90 Years of Discovery and Hope in B.C.: Donor-Driven Innovation in PET/CT and Radiation Therapy

Radiation Therapy

From the rudimentary use of unprocessed radium to the AI-informed precise beams and internally placed “seeds” of today, donor-supported radiation therapy research is advancing access and care for the more than 50% of all cancer patients in B.C. who require the treatment.

Past: In the 1930s, an anonymous donor helped purchase one of the first grams of rare radium, launching radiotherapy in B.C. While effective in killing cancer cells, early radiation treatments were imprecise and impacted healthy tissue along with the tumour causing unintended damage.

Present: B.C.-led innovation in precision radiation therapy has significantly improved treatment, targeting the tumour within millimetres to reduce harmful side effects and increase access across the province.

In 2009, donors enabled BC Cancer – Kelowna to bring brachytherapy — placing radioactive sources or “seeds” in the tumour to kill cancer cells, limiting toxicity and reducing treatments from weeks to just days — to the Interior. In 2020, fundraising helped recruit B.C.’s first Chair in Brachytherapy, Dr. Juanita Crook, who is leading world-class research in brachytherapy to treat prostate and breast cancer.    

Future: Donors are putting BC Cancer at the forefront of pioneering research in stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), a highly focused, high-dose radiation therapy that minimizes side effects and can be delivered in just five treatments — compared to 30-35 traditional radiation sessions. A joint BC Cancer – Victoria and Surrey trial is using AI to further reduce SABR treatments to just two doses.

Since radiation therapy is only available at BC Cancer, as SABR progresses to become standard of care in treating more cancers it will greatly increase capacity at B.C.’s six regional centres. The development of four more BC Cancer centres (Burnaby, Surrey, Kamloops and Nanaimo) will further increase access to the nearly 167,000 radiation sessions B.C. patients require each year.

PET/CT Technology

Essential imaging in the diagnosis, treatment and management of cancer, PET/CT technology has undergone an incredible transformation, in terms of efficiency, precision and access across B.C., thanks to donor investment over the past 20 years.

Past: B.C.’s first publicly funded PET/CT scanner began operating in Vancouver in 2005. The BC Cancer Foundation provided $3.2 million to purchase a second scanner, as well as upgrade the first machine, in 2011 — doubling capacity from 3,100 scans to 6,200 scans a year.

Present: Donor support helped replace BC Cancer – Vancouver’s aging PET/CT with a new state-of-the-art machine in 2019. Around the same time, communities in Vancouver Island and the Interior rallied to raise $5 million each to bring PET/CT technology to Victoria and Kelowna — saving nearly 3,000 patients a year from having to travel to Vancouver to receive the life-saving scans.

Future: A donor-supported Next Gen PET/CT, the gold standard in cancer imaging and the first in the country, will begin operating in Vancouver in 2025. Twenty times faster and more sensitive than the current PET/CT technology, it reduces scan time from 40 minutes to just two minutes, while offering unprecedented data that increases the opportunity for early detection, identifies smaller cancer sites and accurately measures a drug’s efficacy over time. In addition to improving capacity across the province, it will also advance research on new radioactive drugs to treat cancer.