Where Does the Research Money Go?
Dr Kevin Murphy, Medical Oncologist (Retired)
It is easy to ask for donations for cancer research because most people are happy to give for a worthy
cause. The term ‘cancer research’, however, represents a very complicated process by which answers to
the intricate questions regarding cancer and its treatment can be brought to light. By describing the
results of some of the research Ride2Surivive has funded from 2014 onwards, I hope to help our team
and our donors understand what remarkable progress we have supported.
To achieve a better understanding of the kind of research Ride2Survive funded, we can address the issue
at 3 levels:
Population Level
The Cancer Society has supported research studying outcomes of treatment at the population level.
In other words, what happens when a treatment protocol is applied uniformly throughout a
population of people suffering from a certain cancer or if the protocol is used to prevent certain
cancers from developing?
Patient Level
Over the past few years, the Cancer Society has supported research into methods used to support
patients and families through the difficult journey of having a cancer diagnosed, staged, treated and
recovered from. This includes the use of different imaging techniques to assess the results of
treatment, managing side effects during treatment, exercise during chemotherapy, exploring
different techniques and interventions to supplement traditional methods and how to enhance the
recovery and rehabilitation of survivors.
Cellular/Gene Level
The Canadian Cancer Society sponsors a wide variety of research some of which involves trying to
sort out how various molecules at the cellular level work to enhance cancer growth or inhibit it.
Much of this has uncovered the genetic control over specific proteins and how they function within
cancer cells or within their environment. Other forms of research include studying how cancers
respond to treatment and how treatment resistance evolves within cancer cells.
