Dear Friend,
Recently, you received a letter from Paula Ethier, a remarkable woman who overcame great
obstacles to survive breast cancer.
Paula had a decidedly different breast cancer experience than her mother, who died from
the disease when Paula was only 13 years old. Paula’s mother endured her breast cancer journey
alone, without the support and treatment options that were available to her daughter 25 years
later.
Paula’s life was directly impacted by the generosity of people like you, who helped to fund
research breakthroughs, public awareness campaigns and support programs through the
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
It’s still early, but because it’s so important, I felt I needed to write to you. I’m hoping
you’ll take a moment now to renew your support for the Foundation, to help us reach out to
women like Paula, whose lives have been changed forever by breast cancer.
Your 2010 donation today will also fund the most promising research that will help us
better understand and treat breast cancer.
Breast cancer is a complex disease. Understanding the environmental, lifestyle and genetic
links to breast cancer can impact screening techniques, treatment practices, and lifestyle choice
that will lead to reducing the risk.
Here are just two examples of the impact we are making thanks to your support.
In Ontario, the Foundation has funded research by Dr. Mark Clemons, who completed the
world’s first study that compared original breast cancer tumours with tumours later found
elsewhere in the body. He found that, based on the biopsy of the second tumour, one in five
of the women needed a significant change in their treatment.
In some cases, this was a change in drug treatment, and in others, the biopsy showed the
woman did not actually have an advanced cancer, but a non-cancerous condition. The findings
of this study will help doctors deliver the right treatment to the right patient at the right time,
and avoid unnecessary treatments and distress.
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
Charitable Registration No. 12799 3608 RR0001
Also in Ontario, a Foundation-funded research team led by Dr. Jean-Philippe Pignol
developed permanent breast seed implant brachytherapy, which is a one-hour, one-time
procedure that makes it possible for eligible women to receive radiation therapy without
having to go for treatment every day for five weeks or more. It also has far fewer side effects.
The Foundation is currently funding Dr. Pignol to find out how best to train other doctors in
using this new technique, so it can be made available to patients across Ontario and around
the world.
By renewing your support this year, you are investing in research and community health
initiatives with the greatest potential to improve and save the lives of those who have been
touched by breast cancer, as well as those women at risk of developing the disease.
More than 22,700 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Sadly,
on average that’s about 437 women every week! An estimated 5,400 women will die from
breast cancer in Canada this year.
But the rates of survival can continue to improve, with your support. The number of
women who have died from breast cancer has fallen by more than 30% since the mid-80’s,
and is currently stabilized at the lowest it has been since 1950. About two-thirds of women
diagnosed with breast cancer this year will live through it.
These improvements in survival rates are a result of the programs that your donations help
to fund – better screening and treatments arising from research discoveries and greater public
awareness.
Please help maintain the exciting momentum in creating a future without breast cancer
being led by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Please renew your support for 2010 today!
Sincerely,
Sandra Palmaro
CEO, Ontario Region
Dear Donor,
The Cancer Research Society (The CRS) would like to thank you for your generosity. All funds collected by The CRS are
exclusively destined for cancer research and dedicated to offering seed money for the most promising original ideas,
projects and researchers across Canada.
In the most recent 2009-2010 scientific review process, 31 new grants and fellowships were awarded. This brings the
total to 87 research projects being funded this year for a total commitment of close to $6.7 million. To obtain information
on the different ways of supporting The Cancer Research Society, please visit www.CancerResearchSociety.ca or dial
toll-free 1888 766-2262.
Thank you for your support. Together, we can help our researchers find a cure!
Andy Chabot
Executive Director
Dear Supporter,(Canadian Funding Corporation)
On behalf of the volunteers and staff at the Canadian Cancer Society, please accept my sincere thanks
for renewing your support in 2010 with your generous gift.
With loyal friends like you by our side, we look forward to another year of groundbreaking cancer
research that will help save lives. Even as I write this letter, Society-funded researchers across the
province are working toward new strategies for prevention, more effective screening methods and better
cancer therapies.
For example, a clinical trial led by Dr. Derek Jonker in Ottawa pinpointed the specific group of patients
with advanced colorectal cancer who are most likely to benefit from a new cancer drug – cetuximab. The
findings mean that in the future these patients, who will benefit most because they carry a certain gene,
can be targeted for treatment, sparing those who will not benefit.
Your most recent donation will also help the Society reach out to friends, family and loved ones who have
been touched by the disease. Thanks to you, we can provide the credible information, peer support and
services they so urgently need.
Thank you again for your renewed support. Your ongoing commitment will help bring us closer to a world
where no Canadian fears cancer.
Gratefully yours,
Rick Perciante
Acting Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division
P.S. Should you have any questions about your recent gift please don’t hesitate to call us toll-free at 1
800-268-8874 and speak to either Kevin Brezina at Ext. 7077 or Stacy Hayward at Ext. 7079. They will
be pleased to answer your questions.
P.P.S. If you or someone you know needs information about our services or the progress we are making
in cancer research and prevention, please call us toll-free at 1 888 939-3333 or visit our website at
www.cancer.ca.
