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.

• 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 to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to fund targeted research into pediatric cancer.
• CIHR is in the process of selecting the best research projects to have applied under this targeted initiative and will soon be funded.
• This funding will support promising research projects with the greatest potential for fighting pediatric cancers, and will establish a foundation for coordinated research and knowledge mobilization within this area in Canada through the creation of a Pediatric Cancer Consortium.
• These investments will help improve health systems and health outcomes for pediatric cancer patients and their families.

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 2016-17 and 2020-21, CIHR invested over one billion dollars ($1,008,817,314) in cancer research, including more than $49 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 has launched a research initiative on pediatric cancer, leveraging its Project Grant competition to support excellent research projects, and through a new funding opportunity, will catalyze the creation of a Pediatric Cancer Consortium.

The Consortium will advance a shared vision to collaborate and produce research that can help inform policy and practice predicated on better science, better access, and better coordination to improve lives of pediatric cancer patients and their families and caregivers. An interconnected Consortium will bring together the ecosystem of pediatric cancer research platforms, networks, research teams, policy makers and people with lived/living experience, Indigenous communities and organizations, healthcare providers and other entities.

The Consortium will work to establish core research platforms and projects that will advance priority areas such as:
• Personalized genomic medicine;
• Cell-based therapies;
• Quality of life for pediatric oncology patients throughout the life course, including the prevention of longer adverse effects (or late effects) of pediatric and adolescent cancer treatments;
• Research on equitable and rapid access to medicines.

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 will also improve the research pipeline and build capacity for the next generation of pediatric cancer researchers and help create positions for highly qualified personnel in universities and research institutions and act as a strong lever to promote economic stimulation and growth.

The funding opportunity for the Consortium recently closed for applications, a notice of decision is anticipated in August with funding expected to start in Summer 2022.

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.