Resources for patients with prostate cancer in Alberta

Clinical Services

Urology Clinics

Currently, most new Alberta prostate cancer patients are seen within two urology clinics: The Alberta Urology Institute in Edmonton and the Prostate Cancer Centre in Calgary.

  • The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Urology Centre (KUC) currently has 13 urologists in Edmonton representing both academic and clinical interests and is the only Urology Residency Training Program in Alberta. At KUC, patients are provided comprehensive care for prostate health and prostate cancer including diagnosis, treatment, and research services to all men within Northern Alberta.

  • The Prostate Cancer Centre is located within the Southern Alberta Institute of Urology (SAIU) that houses all 16 urologists in Calgary. The SAIU provides a comprehensive range of urological services. The Prostate Cancer Centre provides comprehensive care to men in southern Alberta across the disease continuum including early consultation and rapid access to diagnostic testing, awareness, diagnosis, and education about treatment options and also conducts scientific and clinical research.

pcc-logo_2x
Rockyview_General_Hospital_Southern_Alberta_Institute_of_Urology

Over 90% of new prostate cancer patients in Alberta are seen in the two urology clinics and both of them house their own research centres and run a number of clinical trials to better serve prostate cancer patients. Many of these urologists are active members of APCaRI and are working collaboratively to execute the initiative’s strategic plan and research projects and programs including collection of clinical information along with tissue, blood, urine and semen specimens as part of the APCaRI Alberta Prostate Registry and BioRepository.

Cancer Centres

buildings
The Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary and the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton offer:

  • Patient navigation and tumour triage coordination
  • Diagnostic services
  • Treatment for prostate cancer
  • Supportive care for patients
  • Laboratory services
  • Nutritional, exercise, quality of life, orientation, and spiritual care programs
  • …. and more

Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre in Calgary offers:

  • Outpatient clinic

Click here to see a detailed list of cancer centres across Alberta. Associate Cancer Centres provide patient navigation, treatment for prostate cancer (Systemic plus Radiation for Lethbridge and Red Deer; Systemic only for Medicine Hat and Grande Prairie), diagnostic services, laboratory services:

 

Support groups

Support groups in Alberta support men and their families on the journey with prostate cancer by increasing awareness of the disease and by offering help one-on-one or through support groups. To know more……

Links to internet resources

Prostate Cancer Canada also offers a series of resources and information.

 

Lifestyle Management

TrueNTH Lifestyle Management gives men access to physical activity and yoga programs in Alberta  lifestyle.truenth.ca

TruNTH-LM-General-Poster

The TrueNTH (pronounced True North) Lifestyle Management (LM) Program is part of the Global TrueNTH network funded by Movember (in partnership with Prostate Cancer Canada nationally). TrueNTH LM aims to improve the survivorship experience for men living with prostate cancer through physical activity, nutrition, and stress-reduction resources (programs and educational materials).

TrueNTH LM includes a free 12-week physical activity and yoga program with classes designed specifically to address the health and treatment related concerns for men living with prostate cancer. Men can also access a comprehensive online portal with tools, education, and home-based programming for help with staying active, reducing stress, and maintaining a proper diet.

In Calgary, TrueNTH LM has partnered with City of Calgary Recreation to offer programs at four different locations throughout the city. Registration is ongoing for men. In Edmonton, the Cancer Rehabilitation Clinic at the University of Alberta will be hosting a TrueNTH LM program starting in January 2016. Future programs will be announced as they become available. Men living in rural Alberta are able to join an online-based program at lifestyle.truenth.ca.

All men who have been previously diagnosed with prostate cancer regardless of when they were diagnosed or what treatment they received can join the TrueNTH LM online portal or join a community program. Each person will undergo an initial health screening to ensure physical activity is safe.

For more information or to register, phone the Health and Wellness Lab in Calgary at 403-210-8482.

Letter for participants

 

Physician in operating room

Recognizing 10 years of philanthropy for prostate cancer research

Working with the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the University of Alberta, the Bird Dogs have enabled a new one-term, five-year chair position to further prostate cancer research — the Bird Dogs Chair in Translational Oncology, a position to be held by researcher Dr. John Lewis. For the last 10 years, Dr. Lewis has held the Frank and Carla Sojonky Chair in Prostate Cancer Research, made possible by a $5 million endowment from the Bird Dogs. Taking over from Dr. Lewis in this position will be surgeon-scientist, Dr. Adam Kinnaird.

