The Future of Breast Cancer Research in B.C.

I’ve been at the BC Cancer Agency for about 11 years now. Why do I enjoy working here?  Cancer survival rates in B.C. are some the highest in the country. And especially for breast cancer, we have some of the best outcomes among comparable publicly-funded health care systems in the world.

The reasons for this are multiple. One aspect is the structure of the BC Cancer Agency: delivering care in a publicly-funded population-based manner, with equitable access across the province for new therapies. B.C. is a leader in integrating new treatment into clinical practice, in research and across the translational domain. Our ability to deliver an excellent standard of care and bring new therapies to the clinic in a timely manner has a direct benefit for patients across the province.

And on a daily basis, we’re continuing to improve our understanding of the disease, using new technologies, sophisticated profiling and asking why certain tumours respond better to treatment than others, and some not at all. By looking closely at our own population, we will determine if we are having a positive impact on patient survival. My goal is always to reduce the mortality and morbidity from breast cancer in the future.

Thanks for following the blog this month,

Stephen