Alberta’s Tomorrow Project – Data Summary

Here are summaries of the data and biospecimens currently available from Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP). New data are regularly coming online, so check back for updates!

We encourage you to browse through these tables to see if our data and biological samples fit your research question.  You can learn more in our Data Collection Overview and Survey Information pages. Please contact our Access team by email or phone at any time.

Alberta's Tomorrow Project Timeline

 

Our Timeline:  The figure above shows the evolution of Alberta’s Tomorrow Project (ATP); further information can be found on Our History and Data Collection Overview pages.

ATP was launched in 2000 and recruitment continued until 2015.  Questionnaires were administered throughout this period, so the type and number of surveys completed by a participant depends on when they joined.

For example, a participant recruited in 2001 was invited to fill out the Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire (HLQ), followed by the Canadian Diet History Questionnaire-I (CDHQ-I) and the Past-Year Total Physical Activity Questionnaire (PYTPAQ) as part of the baseline enrollment package.  Such a participant would have been sent additional questionnaires in subsequent years, such as Survey 2004 and Survey 2008.

In 2008 ATP joined four other cohorts across Canada to form the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project (CPTP).  Two versions of questionnaires were delivered during this time: the Updated Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire (UHLQ) along with the Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (PANS) or the CORE questionnaire. Participants completed either UHLQ/PANS or CORE, as both contained very similar information.

Further information about the content of ATP questionnaires can be found on the Survey Information page. For the full surveys, click here.

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Participant Blood Samples
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Participants with a Cancer Diagnosis After Donating Blood

Survey Completions

All ATP participants have completed one or more questionnaires, depending on when they joined ATP.  The table below provides an estimate of the numbers of participants who have completed a single survey or combination of surveys, those who have provided a blood sample, and those diagnosed with cancer.

Further information and variable types available from each questionnaire can be found in Survey Information.  ATP surveys can be found here.

For more specific numbers relevant to your particular research question, please contact us at ATP.Research@ahs.ca.

Last Updated: Summer 2018
Survey Type Completed Survey(s) Completed Survey(s) and Provided Blood Sample Completed Survey(s) and then Diagnosed With Cancer1 Completed Survey(s), Provided Blood Sample and then Diagnosed With Cancer1 Completed Survey(s), Diagnosed With Cancer1 and provided a post-diagnosis sample5 Completed Survey(s), Diagnosed With Cancer1 and provided both a pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis sample5
example:
Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire (HLQ)
All participants who completed the HLQ All participants who completed the HLQ and provided a blood sample2 All participants who completed the HLQ and then were diagnosed with any cancer All participants who completed the HLQ, provided a blood sample, and then were diagnosed with any cancer All participants who completed the HLQ, were diagnosed with any cancer1 and provided a post-diagnosis sample5 All participants who completed the HLQ, were diagnosed with any cancer1 and provided both a pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis sample5
HLQ 31211 9648 2908 518 231 128
HLQ,
CDHQ-I and
PYTPAQ3
26890 9308 2553 503 220 119
HLQ and
Survey 20044
9693 3164 992 168 89 42
HLQ and
Survey 20084
20799 8424 1515 464 207 115
HLQ,
Survey 2004 and
Survey 2008
7430 2904 557 160 85 41
UHLQ/PANS or CORE 39420 28388 884 509 416 285
HLQ and
UHLQ/PANS or CORE
15693 9478 884 509 231 128
Survey 2008 and
UHLQ/PANS or CORE
13950 8357 884 462 207 115
HLQ,
Survey 2008 and
UHLQ/PANS or CORE
13949 8356 690 462 207 115
Survey Type Completed Survey(s) Completed Survey(s) and Provided Blood Sample Completed Survey(s) and Diagnosed With Cancer 3 Completed Survey(s), Provided Blood Sample and Diagnosed With Cancer 3 Completed Survey(s), Diagnosed With Cancer1 and provided a post-diagnosis sample5 Completed Survey(s), Diagnosed With Cancer1 and provided both a pre-diagnosis and post-diagnosis sample5

Notes

1 – Numbers reflect primary/incident cancers only, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer. Cancer incidence data is obtained via semi-annual linkage with the Alberta Cancer Registry.

