Compared to the rest of the province, residents of northern B.C. have a significantly higher risk of getting lung cancer and slightly more likely to develop colorectal cancer.
Statistically, we smoke more tobacco than our neighbours to the south, drink more alcohol, are more obese, and tend to wait longer before seeking medical help.
Medical researchers are making it their task to find out why, now that Prince George has become a centre for cancer research, with the B.C. Cancer Centre for the North slated to open later this year.
"It's an opportunity to start looking at the problems we have in the North and how we can address them and see how effective we are in our interventions," said Dr. Ronald Chapman, regional director of the Northern Cancer Control program.
"As part of the whole Northern Cancer Control strategy we've had a look at how we can start improving our prevention screening and how to diagnose patients more effectively and this will culminate in the opening of the cancer centre in Prince George.
"There are a whole lot of other developments that have been supporting these things. There's tele-medicine and we've been put in infrastructure to support that, and then there's the research component. "
The Northern Cancer Control Strategy (NCCS) is targeting rural areas in its systems research, where there have been very few studies conducted.
"You're dealing with smaller populations in the North generally spread across a wide geographic area and these populations generally have higher risk factors for cancer compared to groups down south," said Chapman, Northern Health's chief medical health officer.
"Often patients present their cancers a little bit later compared to their colleagues down south, so the survival rate is lower than in urban areas, and that's where research is important to help establish that."
In addition to being the command centre for bench research projects already being conducted at UNBC, Chapman said the new cancer clinic will offer cancer patients a chance to test the latest drugs to treat their conditions. Those clinical trials have never been available in Prince George.
The Northern Medical Program at UNBC has turned at University Hospital of Northern B.C. into a teaching hospital. Cancer clinic staff have opportunities to work with medical students while having access to a new building with state-of-the-art equipment, and can also contribute to the burgeoning research component. That occupational diversity has helped the cancer centre recruit several top-notch health professionals to the city.
The research work will be very specific to studying cancer prevention in northern communities. Studies will examine how health services reach people, and how that service can be improved. The NCCS has already selected five research projects through its Discovery Seed Program. One study will examine the impact of community size on patterns of medical practice in rectal cancer and another will assessing the nutrition information needs for rural women with breast cancer.
"This is part of our broader strategy about how to eventually improve incomes for northerners in terms of looking at the prevention of cancer in the North," said Prince George-Mount Robson MLA Shirley Bond.
"This is bringing together the major partners in research - The B.C. Cancer Agency, the Provincial Health Services Authority, Northern Health, UNBC - all them working together to create a focused effort."
Bond, a former health minister, said the goal is to find new discoveries that will help shape clinical applications that can be applied to any cancer health clinic in northern B.C.
"Research drives policy and that is an enormous statement about the capacity we've gained, [having a] research-intensive university," said Bond. "If the North's cancer outcomes are not good, we need to find out why, and that's what research will help us do."
