Support Cancer Care

Over 600 Canadians are diagnosed with cancer every day. Receiving a diagnosis can be devastating to both the patient and their family, but they don’t have to do it alone. With lack of funding and limited access to experimental treatments preventing many Canadians from overcoming this disease, you can make a difference.

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Welcome to the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre

The Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre is the largest cancer service provider in Southwestern Ontario, offering inpatient and outpatient cancer care, including radiation treatment and chemotherapy, but is also home to a robust and internationally renowned team of researchers.

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Cancer Patient Assistance Funds

Imagine receiving a potentially life-threatening diagnosis like cancer. The situation becomes even worse if you have to worry about trying to manage the costs associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Although the majority of our health care costs are paid for through the publicly funded system, there are many expenses that are not covered, including illness-related expenses such as medications, wigs, mastectomy bras, breast prostheses, nutritional beverages, transportation and parking, accommodations, and child care.

The Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre Patient Assistance Program helps to fill this gap by offering patients assistance through one of the following funds:

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Gerald C Baines Centre for Translational Cancer Research

Launched in 2010, the Gerald C. Baines Centre for Translational Cancer Research is home to some of the brightest minds and best technology dedicated to translational cancer research.

Also known as bench-to-bedside research, translational research bridges the gap between science and patient care by identifying current, significant research projects and applying that knowledge to benefit real patients right here in our community and around the world.

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Unlocking the possibility to personalize care and transform lives

Imagine being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and being given a year to live. For many patients with advanced forms of cancer, prognoses like this are a grim reality. In a race against time, in-depth genomic profiling can help transform care and treatment options for patients battling cancer.

Considering no two people are the same, a patient’s genetic make-up is the key to unlocking more possibilities in their treatment journey. As the first of its kind in Canada, the Verspeeten Clinical Genome Centre has the unprecedented ability to more accurately diagnose patients, predict the progress of their disease and provide highly targeted and personalized treatment options for better patient outcomes. The dilemma comes with the exorbitant cost associated with testing even a small portion of a patient’s genome and the need for more research staff to analyze the patient data.

What's needed now is a shift in the standard of care provided to patients with genetically complex diseases. Our patients need access to in-depth genomic profiling that is capable of transforming care and treatment options, while at the same time improving their chances for survival. Help unlock the possibility to personalize care.

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Revolutionizing pancreatic cancer care

Pancreatic cancer is an incredibly fast-growing disease with one of the lowest survival rates, at a mere 8% over five years. Diagnosis and treatment are complex. Furthermore, lack of funding and limited access to experimental treatment options prevent many Canadians from overcoming this deadly disease.

As it stands today, patients in London diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer are automatically placed in palliative (end-of-life) care as they await the inevitable. However, the Baker Centre for Pancreatic Cancer at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is aimed at specifically diagnosing and treating pancreatic cancer to help transform the care patients receive.

The combination of novel therapies, groundbreaking research and clinical trials currently being explored at the Baker Centre will help rewrite the story for those who suffer from this terrible disease. The Baker Centre will be the difference not only for someone’s quality of care but also their quality of life.

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