Healthy Future Sask (HFS) continues to be committed to meeting the project target of recruiting 7,000+ participants for this significant project. Recently, the HFS team attended the Sask Marathon Race Expo to connect with potential participants and share the value of cancer and chronic disease research.

The pre-race expo provided the platform for HFS team members Samantha Mapletoft (Provincial Manager HFS) and Bilal Bare (MPH Practicum student) to engage with attendees. They highlighted the value of the health research platform and emphasized the importance of the information provided by volunteer participants. The booth experience was impactful, with visitors sharing powerful personal stories of the way cancer and chronic disease has affected their lives.

As we head into summer, HFS will continue to attend community events to raise awareness and recruit participants to be part of this legacy project. We invite all SCA employees to help us reach our goal by signing up and sharing the word. Visit the HFS website for more information. Sign up today; together, we can make a difference in the health of our community.

Since 2012, Dr. Winston Lok has served as the Medical Advisor for the Screening Program for Cervical Cancer (SPCC). As the first family physician in this role, Dr. Lok has played a key role in several important changes within the program.

During Dr. Lok's tenure, the SPCC moved from the offices on Albert Street in Regina to the new facilities at Harbour Landing. This relocation has helped us expand and improve our services. Dr. Lok was integral in working with the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association to initiate training programs that enabled nurses across the province to perform advanced Pap testing. This training facilitated the establishment of pop-up Pap clinics, improving access to essential screening services.

Dr. Lok also co-authored the updated provincial cervical screening guidelines, helping to keep our practices updated. Alongside his SPCC responsibilities, Dr. Lok has actively participated in various health-care initiatives, including serving as the Family Practice Lead for the Regina area, as a member of the Continuing Care Provincial Committee, and on the MySaskHealthRecord committee.

Dr. Lok continues to work as a physician at Gardens Community Health Centre. As Dr. Lok steps down from his role as Medical Advisor, we thank him for his service and contributions to the SPCC and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.

We are also pleased to announce that Dr. Joanne Sivertson will assume the role of Medical Advisor for the SPCC in May 2024. We anticipate her contributions and leadership will greatly benefit the program.

Please join us in expressing gratitude to Dr. Lok for his service and in welcoming Dr. Sivertson to her new position.

On April 20, 2024, the University of Saskatchewan (USask) Senate voted unanimously to transition the Division of Oncology to the Department of Oncology. This marks the final step in a long road and is a significant milestone for the College of Medicine. This decision reflects oncology's integral role within the institutions clinical and academic spheres.

Oncology is an active clinical and academic division with an existing complement of more than 80 faculty between Saskatoon and Regina. These members have made significant contributions to the academic mission of the college and university for over 40 years through participation at all levels of medical education, continuing medical education and research. Their dedication to teaching has been consistently recognized through various awards, both within the college and across campus.

The decision to grant department status to oncology elevates the program and reinforces the invaluable contributions of faculty members to education and research. Additionally, it underscores the college's commitment to fully engaging all its faculty members. It strengthens oncology's involvement in the leadership and governance structures of the College of Medicine. Furthermore, this move aligns USask with most Canadian medical schools, which already have stand-alone oncology departments. By offering a dedicated oncology department, USask and the SCA can better attract and retain talent, further advancing its mission in medical education, cancer research, and patient care.

On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, Gynecologic Oncology hosted our third annual Precision Oncology Symposium. Led by Dr. Laura Hopkins, this meeting celebrated our prairie ovarian cancer research consortium, with scientists from Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia joining our academic clinical team.

This year’s focus was on developing a unique and first-in-Canada program for ovarian cancer patients. This program will have its start as part of a research grant call, hosted by the Cancer Research Society. Our group received an invitation to submit a grant for $600,000 and we plan to enroll patients who are interested in a precision oncology approach to relapsed/progressive rare cancer sub-types. These cancers have been poorly studied and new information is badly needed.

This is unique because it will offer patients molecular sequencing and organoid development (an artificially grown mass of cells or tissue that resembles an organ) for functional drug repurposing screening. This will take the guess-work out of drug selection, providing clinicians with a list of ‘which drug is best’ (from our existing and approved drug options) as determined by testing the patient-derived organoid. Looking for drug targets in this ‘living tumour system’ has not been done anywhere in North America.

Saskatchewan’s CAR T team, comprised of dedicated health care providers at the SCA and SHA, was proud to deliver the revolutionary Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy to the very first patient in the province. We are thankful to now have this potentially life-saving treatment option available to eligible patients here in Saskatchewan.

