Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Individuals with a severe mental illness will live significantly shorter than the general population. Studies have demonstrated that the majority of increased mortality is not explained by the mental illness itself, but by a greater burden and worse outcomes of co-existing illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. Little research has been done to understand if a history of a severe mental illness negatively impacts cancer outcomes. For example, individuals with a severe mental illness may be at increased risk for delay to cancer diagnosis and worse stage at diagnosis, both of which are associated with worse survival from cancer. Using national and provincial data, we plan to study the journey of a patient with a severe mental illness through the cancer system, including interactions with primary care; from screening to diagnosis to follow-up care and compare the journey and outcomes with an unexposed (no history of mental illness) general population cohort. Identifying differences in stage at diagnosis, survival and treatment of cancer in the severely mentally ill would uncover a previously unknown gap in primary care and cancer care. Through this work, we hope to identify potential areas of intervention to improve the integration of mental health and primary and cancer care both before and after a cancer has been diagnosed, and improve the prognosis of cancer for this vulnerable population.