A massive research project looking into the causes of cancer has set up shop in Olds this week.
The Tomorrow Project, a study involving roughly 33,000 people in Alberta, is part of a larger, national effort aiming to help medical scientists find ways to prevent and treat cancer and other diseases.
The project is holding a mobile study clinic at Olds' Pomeroy Inn and Suites until Sept. 12.
James Whitworth, the project's study centre coordinator, said people are invited to the mobile clinic to help the project paint a picture of what Albertans in good health look like right now for comparison down the road.
“What we're trying to do is create a baseline with people who are currently healthy, currently cancer-free,” he said. “What we want to do is be able to track these people over the course of their lives.”
Project members will take samples of blood and urine from people attending the clinic and participants will also be asked to fill out a questionnaire.
“We hope that we can look at the data, look at some of the different physical measures or maybe some of the blood work and whatnot and also the stuff in the questionnaire and then determine why certain individuals are developing cancer while others don't,” Whitworth said. “Hopefully one day we'll sort of understand some of the mechanisms and the background behind (cancer) and hopefully we can identify some reasons why people get sick.”
He added the information gathered through this and other mobile clinics will hopefully help reduce incidence of cancer and identify cancer risk factors in various groups of people.
More than 130 appointments were booked for the Olds clinic but the project will take in more people, Whitworth said, adding it is preferred if people sign up ahead of time by calling 1-877-919-9292 or visiting www.in4tomorrow.ca.
The more people involved in the study, Whitworth said, the better the chance of collecting information from people with different states of health, ethnic backgrounds, socio-economic statuses and living conditions.
Participants must be between the ages of 35 and 69 and must have never had cancer.
They must also agree to allow the project to contact them in the future as the study will take place over many years.
The process takes roughly 45 minutes and the clinic is open from 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. on September 10 and 11 and from 8:20 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. on Sept. 12.
