Keeping you informed about Alberta’s Tomorrow Project, a COUNT ME IN research initiative designed to discover more about what causes cancer and other long-term health 4 tomorrow conditions. VOLUME THREE - ISSUE ONE - SPRING 2012 VISIT: WWW.IN4TOMORROW.CA Why do we need the Tomorrow Project? In order to reach the goal, the Tomorrow Project needs to sign up thousands of It is estimated that 1 in 2 Albertans While great advances have been made people aged 35-69. Those people need will get cancer in their lifetime, and in treatment and early detection of to be willing to stay with the Project for a that 1 in 4 will die from it1. cancers and other health conditions, so long period of time. much still needs to be learned about the This year, it is expected that 16,200 causes. If we can learn more about the Every so often, they will be invited to Albertans will be diagnosed with cancer causes, it should be possible to develop provide updates on their health and and 6,100 will die from the disease. more effective ways of reducing the other factors that might be associated Numbers of new cases of cancer and burden of cancer and other conditions in with health in the future. They may also deaths due to cancer are expected to be the future. receive invitations to give small amounts slightly higher in men than in women2. of blood or urine that will be stored by The ultimate goal of the Tomorrow the Tomorrow Project. Heart disease and diabetes are other Project is to help researchers (continued on next page) major causes of illness and death in our understand why some people develop province. cancer and other conditions, while others do not. Please Help Us Keep Our Files Up To Date The Tomorrow Project is a long term study and staying in touch with participants is important for the project’s success. Keeping current contact information for our participants reduces the number of participants who are ‘lost to follow up’. Please take a moment to contact us with any changes or additions to your contact information. Even if you move outside of Alberta or Canada, we can send you information and Calgary updates. Study Centre 2012 CONTACT US Email: [email protected] In Partnership With Toll free telephone: 1 877 919-9292 Outside Canada: (403) 476-2469 (call collect) Mail: The Tomorrow Project AHS – Holy Cross Site Box ACB, 2210 2 St SW Calgary, AB, T2S 3C3 1 Cancer Surveillance: 2008 Report on Cancer Statistics in Alberta. Edmonton, AB: Surveillance and Health Status Assessment, Alberta Health Services, 2010. 2 Canadian Cancer Society’s Steering Committee on Cancer Statistics. Canadian Cancer Statistics 2011. Toronto, ON: Canadian Cancer Society, 2011. ‘‘ It has exactly the same aim as Alberta’s hard to promote the Tomorrow Project Tomorrow Project; to learn more about to their families, friends, workplaces and Cancer touches us the causes of cancer and other health communities. all and I wanted to do conditions, so we can figure out how to decrease the burden of disease in the You can also help us meet our goal! something to help bring future. Recruit a family member or friend! an end to it. The reason for joining together to ‘‘CANDIDA BILAN, make a larger project is to increase our STUDY PARTICIPANT, chances of finding answers more quickly LEDUC, ALBERTA than if we kept going alone. Everyone who joined the original Tomorrow Project between 2000 and 2008 has been These materials are very valuable invited to contribute to the larger project. because they can be analyzed to find out how genes work with other things in So far, about half of the original 30,000 the environment to affect risk of cancers people who signed up for the Tomorrow or other health conditions. Project have said “yes” to that invitation by returning the latest questionnaire and The need to understand more about signing an updated consent form. The Tomorrow Project changes in health, and things that might affect health over time, is the reason partners with Air Miles® If you are not sure about your current the same kinds of questions are asked status with the Tomorrow Project, give on the different questionnaires that we In March 2012, the Tomorrow Project us a call on our toll-free number send out every few years. For example, started working with Air Miles® under (1-877-919-9292) and we will happily participants who have received the the Air Miles for Social Change Program. check for you. Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire (2001-2009), Survey 2004 and Survey This means that email invitations to 2008 may have noticed that body weight join the Tomorrow Project will be sent and waist measurements are always to hundreds of thousands of Air Miles® included. collectors right across Alberta. Air Miles® collectors who choose to become new These measures may influence cancer participants in the Tomorrow Project risk, but we need to understand how, will have the option to provide their or if, changes in these measures over Air Miles® collector number to the time are important. This is why we build Tomorrow Project when they register. layers of information, and we never discard anything. They will be credited with 50 Air Miles to their Air Miles® account within 90 Every piece of information provided by days of completing and returning a people who are part of the Tomorrow Looking for new completed questionnaire and signed Project is extremely valuable. consent form. Existing Tomorrow volunteers to join the Project participants who have already Tomorrow Project completed the questionnaire and signed an updated consent form will also have Alberta promised to enrol 50,000 the opportunity to receive 50 Air Miles® people who are willing to be part of the as a small token of appreciation. Tomorrow Project and to join in with the larger pan-Canadian project. These participants will receive a virtual bonus card by e-mail or a physical This means that we need to find an bonus card in the mail to redeem their additional 30,000 people from across Air Miles® reward miles. the province who are willing to support future research that will find out more Please note that the Tomorrow Project about the causes of cancer or other is not sharing any information with Air Miles®. The current phase of the health conditions. Tomorrow Project Reaching our target of 50,000 people Did you know? is very important. We’ve started lots of Samples from The In 2008, Alberta’s Tomorrow Project different activities to get the word out Tomorrow Project joined with similar projects in British across the province. These include are already being used to Columbia, the Atlantic provinces, having booths at community events, Quebec and Ontario to create a pan- earning spots on local radio and TV study genetic associations ? Canadian project. This very large project stations, and teaming up with our with breast cancer. is called the Canadian Partnership for volunteer ambassadors who work so Tomorrow Project. Air Miles® has offered to help our recruitment efforts by sending out Who’s Who in the Tomorrow Project invitations to people on the Air Miles® Fay Beaton, a High River-based collector database. This approach participant in the Tomorrow Project, provides the Tomorrow Project with a talked to us about her experience being very cost-effective way of reaching many a Tomorrow Project study participant. thousands of people in a short period of time. Fay joined the Tomorrow Project about 10 years ago after reading about it in a Please visit the Frequently Asked health-related newsletter. Questions section of our website www.in4tomorrow.ca for details about She decided to join because she this new partnership. figured that the study would help future generations, and participating in the The process is not difficult and future study would be her contribution. She generations may profit from you giving believes that cancer is an important your time today. health-care issue since there are so many people with cancer these days. Fay has led an interesting life. After the Second World War she baby-sat at Camp X, on the shores of Lake Ontario. This was where they trained men in Fay Beaton has been with the espionage and that was hush-hush back Tomorrow Project for 10 Years then. Apparently, Ian Fleming, author of (Photo Courtesy: Fay Beaton) the James Bond books, based James Bond’s training camp on Camp X. response from the community. As an ambassador, she has In her spare time, Fay bakes a lot and been speaking to schools and keeps in touch with her extensive family community service groups. Tomorrow Project data by receiving and writing letters. She has She thinks it is important to used in physical activity lots of grandchildren and friends. She cooks meals from scratch because she encourage others to sign up for project thinks that’s the healthiest way to live! the Tomorrow Project in order to do as much as possible to see The World Cancer Research Fund/ Fay says that so far, participating in the what causes cancer. American Institute for Cancer Research Tomorrow Project hasn’t been difficult (2007) judged that physical activity at all. Although she found some of the There are so many different could reduce future risk of bowel cancer, questionnaires a bit lengthy, she thinks kinds of cancers now compared postmenopausal breast cancer and it will be interesting to see the long term to when she was growing up endometrial cancer. benefits of something that she took part and she thinks we really need in.