Key Accomplishments

With the availability of cancer therapies that can be taken in pill form, patients gain the convenience of managing treatment at home. However, there are risks to be managed, such as appropriate training on safe handling of oral therapies for pharmacy staff in hospitals and communities, and guidance for patients and caregivers on how to handle or take oral cancer drugs at home.   

By convening medication and patient safety specialists, pharmacy practice and health systems design experts, and patient and family representatives, CAPCA facilitated the development of two guidance documents on safely handling oral cancer therapies in both hospital and community pharmacies. Find the guidance documents in our Professional Resources.

Proton Beam Therapy (PBT) is a newer approach to cancer treatment that delivers a high dose of radiation directly to the tumour site. Its targeted approach makes it beneficial for treating tumours near sensitive tissue and organs, and its potential cost savings make it a good option for some pediatric and adult patients.

To standardize PBT planning and delivery across Canada, CAPCA created an expert working group whose analysis of existing documentation resulted in pan-Canadian consensus-based recommendations for PBT that are available in our Professional Resources.

Lung cancer will affect one in 14 people in Canada during their lifetime and often goes undetected at its earliest and most treatable stages. Studies show that screening high-risk individuals can find lung cancers early when they are more treatable – dramatically reducing mortality rates.

To help cancer agencies and programs plan organized lung cancer screening, CAPCA and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) collaborated on a business case for a standardized approach that could be adapted to respond to cost and resource estimates. As a result, all 10 provinces are either providing lung cancer screening through a program or pilot, or actively working on planning and implementation with support from CPAC.

For cancer patients who are experiencing ongoing and uncontrolled symptoms – for example, pain, fatigue and depression – palliative care can provide symptom relief, comfort and support. Together with the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, CAPCA supported the implementation of the Canadian Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Competency Framework that aims to integrate and measure palliative care services within cancer care.

The framework establishes a minimum national standard for palliative care implementation and measurement of palliative care competencies in practice. It serves as a guidance document for jurisdictions, and was written with several readers in mind, such as individuals, managers and human resources personnel, educators, and national accreditation and regulatory agencies.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a type of immunotherapy that genetically reprograms a patient’s immune cells to find and attack cancer cells in their body. Unlike other treatments, CAR T-cell therapy is tailored to the individual and has cured some patients with advanced cancers that didn’t respond to other treatments.

CAPCA has been a leader in establishing Canada’s approach to CAR T-cell therapies including their assessment, reimbursement and implementation. Initial discussions co-hosted with the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (now Canada’s Drug Agency – CDA-AMC) and ongoing collaboration have led to the development of Canada’s first consensus framework on CAR T-cell therapies in 2019. This work continues through CAPCA’s immune effector cell therapy access and quality initiative and the CAR T-Cell Consensus Guidelines are updated regularly as CAR T-cell therapies evolve in Canada.

One of the major pieces of equipment used to treat cancer with radiation is called a linear accelerator. Through the Interprovincial collaboration on the procurement of linear accelerators, CAPCA members worked together so provinces could collectively negotiate the purchase, commissioning, service and maintenance of linear accelerators. This collaboration was the first time in Canada that multiple provinces collaborated on the purchase of cancer equipment, resulting in cost savings, contracts that were simpler and faster to administer, and the adoption of consistent equipment standards and service quality.

Provincial health systems are facing significant challenges due to increasing number of Canadians with cancer and the increasing cost of cancer treatment, as well as drug shortages that can affect patient care. Several CAPCA initiatives have helped to address these challenges through coordinated efforts:

• The Cancer Drug Funding Sustainability Initiative supported greater harmonization of oncology drug coverage across Canada and helped provinces optimize their processes to get the best drugs to cancer treatment in a timely way. Through its Health Technology Assessment process, the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) is continuing this work.

• The Drug Supply Disruptions Task Group developed coordinated approaches for provinces to share information about identified drug shortages, develop strategies for how to manage them, and advocate for access through Health Canada, manufacturers and suppliers.

• The Canadian Real-World Evidence for Value of Cancer Drugs Initiative evaluated the feasibility of collecting and assessing real-world evidence (RWE) to make funding decisions about cancer drugs in Canada. This work is continuing through the Can REValue project led by the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control.

Biologics are treatment agents made from a living organism or its products. Used in the treatment of certain cancers and other diseases, they are more complex than conventional pharmaceutical drugs, and usually much more expensive. A more affordable solution is biosimilar biologics. Held to the same regulatory standard as biologics, they offer similar effects at a lower cost and can therefore help make the cancer system more sustainable.

CAPCA’s initial work to support provincial drug programs in introducing biosimilars to Canadian patients is continuing through the pan-Canadian Oncology Biosimilars Initiative with participation from CAPCA member organization Cancer Care Ontario / Ontario Health.