Special thanks to the dedicated, hardworking and compassionate healthcare providers that make up the Stem Cell Transplant & Cellular Therapy team for everything you do to ensure our patients feel comfortable and supported throughout the transplant journey. The amazing work you do each and every day is saving lives and giving patients hope–patients like Cherylee Truitt, who was the first patient to receive CAR T treatment in the province. She is so appreciative and thankful for the support of her health care team. For more information on her journey so far, here is an excerpt from a recent SHA article:

Cherylee Truitt’s second birthday, as she calls it, has just passed, though she held off on the cake.

On May 17, she received a revolutionary therapy that is hoped to give her a second shot at life. Truitt has diffuse large B cell lymphoma, which made her a candidate for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, a treatment Saskatchewan began offering this spring. CAR T therapy uses a patient’s T cells which have essentially been supercharged so they can fight the patient’s cancer.

Until now, Saskatchewan patients referred for CAR T therapy travelled out of the province. Truitt is pleased the therapy is offered here, where her family, friends and her familiar care teams are within arm’s length.

“I’m never alone. They are just the best cheerleaders,” she said, noting her healthcare team members are just a call away anytime of the day or night. Truitt is grateful for the care she has received from so many people within and outside of the SHA and the SCA.

Read the full article.

On March 13, 2024, the Government of Saskatchewan proclaimed March as Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month. Thanks to Trevor Ives, a multiple myeloma patient, and SCA Hematologist, Dr. Julie Stakiw for their dedication to raising awareness about this rare cancer.

Saskatchewan patients with specific cancers can now receive an innovative type of immunotherapy closer to home. The Saskatchewan Cancer Agency (Cancer Agency), along with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), has launched the revolutionary Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy to treat adult cancer patients with certain blood cancers and lymphomas in the province.

“We are pleased to now offer this revolutionary CAR T therapy in Saskatchewan, so that patients no longer need to travel out of province to take advantage of this potentially life-saving treatment,” Saskatchewan Cancer Agency President and CEO Deb Bulych said. “This exciting announcement would not be possible without the steadfast support from the Government of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Health Authority and our health system partners.

The Government of Saskatchewan has provided initial funding of $2.128M to develop a commercial CAR T program and will provide an estimated $6.7M annually to operate the program and fund the cost of treatment for patients.  The CAR T therapy program, available in Saskatoon, includes collecting a patient’s T-cells (a type of immune system cell) from their blood and then engineering them with genetic material to recognize and attack cancer cells. Those cells are multiplied and then infused back into the patient where they can get to work destroying the cancer cells in their body.

Establishing a CAR T therapy in Saskatchewan has involved the expertise and commitment of the Saskatchewan Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program (SCTCTP) team at the Cancer Agency and the SHA, as well as partners in neurology, ICU and others.

The Saskatchewan Cancer Agency (SCA) is implementing a new tool for treating metastatic brain cancer, marking an important milestone in cancer care. This month, the SCA treated the first patient in Canada using the HyperArc stereotactic radiosurgery system.

HyperArc is a state-of-the-art and highly efficient radiosurgery treatment planning and delivery system. The precision of the HyperArc system provides high-quality treatments with reduced side effects. It is the latest technology to be rolled out through the SCA’s stereotactic radiosurgery program expansion.

“The Saskatchewan Cancer Agency strives to provide care of the highest quality to each patient who walks through our doors. Introducing HyperArc to our radiotherapy treatment options means that patients can receive world-class treatment closer to home,” said Dr. Jon Tonita, President and CEO of the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.

The move to HyperArc is the latest step in the journey to expand the stereotactic radiosurgery program. The SCA has been offering stereotactic radiosurgery since 2016. The Varian HyperArc system was installed at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre (ABCC) earlier this year, thanks to $3.5-million in funding from the Ministry of Health.

“Our government is committed to funding leading-edge technology to help improve health outcomes for patients being treated at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency. The benefit to Saskatchewan residents is priceless. Congratulations to the employees at the Agency for their hard work in implementing this new lifesaving technology,” said Minister of Health Paul Merriman.

Stereotactic radiosurgery delivers precisely-targeted radiation in fewer high-dose treatments than traditional therapy, which can help preserve healthy brain tissue. “The field of radiosurgery is evolving rapidly, and I’m so proud of the SCA teams who worked over the past year to bring HyperArc to Saskatchewan. Providing patients with the most modern treatment available today is exciting and will lead to better outcomes and better quality of life for our patients with metastatic brain cancer,” said Dr. Gavin Cranmer-Sargison, Director of Medical Physics for the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency.

In 2020, the SCA treated 20 patients in Saskatoon using stereotactic radiosurgery. The recent program expansion at the ABCC in Regina will provide additional program capacity and treatment closer to home for many patients who live in southern Saskatchewan. In addition, the SCA will be rolling out HyperArc technology at the Saskatoon Cancer Centre later this year.