Helping people touched by cancer

Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the work of our volunteers and staff, the Canadian Cancer Society is leading the fight against cancer. We’re making a difference in the lives of people touched by the disease. We’re fighting cancer on many fronts in our community. Here’s how:

• We offer information and support services to people living with cancer, to make their cancer journey more bearable.
• The Society’s transportation service drives cancer patients to treatment.
• When someone is diagnosed with cancer, it is a time of great uncertainty and fear for both the patient and their loved ones. We know that they may have lots of questions. The Society’s Peer Support service matches recently diagnosed cancer patients or caregivers with a trained volunteer who understands what it is like to live with cancer.
• Society volunteers also offer support in cancer centres, lodges and hospitals for people attending appointments.

We fund excellent cancer research into more than 200 different types of cancer. In 2008-09, the Canadian Cancer Society funded more than $49 million in leading edge research projects across the country supporting all types of cancers, including, breast, prostate, colorectal and lung. Thanks to research funded by generous donors, we’re helping more people survive cancer with less severe treatment, and we’ve found more ways to prevent and detect cancer early on.

Did you know?

The number of new cancer cases will increase by approximately 60% over the next 20 years due to our aging and growing population. Cancer is the leading cause of premature death in Canada. During their lifetimes 39% of Canadian women and 45% of men will develop cancer. Nearly 1 of every 2 men is expected to develop cancer during his lifetime and slightly more than 1 of every 3 women will develop cancer during her lifetime. Approximately 1 out of every 4 Canadians will die from cancer.

Thanks to research, more people are surviving cancer with less severe treatment, and we’ve found more ways to prevent cancer and to detect it early. We need your support to continue to make these advances.

Meet some of our researchers and read about the work they are doing to make a difference in the fight against cancer. You can also watch Cancer Research: Living Progress, where each segment tells the story of a researcher and a typical Canadian whose life has been changed by their discoveries.