Webinar: COVID-19 and Cancer Treatments

About This Webinar

**Please note, the question period has now closed. If you have questions about the content of a webinar, please email us at info@cancer.ca.**

Length: 45 mins

Overview: In this webinar, an expert panel of doctors answer some of the most commonly asked questions about how COVID-19 is influencing cancer treatment across Canada.

In this webinar, you will find answers to common questions such as:

• How is cancer treatment managed differently during the pandemic?
• Can people with cancer participate in clinical trials during the pandemic, and will clinical trials already underway continue?
• Why can’t caregivers accompany loved ones in cancer treatment centers as freely as before the pandemic? What considerations are made when deciding if a loved one can accompany someone receiving treatment?
• If I contract COVID-19 during cancer treatment, how will the healthcare system help me manage both conditions?

*To download a transcript of this webinar, press play and hover over the handout icon (square with lines) located on the right-hand side of the navigation bar at the bottom of the video.

*To access a webinar on COVID-19 and cancer in French, please visit: https://bit.ly/2Vuaydw

Tell us what you think, click here to complete our webinar survey!

Resources from the Canadian Cancer Society

The Canadian Cancer Society is continuing to provide programs for people with cancer and caregivers that can be helpful if you are staying close to home or dealing with feelings of anxiety or isolation.

• Cancer Information Helpline is our national, toll-free helpline for people with cancer, caregivers, families and friends, the general public and healthcare professionals. Contact us or call us at 1-888-939-3333 (TTY 1-866-786-3934).

• Extensive expert information is available on our website about cancer and COVID-19. www.cancer.ca

• CancerConnection is our online community where people with cancer and their loved ones can share their experiences and build supportive relationships.

• Smokers' Helpline is available to help you or a loved one quit smoking.

If you need help immediately, please contact:

• Crisis Services Canada, 1-833-456-4566 | www.crisisservicescanada.ca

• Kids Help Phone, 1-800-668-6868 | https://kidshelpphone.ca

• If it is an emergency, call 9-1-1.

The information in this webinar is for educational purposes only and does not replace the advice of your healthcare provider based on your individual situation. Experts are speaking on their own behalf and CCS assumes no responsibility for the completeness of the information presented.

Presenters

Paul Wheatly-Price BSc, MBChB, FRCP (UK), MD

Medical Oncologist - Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre; President of Lung Cancer Canada; Associate Professor, Department of Medicine - University of Ottawa

Dr. Paul Wheatley-Price is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and a Medical Oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, specializing in the treatment of thoracic malignancies and carcinoma of unknown primary. He is the lung cancer disease site lead in medical oncology.

Since 2016 Dr. Wheatley-Price has served as President of Lung Cancer Canada. Dr. Wheatley-Price attended medical school in the UK, at the University of St. Andrews (1991-1994) and the University of Manchester (1994 - 1997). He received specialist medical oncology training in Wellington, New Zealand, in London, UK, and, finally, as a Fellow in Lung Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. He has been in Ottawa since 2009.

Rebecca Ann C. Auer MD, MSc, FRCSC

Scientific Director, Cancer Therapeutics Program - Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; Surgical Oncologist - Ottawa Hospital; Associate Professor, Department of Surgery and the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology - University of Ottawa

Dr. Rebecca Auer is the Scientific Director for the Cancer Therapeutics Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She is a Surgical Oncologist specializing in Colorectal Surgery and Retroperitoneal Sarcomas at The Ottawa Hospital and an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology at the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Auer’s translational research program focuses on understanding the promotion of metastatic disease in the perioperative period, following surgical stress, and how to counteract these effects with novel immunotherapies, including oncolytic viruses. She runs a research laboratory that studies these therapies in pre-clinical models and is the principle investigator on several related clinical trials of perioperative cancer therapies. She holds a Tier 2 Clinical Research Chair in Perioperative Cancer Therapeutics.

Christopher Bredeson MD MSc FRCPC

Head, Malignant Hematology and SCT – Ottawa Hospital; Professor of Medicine – University of Ottawa

Dr Bredeson is a career academic hematologist specializing in malignant hematology and cellular therapies. Over the course of his career, he has been involved in observational and prospective trials research. After hematology and transplant training, he completed a Masters of Clinical Epidemiology that ultimately lead to him joining what at the time was still the IBMTR/ABMTR, now the CIBMTR. There he participated in the initial launch and trials of the BMT CTN.

Dr Bredeson has led malignant hematology and cellular therapy programs at several institutions. He is now situated in Ottawa and has been actively working on advancing the role of immune ablation and autologous hematopoietic cell rescue for autoimmune diseases.

Dr Bredeson is increasingly involved in addressing systems issues to improve access to and outcomes of cellular therapies including leadership roles with the ASBMT, the Canadian Blood and Marrow Transplant Group (CBMTG) and as Lead, Quality and Access for Complex Malignant Hematology for the Ontario health authority.

Dr Bredeson is very interested in the Committee work of the CIBMT and believes the continued voluntary collaboration of large numbers of transplanters and “cellular therapists” from around the world is critical if we wish to understand emerging therapies and improve outcomes for our patients.

Jean-Marc Bourque MD, MScPH, FRCPC

Radiation Oncologist and Assistant Professor - University of Ottawa; Adjunct professor - McGill University

Dr. Jean-Marc Bourque studied medicine at l’Université de Montréal and radiation oncology at Western University, while also completing a 2-year Global Health Certificate at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

He went on to do a 2-year academic fellowship at Kings College London (KCL) while concurrently completing an MSc. in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in the UK. The aim of his research is to better understand disparities in vulnerable and marginalized populations, locally and abroad.

Dr. Bourque has taken many leadership roles including co-founding the world’s first international body of Junior Doctors under the auspices of the World Medical Association. He serves as the co-chair of the CARO Global Oncology Committee, is a member of the steering committee of the International Cancer Control Partnership and is a former consultant at the International Atomic Energy Agency, United Nations.

Dr. Bourque is currently an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa working as a radiation oncologist treating lung, breast, and genitourinary malignancies. He is also an adjunct professor at McGill University while pursuing a PhD in Public Health and Policy at the LSHTM exploring the implementation of cancer policies in different international health systems.