2 – A reminder that the blood samples were collected between 2009 and 2015; therefore, for surveys completed prior to this time (e.g. HLQ, CDHQ-I, PYTPAQ, Survey 2004 and Survey 2008), the survey information will pre-date the blood sample collected.  Urine samples were also collected at the time of blood sample collection, and therefore the number of participants with available urine samples is largely comparable to those with available blood sample.  Information about other biospecimens and physical measurements available on ATP participants is available on the Data Collection Overview page.

3 – The values represented here reflect number of participants who completed all three questionnaires (HLQ, CDHQ-I, and PYTPAQ). If you are only interested in using HLQ and CDHQ-I together or HLQ and PYTPAQ together, the numbers will be very similar to the three questionnaires combined. This is because similar numbers of participants completed the CDHQ-I and/or PYTPAQ.

4 – The values represented here reflect number of participants who completed HLQ and Survey 2004 or HLQ and Survey 2008. If you are interested in using only Survey 2004 or Survey 2008 alone, the numbers will be very similar to the combined questionnaires. This is because Survey 2004 and Survey 2008 were only sent to participants who had already completed the HLQ.

5 – Linkage with the Alberta Cancer Research Biobank.

Summary of Cancer Diagnosed in Alberta’s Tomorrow Project Participants

ATP participants have generously provided their personal information and biospecimens to support research in the hopes of better understanding cancer and other chronic diseases.

The table below depicts the numbers of ATP participants who have been diagnosed with cancer over the course of follow-up.  Participants consented to linkage with administrative databases, such as the Alberta Cancer Registry.  ATP conducts semi-annual linkages with the Alberta Cancer Registry, which has been awarded Gold Standard certification from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.

Last Updated: Summer 2018
Cancer Type Total Male Female Participants recruited 2000-2008 Participants recruited 2009-2015 Participants who provided a blood sample and then were diagnosed with cancer Participants who were diagnosed with cancer and then donated a sample3
Bladder 64 51 13 58 6 18 3
Bones, Joints & Articular Cartilage 1 1 0 1 0 1 0
Brain 57 29 28 38 19 27 2
Breast 784 1 783 582 202 257 225
Cervix/Uterine 18 0 18 12 6 5 2
Colorectal 371 173 198 299 72 102 35
Connective, Subcutaneous & Other Soft Tissues 25 14 11 16 9 9 2
Endometrium 194 0 194 150 44 60 17
Esophagus 29 24 5 26 3 6 3
Gall Bladder 14 5 9 11 3 3 1
Kidney 77 40 37 59 18 24 12
Leukemia 141 75 66 116 25 45 2
Liver & Intrahepatic Bile ducts 36 21 15 30 6 8 0
Lung/Bronchus 306 119 187 264 42 75 19
Multiple Myeloma & Plasmacytoma 51 21 30 41 10 20 1
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma 156 80 76 119 37 51 3
Other Hematopoietic & Reticuloendothelial 59 19 40 48 11 21 0
Ovary 54 0 54 43 11 19 14
Pancreas 84 37 47 72 12 14 3
Prostate 655 655 0 507 148 225 46
Skin Melanoma 185 84 101 128 56 68 1
Small Intestine 22 12 10 20 2 4 1
Stomach 38 27 11 32 6 9 0
Testis 10 10 0 7 3 3 2
Thyroid 101 21 80 71 30 35 6
Unknown Primary 26 11 15 24 2 3 0
All other (excluding NMSC) 204 84 120 140 64 73 12
Total of All Cancers (excluding NMSC) 3762 1614 2148 2914 847 1185 412
Cancer Type Total Male Female Participants recruited 2000-2008 Participants recruited 2009-2015 Participants who provided a blood sample and then were diagnosed with cancer Participants who were diagnosed with cancer and then donated a sample3

Notes
1 – Includes Colon and/or Rectum and/or Rectosigmoid Junction
2 – Excluding non-melanoma skin cancer
3 – Linkage with the Alberta Cancer Research Biobank.