{"id":5050,"date":"2025-10-31T13:54:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atlanticpath.ca\/?p=5050"},"modified":"2025-10-31T13:54:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:54:03","slug":"breast-cancer-research-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atlanticpath.ca\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/breast-cancer-research-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Breast Cancer Research in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Empower yourself with knowledge: How CanPath is reshaping breast cancer research in Canada\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For decades, race and ethnicity have been largely missing from breast cancer research in Canada. The Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow\u2019s Health (CanPath)<\/a> is working to close that gap by studying how screening participation, treatments, risk factors, and outcomes differ across racial and ethnic groups, with the goal of informing more equitable, evidence-based screening guidelines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CanPath is Canada\u2019s largest population health study, supported by over 330,000 participants across Canada who provide life-changing health data to help our researchers uncover important links between lifestyle, genetics and health.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and with a recent $300K investment from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)<\/a>, CanPath is highlighting the amazing work from our researchers to examine differences in breast cancer screening participation, treatments, and outcomes by race and ethnicity, and identify how risk factors vary across groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this research, CanPath plans to inform more equitable screening guidelines and prevention approaches by providing currently missing data on race and ethnicity, helping to ensure that breast cancer screening reflects the diverse needs of all Canadian women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmpower yourself with knowledge about your personal risk factors, family history of disease and seek out regular screening given that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed in their lifetime,\u201d advises Prof. Victoria Kirsh<\/strong>, CanPath\u2019s Scientific Coordinator and Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH). \u201cCanPath is an amazing resource with a rich data set on lifestyle, environment, genetic, and dietary data so the research possibilities are really endless\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CanPath is committed to a future without cancer and is dedicated to providing the necessary research to transition this goal into reality for all women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has been missing <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Canada\u2019s population continues to change with a growing diverse population, yet little information is out there about the effects of race and cancer outcomes. Genetics, lifestyle and environment all play key roles in risk for cancers however the effect of race remains understudied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the project as a whole is inspiring to begin with, we\u2019re looking at racial disparities in breast cancer outcomes, and that\u2019s something that has been on the back burner or not even investigated for a really, really long time,\u201d highlights Fatima Zulfiqar<\/strong>, a CanPath practicum student who spent her summer supporting this project\u2019s development. \u201cI know that there are various women of color who have certain predispositions when it comes to breast cancer and so having this conversation and looking at the nuances that race plays in breast cancer outcomes is important.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, marginalized groups have been left out of research, leading to issues with generalizing findings to a larger population. Issues with accessibility to breast cancer care continue to persist and require a deeper dive to tear down the barriers within healthcare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important to study [breast cancer] and look at it and understand it from a real life perspective of how it\u2019s impacting women, who are seeking care or not seeking care and what those differences are and how we can probe them and explore them and hopefully make breast cancer care and diagnosis more accessible to all of them,\u201d said Marilla Hulls<\/strong>, an MPH Epidemiology practicum student who supported another CanPath project objective related to breast cancer screening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n