Northern Cancer Centre: Right place, right time for 25 years

The Northeast Cancer Centre celebrated its 25th anniversary Thursday with a look back to the progress it has made over the years.

When the centre officially opened, on Nov. 5, 1990, it was equipped with two linear accelerators for radiation therapy, and a chemotherapy unit.

Just a year later, it acquired a third linear accelerator, just in time for a visit from Princess Diana on Oct. 24, 1991.

In September 2000, construction began on an expansion that eventually added an additional 54,000 square feet to the centre, that included more space for treatment, supportive care and research.

Lianne Dupras knows firsthand the importance the Northeast Cancer Centre has played in the community.

In 2000, she was diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia, and was given a grim prognosis. She later found out she had only a five per cent chance of survival.

But thanks to the outpatient care she received at the centre, she went into remission later that year, and her cancer has never relapsed.

Because Dupras received her care in Sudbury, she was able to continue to care for her son, who was still a baby at the time.

“Being a new mom, I wanted to be a part of his daily life,” she said.

Without the Northeast Cancer Centre, she would have had to travel to Toronto on a regular basis for her chemotherapy.

“It permitted the family life to continue,” Dupras said.

In 2002, she started to volunteer at the centre, and more recently, she has become a family advisor, and regularly meets with hospital staff and management to provide a former patient's perspective on how the cancer centre should proceed with future activities.

Since it opened in 1990, the centre's scope has expanded greatly, said Mark Hartman, vice-president of regional cancer and support services with Health Sciences North.

In the early 1990s, cancer patients from different communities in northeastern Ontario had to travel to Sudbury for chemotherapy.

Today, 12 hospitals across the region that are affiliated with the Northeast Cancer Centre, now have their own chemotherapy units.

The centre has also been a provincial leader in the use of telemedicine, Hartman said, and hosts close to 7,000 videoconferencing appointments between patients and their oncologists each year.

Annually, the Northeast Cancer Centre sees around 3,500 new patients from across the northeast, hosting 35,000 radiation treatment visits, 15,000 chemotherapy visits, and co-ordinating 25,000 patient visits with the 12 affiliated satellite clinics throughout the region.

In addition to patient care, the centre has also been home to cutting-edge cancer research, thanks in part to $30 million in donations from the Northern Cancer Foundation since 1992.

The Northern Cancer Centre was one of the first outpatient centres in Canada to offer stem cell transplantation.

It has also been home to research in the fields of tumour biology, epidemiology, medical physics, supportive care and dental oncology.

Hartman said one big area of focus in the coming years is to work more closely with community partners to improve palliative care for terminal cancer patients.

“I think we will continue to provide the latest and best treatment and care,” he added.