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C3-Funded Molecular Testing Program Ending December 31st, 2025

The C3 Molecular Testing Program:
Impact, Gratitude, and What Comes Next 💚

December 17, 2025

 

Since launching in July 2024, the C3 Molecular Testing Program has played an important role in expanding access to personalized care for people living with biliary tract cancer across Canada. In just 18 months, more than 250 patients nationwide received molecular testing through this initiative, supported by over 120 clinicians. In approximately 40–50% of cases, testing identified a genetic change that helped inform treatment decisions, including potential access to targeted therapies or clinical trials.

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In February 2025, we began fundraising specifically to support this program through www.cancer.ca/supportc3. We have been truly moved by the generosity of patients, families, and supporters across the country. Since launching this campaign, over $250,000 has been raised, with every dollar committed toward molecular testing. Through our partnerships, each test costs approximately $2,000, meaning that more than $500,000 has been invested into the C3 Molecular Testing Program, enabling us to sequence over 250 patients nationwide.

We share the closure of this testing program with great disappointment, knowing how important this program has been to our community. We wish we could sustain this program indefinitely, but as awareness of C3 grew, so did the demand for testing, and we are unable to meet the increasing need through fundraising alone.

That said, this is far from the end of the story. While this chapter is closing, our advocacy work is just beginning. Patients who received testing through the C3 were also enrolled in our Patient Registry, and we will use this de-identified data to clearly demonstrate the real and urgent benefit that molecular testing provides for people with biliary tract cancer.

We are actively working alongside our physician network and fellow patient advocacy organizations including CHCC, CCRAN, Cancertainty, and CCAF, to push for publicly funded, reflex molecular testing to become part of standard care in Canada. We will also need your voices to help ensure this message is heard by provincial decision-makers.

In the meantime, we will continue to gather and share information on all available pathways to access molecular testing in Canada until testing becomes routinely available for all patients. Please check back on this website in early 2026 for updated resources and guidance.

While the C3 Molecular Testing Program will conclude at the end of 2025, we remain hopeful that what comes next will lead to lasting, systemic change. As we transition into this next phase, any funds raised after December 31, 2025 will support C3’s ongoing operations, including the Patient Registry, research initiatives, and continued advocacy efforts.

Together, we have shown what is possible and together, we will keep pushing forward.

 

 

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, please email us at info@cholangio.ca 

How to Get Molecular Testing
(Instructions for Patients)

At C3, we support molecular testing using the optimal test, as soon after diagnosis as possible. There are many ways that you can access molecular testing through your physician. 

To get C3-funded molecular testing, you must:

Molecular Testing through the C3:

  • Results in a Clinical Report that will be given to you and your treating physician

  • Granted on a case by case basis

  • Subject to limited funds

Testing through Providers:

  • INFO COMING SOON (Jan 2026)

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The Canadian Cholangiocarcinoma Collaborative (C3) is supported by a Canadian Cancer Society Breakthrough Team Grant in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The granting funds for C3 are managed by The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, which serves as the lead institute for all collaborative operations.

© 2025 www.cholangio.ca. All rights reserved.

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