Pictured: The QEII's Dr. Rob Rutledge and Dr. Gabriela Ilie are the leads and visionaries behind BreastCancerPEP
A groundbreaking new program and clinical trial designed to support women through every stage of breast cancer treatment will soon be underway in Nova Scotia — marking a significant milestone in a broader effort to transform how cancer care is delivered.
Through the patient engagement in cancer care project, an initiative spearheaded by Nova Scotia Health and proudly supported by QEII Foundation donors through our We Are campaign, a province-wide clinical trial will evaluate BreastCancerPEP — a six-month, digitally delivered patient empowerment program that brings daily support directly into patients’ homes.
The launch of BreastCancerPEP will represent an exciting new advancement within the patient engagement in cancer care project, aimed at helping patients access care, stay connected to healthcare teams, and feel more supported throughout treatment — both inside and outside the hospital.
For Dr. Rob Rutledge, a QEII radiation oncologist who has treated breast cancer patients for nearly 30 years, the need for this kind of support has been impossible to ignore.
“Every Monday morning as I walk into the room of this person who has a recent breast cancer diagnosis, what I’m seeing is what I call a bad case of the ‘w’s,’” says Dr. Rutledge. “They’ve been waiting for a very long time. They’re worrying about what’s going to happen. They’re wondering what they should be doing.”
While the healthcare system delivers essential medical treatment, Dr. Rutledge says many patients are still left navigating the emotional, physical and social realities of cancer largely on their own.
“There’s all these other elements that the person can actually do to really make a tremendous difference in their health — physically, emotionally and socially — that are completely missed,” he says. “It’s a big opportunity lost.”
BreastCancerPEP is designed to help close that gap.
Through the program, patients undergoing breast cancer treatment will receive daily, structured support over six months, including guided physical activity, nutrition and sleep support, stress management strategies, and tools to build emotional resilience.
The hybrid structure, combining daily digital delivery with live monthly interaction, allows patients to remain connected not only to healthcare professionals, but also to one another throughout treatment. According to Dr. Rutledge, this helps reduce isolation and foster a sense of long-term support and community as participants remain connected to the program well beyond the initial six-month intervention.
Once a patient joins BreastCancerPEP, each morning they receive short video-based guidance led by Dr. Rutledge and Dr. Gabriela Ilie, scientific lead of the program, bringing trusted support directly into their home.
“Cancer care does not stop at the clinic door,” says Dr. Ilie. “BreastCancerPEP is designed to support women not just clinically, but physically, emotionally and socially.”
“It’s like having the heart of the medical system in your home,” she adds. “You’re not alone.”
GROUNDED IN EVIDENCE, BUILT FOR IMPACT
While BreastCancerPEP marks a new milestone for breast cancer care, the model itself is grounded in years of research and real-world success.
The program builds on earlier patient empowerment programs developed by husband-and-wife team, Dr. Ilie and Dr. Rutledge, for prostate cancer and other cancer populations; work that has already demonstrated meaningful improvements in physical health, psychological wellbeing and overall quality of life.
That research has also shown the potential for significant healthcare savings through proactive, preventative support and is one of countless reasons why these programs are now available worldwide.
“This model has already supported the development of growing international patient communities through our earlier PC-PEP (prostate cancer) and CancerPEP programs,” explains Dr. Ilie. “For example, PC-PEP is now offered to prostate cancer patients as part of their standard of care in Nova Scotia and is available at hospital sites around the world, including in New Zealand, Romania, Belgium and South Africa.”
Now, the team is adapting and rigorously evaluating that model specifically for breast cancer patients through a randomized clinical trial — a critical step toward validating and scaling the BreastCancerPEP program more broadly.
“Healthcare systems require high-quality evidence before integrating models like this into standard of care,” says Dr. Ilie. “This trial provides that level of rigor.”
For Dr. Rutledge, the trial is also helping validate innovative new approaches tailored specifically for breast cancer patients — including home-based physiotherapy and guided recovery exercises designed to help patients better navigate surgery and radiation treatment.
“This is novel. This is groundbreaking,” he shares.
AN EXCITING NEW ADVANCEMENT IN PATIENT ENGAGEMENT IN CANCER CARE
BreastCancerPEP is the latest advancement within the patient engagement in cancer care project — an initiative focused on removing barriers and strengthening how patients access care and support throughout their cancer journey.
Earlier phases of the project, accelerated through QEII Foundation donor support, introduced a patient engagement app that is helping cancer patients report symptoms, access trusted information, and stay connected with their care teams between appointments.
Now, BreastCancerPEP represents an exciting expansion of that work — a new, digital program that’ll extend support even further into patients’ daily lives through structured, at-home guidance and proactive care.
Together, these digital innovations will help shape a more connected, responsive model of cancer care.
POWERED BY QEII FOUNDATION DONOR SUPPORT
This milestone is being made possible through donor generosity. CIBC’s $500,000 gift to the QEII Foundation is helping advance patient engagement in cancer care — supporting innovative approaches like BreastCancerPEP that aim to transform the patient experience.
“We are incredibly grateful to CIBC for their inspiring leadership and commitment to improving cancer care,” says Susan Mullin, president and CEO of the QEII Foundation.
“CIBC’s support is helping bring bold, innovative solutions to life — solutions that are connecting patients to care in new ways and extending that care into their homes, when they need it most.”
As part of our We Are campaign, the QEII Foundation is contributing and actively fundraising $1.1 million for the patient engagement in cancer care project — ensuring more patients can benefit from these advancements.
For Dr. Ilie and Dr. Rutledge, donor support is essential to making programs like this possible.
“Without their support, it simply wouldn’t happen,” says Dr. Rutledge.
As Dr. Ilie explains, “donors, like CIBC, are helping us translate research into the real world. They’re helping us help patients.”
A NEW MODEL FOR CANCER CARE
For the team behind BreastCancerPEP, the goal is much bigger than one program. It’s about rethinking how patients are supported throughout treatment and recognizing that healing extends far beyond clinical care alone.
“This program is really about recognizing the need, recognizing the pain, recognizing the silent suffering and responding to it,” says Dr. Ilie.
For Dr. Rutledge, the impact is deeply personal.
“I see my patients through their treatments. I see them in recovery,” he says. “I’m so passionate because I know they could do better if we had this type of programming in place. That’s the ultimate drive behind this and what keeps us going.”
Click here to learn more about or enrol in BreastCancerPEP, or make a donation to the QEII Foudation in support of patient engagement in cancer care.
