How B.C. Donors Support Cancer Research and Improvements to Care: Part I

BC Cancer Foundation donors have been staunch supporters of our early detection research efforts at the BC Cancer agency since 2007. A few of the projects mentioned in last week’s blog were funded by the generosity of Foundation donors, including:

• breast density calculation software,
• graphics processing hardware (GPU) used in gaming industry for medical applications,
• the development of a biostatistics infrastructure at the BC Cancer Agency Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre for the Southern Interior, and
• external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) simulation software.

Notably, the Foundation co-funded a research project in 2009 to estimate the breast cancer risk distribution of women in B.C. This work was published in Cancer Prevention Research in 2013. Using the results of this study, the Hereditary Cancer Program of B.C. is currently working on recommending the implementation of MRI screening in the province for those who are at a very high risk of developing breast cancer.

In my next post, I’ll share two more important ways donors support our work.

Rasika