Cancer Risk Management

April 2012 marks the beginning of the Partnership’s second five-year mandate and the next phase of implementing Canada’s national cancer strategy. The priorities and initiatives for the next five years are outlined in our 2012-2017 strategic plan, Sustaining Action Toward a Shared Vision. Our website will soon be updated to reflect the activities supporting the strategic plan. The information below reflects the priorities and accomplishments of our work between 2007 and 2012. 

How do health planners compare the projected results of a dollar invested in smoking cessation to a dollar invested in a new cancer therapy? Developed in collaboration with Statistics Canada and teams of clinicians, health economists, and other experts, the Partnership’s Cancer Risk Management platform allows users to model health and economic outcomes of various interventions, whether in prevention, screening or a new therapy. Outcomes that would ordinarily take years to realize, such as the long-term benefits of a new cancer initiative, can be modeled and assessed so that health spending can be allocated more efficiently.

The Cancer Risk Management platform is integral to the Partnership’s mandate to drive system-wide improvements through the synthesis and dissemination of the best available information.

Progress to date

By strategically engaging potential users and ensuring easy access to the Cancer Risk Management platform, this initiative is building potential for a sustainable reduction in the burden of cancer.

• The Cancer Risk Management Platform was launched in January 2010 and is located at www.cancerriskmgmt.ca. In its initial phase, planners and policy-makers can use the platform to assess outcomes in lung and colorectal cancers.
• The platform was introduced to potential users in policy development, analytics and research through an online seminar and a series of regional training workshops that started in January 2010. In March 2010, key stakeholders in Vancouver and Toronto, including representatives from Ministries of Health and cancer agencies, received hands-on training, focused on navigating the platform and answering key questions that might arise in their jurisdictions.
• The platform continues to be disseminated to stakeholders as enhancements are made to the initial models. Development of a cervical cancer model is underway and development of a model for breast cancer is planned for next year. These new models will widen the platform’s use and impact in supporting cancer-related investment decisions.
• In 2010, the Partnership promoted the Cancer Risk Management Platform in a workshop delivered to the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, and through oral presentations to the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research and Canadian Public Health Association annual conferences.
• In August 2010, the Cancer Risk Management Initiative was showcased at a session, chaired by the Partnership, at the Union for International Cancer Control’s 2010 World Cancer Congress in Shenzhen, China. “Supporting system leaders in managing the impact and risk that cancer represents to populations” highlighted the methods and tools developed by Canada, Finland and the United States to forecast the impact of cancer control programs.