Grant: Project Grant - PA: Equity in Cancer Prevention and Control

Nine out of ten new cancer diagnoses in Canada occur in older people. Most of these older people with cancer will require surgery. Among older people facing cancer surgery, about half live with frailty, which means that their risk of experiencing a serious complication or developing a new disability that impacts their day-to-day life is more than doubled. We really need new ways to lessen the risks faced by older people with frailty having cancer surgery. But these types of approaches have not been studied very well. The most promising research tells us that a program called 'prehabilitation', which means helping people to exercise more, eat better and feel more supported as they get ready for surgery, may lead to less risk of cancer coming back. This might be because prehabilitation can help older people with cancer get back on their feet sooner after surgery and feel well enough to get back to their cancer treatments (like chemo or radiation) sooner. But prehabilitation isn't easy, and the science behind it is in its early days, especially in terms of including older people with frailty and cancer. Our team does a lot of research in prehabilitation, especially for older people with frailty. By working with patients, doctors, nurses, physios, dieticians, and other scientists, we understand that we need high-quality, big studies that take place across many hospitals to understand if a prehabilitation program designed with and for people with frailty will really lead to better cancer outcomes. Our team is already leading a study like this, and because of COVID19, most of our participants are having cancer surgery. This means that with extra support, we can enroll extra patients with cancer, and collect cancer-specific data to help patients and their clinicians understand if prehabilitation from home really leads to feeling better after surgery, getting back on cancer treatment sooner and better cancer control over the long term.