Prostate cancer research investment

Data and measurement considerations

• Data come from the Canadian Cancer Research Survey (CCRS), which is carried out by the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA). In 2012, the survey captured funding information from 42 organizations including governmental and voluntary sectors across Canada.
• The CCRS captures research investments by federal agencies and programs, provincial government organizations and voluntary organizations; however, it does not capture investments made by hospital foundations (e.g., the BC Cancer Foundation, the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation); organizations outside the country that fund Canada-based research (e.g., the National Cancer Institute in the United States); or industry-sponsored research and development. The survey captures at least 65% of the total estimated investment in cancer research.
• For this analysis, investment in research that was relevant to all cancer sites or not site-specific was excluded. That is, only projects or grants in which the prostate cancer share of the total was greater than 1% were included.
• Research areas are based on Common Scientific Outline (CSO) codes. Where more than one CSO code was assigned to a research project, the investment was distributed equally among the codes.
• Burden of disease (as defined by incidence and mortality) is just one way to assess research investment; many other indicators are used to assess health burden. For the purpose of this report, however, only incidence and mortality were considered.
• Project equivalents (Figure 6.9) refers to the sum of projects weighted by their cancer relevance. For example, in British Columbia in 2005, there were 53 projects in total. When their cancer relevance was accounted for, the number of projects decreased slightly to 47.7.

Cancer research investment for the four most common cancers

• Definition: The percentage distribution of cancer research investment across the four most common cancers (breast, prostate, lung, colorectal) in 2012. Within each disease site, distributions are shown alongside the percentage of new cancer cases in 2010 and cancer deaths in 2011. An ‘other’ category is also included to show the remaining distribution of cancer research investment.
• Numerator:
  1. Investment: Amount of site-specific research investment (in dollars) for breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, or other cancers;
  2. New cases: Number of site-specific cases for breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, or other cancers;
  3. Deaths: Number of site-specific deaths from breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, or other cancers.
• Denominator:
  1. Investment: Total amount of site-specific cancer research investment (in dollars);
  2. New cases: Total number of site-specific cases;
  3. Deaths: Total number of site-specific deaths.
• Data source:
  1. Investment: Canadian Cancer Research Alliance, Canadian Cancer Research Survey;
  2. New cases: Statistics Canada (CANSIM Table 103-0553), Canadian Cancer Registry;
  3. Deaths: Statistics Canada (CANSIM Table 102-0552), Vital Statistics Death Database.
• Measurement timeframe: 2012 (cancer research investment), 2010 (new cancer cases), 2011 (cancer deaths)
• Stratification variables: disease site (breast, prostate, lung, colorectal, other)
• General notes: N/A

Prostate cancer research investment across areas of research for the top five funders

• Definition: The percentage of investment in prostate cancer research by the top five funders* across the following five areas of research:
  • Biology; Etiology; Prevention; Early Detection, Diagnosis & Prognosis; Treatment; Cancer Control, Survivorship & Outcomes; and Scientific Model Systems.
• Numerator: Amount of prostate cancer research investment contributed by the top five funders (in dollars) for a given area of research
• Denominator: Total amount of prostate cancer research investment contributed by the top five funders (in dollars)
• Data source: Canadian Cancer Research Alliance, Canadian Cancer Research Survey
• Measurement timeframe: 2005, 2012
• Stratification variables: Year (2005 vs. 2012)
• Provinces submitting data: All
• General notes:
  1. Research areas are based on Common Scientific Outline Codes.
  2. *In 2012, the top five funders were the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Prostate Cancer Canada, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, The Terry Fox Foundation, and Canadian Cancer Society. In 2010, the top five funders were the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canadian Cancer Society, Terry Fox Foundation, and Prostate Cancer Canada.

Per capita investment (male population) in prostate cancer research

• Definition: The amount of per capita investment (in Canadian dollars) for prostate cancer research in each province
• Numerator: Total amount of prostate investment (in Canadian dollars) from a given province in a given year
• Denominator: The total male population (all ages) from a given province in a given year
• Data source: Canadian Cancer Research Alliance, Canadian Cancer Research Survey
• Measurement timeframe: 2005, 2012
• Stratification variables: Province, year (2005 vs. 2012)
• Provinces submitting data: All
• General notes:
  1. The male population includes males of all ages.