Launch of the Accès-recherche program of the McPeak-Sirois Group and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation

MONTREAL, May 8, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The McPeak-Sirois Group and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation are pleased to announce the launch of the Accès-recherche program aimed at increasing access to clinical research in breast cancer for patients in all regions in Quebec.

Hence, the Accès-recherche Program of the McPeak-Sirois Group and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation aims to increase the number of hospital centres in Quebec participating in clinical trials (also called research protocols) in order to allow women, especially those living outside of major urban centers, access state-of-the-art treatments.

It is a unique endeavor in the fight against breast cancer in the province and a highly mobilizing pooling of efforts and skills from the research community in Quebec.

As a partner of the Accès-recherche Program, the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, that considers research as the cornerstone of its mission, has committed to deploy and financially support this innovative program by contributing $ 2.5 million over five years.

Susan McPeak, co-founder of the McPeak-Sirois Group, expresses her enthusiasm appreciating the initiative of the Group being supported by the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation: "The support of the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is essential in the development of the Accès-recherche Program. We are grateful to the Foundation for giving us this unique opportunity to work hand in hand for the well-being of women affected by breast cancer."

The Accès-recherche Program is in line with the mission of the two partners and maintains their commitment to increase access to state-of-the-art treatments for patients living in all regions in Quebec. For Nathalie Tremblay, CEO of the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, this is a huge step forward: "We truly believe in the outstanding research being conducted here in Quebec. The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is in fact the only philanthropic organisation to reinvest its funding only here, in this province. We therefore take great pride that the Foundation partners with the McPeak-Sirois Group for this program, which benefits in Quebec will be significant to all."

This program will therefore promote an increased access to treatments and care considered as the most innovative for women stricken with breast cancer. As mentioned by Charles Sirois, Co-founder of the Group and Chairman of the Board: "This program was created to enable patients living in outlying areas in Quebec to have access to the same state-of-the-art treatments as those living in Montreal or Quebec City. In other words, it brings clinical research closer to patients by enabling regional hospitals to have access to the research trials carried out within of our Group".

The McPeak-Sirois Group regroups the expertise of four major hospital research centres : The Jewish General Hospital (a member of the CIUSSS West-Central Montreal), the CHU de Québec – Université Laval, the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), and more recently, the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital (CIUSSS-de-l'Est-de-l'Ile-de-Montréal). This unique collaboration between several major institutions is a breakthrough in clinical research in Canada.

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FACTS

• The main objective of the Accès-recherche Program is to increase the number of hospital centres in Quebec, certified and able to participate in clinical trials.

• The Accès-recherche Program will first be implemented in regional hospitals already active in breast cancer clinical research and will later be extended to other hospitals to enable them to start offering clinical trials.

• According to Dr. Dominique Johnson, Managing Director of the McPeak-Sirois Group: "This program will be implemented gradually over several years to ensure a successful deployment in outlying regions. Eventually this initiative will enable the integration of clinical research in the care programs of these regional hospitals and will provide an opportunity for more patients with breast cancer in Quebec to participate in clinical trials."

• The hospitals participating in the Accès-recherche Program will eventually be integrated into the McPeak-Sirois Group and will benefit from the Group's expertise and appeal to pharmaceutical companies and sponsors that are funding those clinical trials.

• The Accès-recherche Program is a great example of collaboration, an innovative way to increase access to clinical research all the while supporting the development and excellence in the clinical practice of breast cancer.

About the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation

The Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is the only philanthropic organisation reinvesting its total funding only here, in this province, to fight against breast cancer.  Since 20 years, it is more than $36 million that has been given here to support people stricken with breast cancer and their families.  Funds raised by the Foundation are invested in research and innovation, awareness, training as well as in supporting patients and their loved ones. Researchers, volunteers, donators, families are all together by the same hope: increasing the survival rate of people stricken with breast cancer and therefore going from remission to complete disease free, without any exception. A life without breast cancer. www.rubanrose.org

About the McPeak-Sirois Group:

The McPeak-Sirois Group is a consortium that concentrates the expertise of five major hospital research centres in the fight against breast cancer in order to promote clinical research trials in Quebec. The Group is advised by internationally recognized scientists who sit on its Scientific Committee that is responsible for selecting clinical trials. Co-founded in 2015 by Susan McPeak, a breast cancer survivor and Charles Sirois, a well-known entrepreneur, the mission of the McPeak-Sirois Group is to promote research that cares by attracting more clinical trials and therefore enabling more patients to have access to these state-of-the-art treatments. http://mcpeaksirois.org/

SOURCE Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation

Media Relations, VROY Communications, Frédérique Cyr-Labrie, [email protected], 514 982-9100; Marine Baillie, Development Advisor, [email protected], 514 509 8855; Hélène Quesnel, Vice-president communications-marketing, Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, [email protected], 514 871 1717 ext. 226