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  • Writer's pictureChase The Cure YEG

Alberta Cancer Foundation Annual Appreciation Breakfast



This year we have made a change to our program a little. This year we are partnering with the Alberta Cancer Foundation and couldn't be more excited!



Some staggering statistics are 1 in 2 Albertans have Cancer.

Did you know 53 Albertans are told every day they have been diagnosed with some form of cancer?

Edmonton is the top research centre in the world for cancer and its clinical trials.


Today Chase The Cure was invited to the annual Alberta Cancer Foundation's appreciation breakfast. Paula Valario is our representative we are working with and invited us to join them. This is an absolute honour to be a part of. At this breakfast not only was there great bacon and eggs, but there was speakers from the foundation board Jamie Pytel Board of Trustees, Alberta Cancer Foundation, the interim CEO Ellen Wright Terrill, Dr. John Walker oncologist from the Cross Cancer Institute and a patient who has received treatment by Dr. John Walker due to his early detection of Melanoma. He was able to receive the type of treatment he got because of the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the donations it receives.



While Dr. John Walker was speaking it was like a Deja Vu moment for me. Everything he was saying was like I had heard it before. It was at that moment that it clicked. I realized at that moment that Dr. John Walker is the oncologist who treats someone very special to Jim and I. Dr. John Walker is a big player in clinical trials in Edmonton.


Not all cancers are cured by chemotherapy, some need a different treatment. Dr. John Walker specializes in melanoma and head and neck cancers. Some of these cancers respond to a new treatment called immunotherapy.

What is immunotherapy?




Immunotherapy is a treatment that tells the white blood cell our own immune system to turn off the off switch. What that means is cancer cells have figured out how to turn off the immune system. Immunotherapy cuts that that tie off. Think of the white blood cell as being the lock, the cancer having a key to that lock. Once the key is inserted in the lock it can shut the immune system off. Immunotherapy comes in with a master key of sorts and is able to override the cancer and turn the immune system back on.


The Alberta Cancer Foundation has recently changed their purpose statement. What I found today is that the new purpose statement fits perfectly in line with our Vision Statement. Our Vision Statement is - "Working together to help others in times of need. Creating smiles and making memories one day at a time. Ensuring No One Fights Alone."


The Alberta Cancer Foundations new Purpose Statement is: "To inspire our community to create more moments for Albertans facing cancer by giving to innovations in detection, treatment, research and care." Theirs is about moments, ours is about memories and smiles from those moments. This just reinforced that we are partnered with the best people and that everything happens for a reason.


Thank you to Paula and her team for the invitation today. We look forward to working together in the future.



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