in pediatric cancer research and develop targeted initiatives to mobilize the research community on topics including but not limited to:
• supporting clinical trial infrastructure;
• ensuring access to novel therapeutics;
• supporting precision oncology;
• incentives to finding new therapeutics for pediatric cancer, and;
• Indigenous child cancer research.

It is important to note that support for priority-driven research in pediatric cancer will not only allow identifying innovative solutions to support pediatric cancer patients and their families but also create positions for highly qualified personnel in universities and research institutions and act as a strong lever to promote economic stimulation and growth.

KEY FACTS
• While childhood cancer accounts for less than 1% of all new cancer cases in Canada, it was estimated that 1000 children and youth (aged 0-14 years) would be diagnosed with cancer in 2019.