Opening of the 4th National Conference to Defeat Cancer - Coalition calls for greater transparency with respect to people affected with cancer and the general public

MONTREAL, March 29, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec spokespersons Dr. Pierre Audet-Lapointe and Nathalie Rodrigue, T.M., are today opening the 4^th National Conference to Defeat Cancer, whose theme is Cancer: a human challenge, first and foremost.

Bringing the discussion to the human level and addressing people's basic needs, the Coalition will take stock of the current situation in Quebec with regard to cancer, the challenges to be met and ways of developing the kind of concrete cancer-control plan that exists elsewhere in the world.

"Over and above the statistics, thousands of Quebecers are working every day to foster hope and stand up to cancer," said Coalition president Dr. Audet-Lapointe. "They represent the Coalition's overriding motivation and the Coalition seeks to provide them with a strong voice."

With respect to persons living with cancer and the general public, the Coalition is calling upon Health and Social Services Minister Dr. Yves Bolduc to impose a transparency rule in the fight against cancer in Quebec.

"For example, where do we stand with the cancer registry?" What progress has been made in the colorectal cancer-detection pilot projects? What's the waiting period for cancer surgery? Where are the resources and what are the powers of the Quebec Cancer Registry, announced by Premier Charest a year ago?" asked Dr. Audet-Lapointe.

"It's by sharing our problems and mobilizing our forces to meet these challenges that we move forward," he said.

The Coalition's spokespersons will be joined by Mr. Jean Pagé, patron of this year's National Conference and spokesperson for PROCURE-The force against Prostate Cancer, an organization dedicated to fighting prostate cancer. Mr. Pagé is a survivor of this form of cancer, which each year kills three percent of men.

The two-day conference will provide a forum for persons living with cancer, experts in the field, clinicians, community practionners and volunteers who will dialogue about the best ways to fight cancer.

On the agenda March 29:

Cancer control plans (part 1), André Robidoux, MD, FRCS(C), surgery Professor, Université de Montréal, Scotia Chair in cancercare and diagnostics and member of the Board, CPAC

The genetic basis for cancer treatment decisions, Tom Hudson, M.D., President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

Awarding of the Pat Burns Award, Jason Burns, President of the Pat Burns Foundation and Pat Burns Award President

Connecting caregivers : Focus on cancer, Mark Stolow, Project coordinator, Care-Ring Voice Network, CSSS Cavendish

Dessert-discussion: The roles of patients, survivors and caregivers in the fight against cancer, Winston McQuade, patron of the Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec's Cancer patients and survivors Committee, program host, interviewer and artist, prostate cancer survivor and spokesperson for PROCURE-The Force against prostate cancer

Cancer in the elderly, Dr. Doreen Wan-Chow-Wah, Doreen Wan-Chow-Wah, M.D., FRCP(C), geriatrician, McGill University, Medical Director of the Geriatric Oncology clinic of the Segal Cancer Centre at the Jewish General Hospital.

On the agenda March 30:

Direction québécoise du cancer, Jean Latreille, M.D., FRCP(C), Director, Direction québécoise du cancer

Cancer and the ethnocultural patient : Challenges and a differentiated approach in intervention, Soumya Tamouro, health Advisor, Alliance des communautés culturelles pour l'égalité dans la santé et les services sociaux (ACCÉSSS)

Cancer-control plans (part 2), André Blais, M.D., and Nelson Charrette, clinical-administrative tandem of the Fight Against Cancer Program of the CSSS de Rimouski-Neigette

For a full list of conference speakers/participants or more information on the 4^th National Conference to Defeat Cancer, visit www.conferencecancer.com.

The Coalition invites you to join the conversation on Twitter

Throughout the conference, social media strategist David Lobjoie will ensure a continuous link with Web users on Twitter, as well as present - in real time - their reactions to what conference participants have to say. You can join the conversation using the following HashTags linked to the Coalition's Twitter address:

@coalitioncancer
#prixpatburns		#preventioncancer
#douleurchronique		#chemobrain
#procheaidant		#rechercheclinique
#soinspalliatifs		#vivreaveclecancer

About the Coalition

Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec was founded in 2001 to protect and give a voice to people affected by cancer (patients, survivors, informal caregivers, their families and their loved ones), to support cancer-related community organizations and health professionals and to help organize the fight against cancer.

The Coalition's members represent more than 1.5 million people

Alliance des Communautés Culturelles pour l'Égalité dans la Santé et les Services Sociaux (ACCÉSSS), Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS), Association des radio-oncologues du Québec (AROQ), Association du cancer de l'Est du Québec, Association des laryngectomisés de Montréal Inc, Care-Ring-Voice Network, Canadian Breast Cancer Network (CBCN), Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada (CCAC), Association québécoise des registraires en oncologie (AQRO), Association des retraitées et retraités de l'éducation et des autres services publics du Québec (AREQ), Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), Chaire de recherche en environnement cancer Guzzo de l'université de Montréal, Chaire de recherche et de traitement du cancer de l'UQAM, Quebec Clinical Research Organization in Cancer (Q-CROC), Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), la Fédération québécoise des massothérapeutes, la Fondation québécoise de la massothérapie FQM, Fondation Monique Fitz-Back, Fondation québécoise du cancer (FQC), Fondation Rêvez la vie, Foundation of Stars,  Hope and Cope / L'espoir c'est la vie, HPV Awareness Corporation, Institut de l'anémie - Recherche et éducation (IARE), Lymphoma Foundation Canada, Lymphedema Association of Quebec, Libera Mutatio, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada, Mains de l'espoir de Charlevoix, Myeloma Canada, Nova Montréal, Ordre des technologues en imagerie médicale et en radio-oncologie du Québec, Ordre professionnel des technologistes médicaux du Québec (OPTMQ), Organisation multiressources pour les personnes atteintes de cancer (OMPAC), Organisation québécoise pour les personnes atteintes de cancer (OQPAC), Organisme gaspésien pour les personnes atteintes de cancer (OGPAC), Ovaire espoir Québec, Ovarian Cancer Canada (OCC), Palliative Home-care Society of Greater Montreal, ProCure-The Force Against Prostate Cancer, Professionnals Networking for Caregivers, Quebec Lung Association (QLA), Regroupement des onco-psychologues du Québec (ROPQ), Réseau des femmes en environnement, Réseau FADOQ.

Source : Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec

For information and/or interview requests:

Sylvie Piché
Cell : [phone]

Michel Racette
Cell : [phone]