Five Trailblazing Women who are Transforming Cancer Care in B.C.
March 7, 2025
Found in Cervical Cancer, General, Gynecologic Cancer, Lung cancer
On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the extraordinary women who are breaking down barriers in cancer care. From leading groundbreaking studies and programs that increase access to life-saving testing to bravely facing the disease and advocating for others who will face a diagnosis, their strength and dedication inspire us all to keep pushing forward for a world free from cancer.
“Moving forward, for all firefighters who are diagnosed with thyroid cancer it will be assumed it was caused by the job. The precedent has been set. They’re not going to have to battle, or say ‘That’s not fair,’ like I did.”
— Athena Calogeros, training captain with West Vancouver Fire & Rescue, advocated for thyroid cancer to be listed as an occupational disease to ensure preventative measures and support for future firefighters who may face a diagnosis.
“Cervical cancer is essentially a disease of inequity — patients who are unable to attend screening due to personal, physical or cultural barriers are most vulnerable. If they’re not being screened, we’re not finding the precancer in its early asymptomatic phase when it can be cured with a simple procedure.”
— Dr. Lily Proctor established a first-in-Canada cervix self-screening program that is increasing access to life-saving testing in underserved populations, including people with lower incomes, who live in rural or remote areas, recent immigrants, First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
“She was the first to cross the street if someone lit up a cigarette, and spent her whole life being mindful of what she ate and staying healthy — unfortunately, anyone with lungs can get lung cancer. Cancer is something over which we often have no control, so we have to look at what we can do.”
— After losing her mom, a healthy non-smoker, to lung cancer, BC Cancer Foundation Board Chair Miranda Lam is championing BC Cancer research including an innovative study on Asian women’s increased risk of lung cancer due air pollution.
“Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, and on a trajectory to be the second only to breast in the next couple of decades. And yet, it has a sliver of the investment compared to prostate cancer.”
— Dr. Jessica McAlpine’s research breakthroughs — including a classification tool that organizes endometrial cancers into four different subtypes, providing prognostic information and identification opportunities for targeted treatment — are changing the way the world diagnoses and treats gynecological cancers.
“It’s something I had to do because I couldn’t imagine my family, especially my dad, losing anyone else to this disease. If I hadn’t had my stomach removed, no amount of testing would have found the cancer until it was too late.”
— After losing her mom and twin sister to stomach cancer, Natasha Benn made an extraordinary decision to save her own life, which ultimately helped BC Cancer make a groundbreaking discovery in inherited cancer.