“Dr. Lewis’s work in prostate cancer has laid a strong foundation of institutional excellence in the field. Thanks to the generous support of the Bird Dogs and Alberta Cancer Foundation, I look forward to future collaborations between Drs. Kinnaird and Lewis to keep the momentum in world-class prostate cancer research moving forward at the University of Alberta, research that will have immediate impact for Albertans and Canadians with prostate cancer,” says Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta.

As the Bird Dogs Chair in Translational Oncology, Dr. Lewis will focus on driving the clinical translation and commercialization of novel technologies arising from cancer research in Alberta. In partnership with Dr. Kinnaird, the two researchers will collaborate to drive world-class prostate cancer research in Alberta with a common goal of supporting research that helps better understand, diagnose and treat prostate cancer — the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men.

“The Frank and Carla Sojonky Chair in Prostate Cancer Research allows my team to conduct practice-changing clinical trials using state-of-the-art imaging technologies. Because of this funding, we are leading international trials in recruitment and conducting important clinical trials locally to help improve the quality of prostate cancer care for Albertans,” shares Dr. Kinnaird.

During his ten-year tenure as the Frank and Carla Sojonky Chair, Dr. Lewis developed a real-time metastatic imaging model, researched the genetic mechanisms of cancer metastasis, and discovered promising anti-metastatic targets for use as gene therapies, and novel cancer biomarkers for use in biofluid diagnostics. In 2013, with the support of the Bird Dogs and Alberta Cancer Foundation, Dr. Lewis founded the Alberta Prostate Cancer Research Institute (APCaRI), an international collaborative network of prostate cancer scientists, physicians, healthcare employees, and patients. APCaRI’s mission is to accelerate the translation of prostate cancer research from the laboratory to the clinic to improve the lives of men with prostate cancer. Through APCaRI, the Lewis team established a patient data registry and biorepository that has grown into one of the largest prostate cancer databases in the world. Dr. Lewis also founded several spinoff companies including Entos Pharmaceuticals, OncoSenX, and Nanostics to bring innovative therapies and diagnostic tests to patients. Nanostics is currently in the process of launching a simple blood test called ClarityDX Prostate® that can aid in the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer, as the group’s research has shown that using ClarityDX Prostate® as a reflex test vs. the PSA test alone could have resulted in 37 percent fewer unnecessary biopsies.

“The support of the Bird Dogs and the generous community in Alberta has enabled us to develop innovative technologies to help fight prostate cancer,” says Dr. Lewis, Professor, and CEO of Nanostics. “Now, as the new Chair in Translational Oncology, my laboratory will continue to work to develop ways to block the spread of cancer and improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer for men in Alberta and beyond.”

The Edmonton-based Bird Dogs have passionately supported prostate cancer research for over a decade in memory of the late Frank Sojonky, a businessperson and philanthropist who faced prostate cancer for more than two decades. This year marks 10 years of the Frank & Carla Sojonky Chair in Prostate Cancer Research and the dedicated effort into prostate cancer research.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Bird Dogs and the legacy they have created as well as being the inspiration behind this next evolution of cancer research. Dr. Lewis and Dr. Kinnaird working together will see more discoveries to patients faster and improve the way we treat this cancer and others — not just here in Alberta but around the world,” says Wendy Beauchesne, CEO, Alberta Cancer Foundation

About Nanostics Inc.

Nanostics is a private Alberta-based company focused on the development and commercialization of novel and noninvasive diagnostic tests. Its core technology, ClarityDX®, uses advanced machine learning algorithms to create a disease risk score. ClarityDX® is applicable to a wide range of cancers and other diseases. Nanostics’ lead product, ClarityDX Prostate®, is a test that improves the accuracy of detecting clinically significant prostate cancer. Read more at: www.nanosticsdx.com.

About the Alberta Cancer Foundation

The Alberta Cancer Foundation directly supports the 17 cancer centres across the province, including the new Calgary Cancer Centre and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary and Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. Our purpose is to create more moments for Albertans facing cancer by inspiring our community to give to innovation in detection, treatment, and care. Thanks to the generosity of our donors we are able to invest in research and care initiatives that will provide real-life returns for Albertans facing cancer. We support every Albertan, no matter what type of cancer they face or where they live in the province.


For media inquiries, contact:

Phoebe Dey
VP Communications & Marketing
Alberta Cancer Foundation
(780) 700-6120

Perrin Beatty, Ph.D.
Communications Lead
Nanostics Inc.
1-800-672-2027

- Unknown