Meet Kelowna’s Cancer Care Trailblazers
October 23, 2025
Found in BC Cancer - Kelowna, Cervical Cancer, Radiation Oncology
At BC Cancer – Kelowna, innovation isn’t just something to strive for — it’s a daily reality.
This culture is driven by the passion and vision of experts like Dr. Nathan Becker, a leader in AI-assisted adaptive radiotherapy, and Dr. Hamid Raziee, whose groundbreaking work in brachytherapy is transforming precision cancer care across B.C.
Dr. Nathan Becker: Bringing Big-City Breakthroughs Home
Trained in Calgary and Toronto, Dr. Becker, BC Cancer’s regional lead medical physicist, jumped at the opportunity to relocate to B.C.’s Interior — and not just for the beautiful scenery.
“My goal in coming here was really to bring the technology and capability I saw at the big city centres to BC Cancer – Kelowna.”
Something he achieved when Kelowna patients became the first in Canada to receive advanced radiation therapy using Ethos, a cutting-edge technology that uses AI to adapt to daily changes in the shape and position of tumours, enabling more targeted treatment that spares surrounding healthy tissue.
“Five years ago, I would have said it was impossible to make a brand-new radiation treatment plan every single day for a patient, but now we have it. It’s incredible patient-centred technology.”
Personalized Treatment, Real Results
This innovation is transforming care for cervical cancer patients, who are experiencing far fewer side effects thanks to adaptive radiotherapy paired with a custom 3D-printed applicator to guide more personalized brachytherapy — a highly targeted radiation technique using implanted seeds.
“Right here in Kelowna, we are offering state-of-the-art cervical cancer treatment that no one else in Canada, and perhaps no one else in the world, is yet delivering as standard of care.”
The benefits extend beyond patient outcomes. Shorter treatment times are increasing capacity across B.C. “When we first started, each treatment was an hour long. Now we’ve been able to cut that treatment time down to about 25 minutes.”
Community-Powered Innovation
The complexity of adaptive radiotherapy, which requires him to be on site during treatment, has brought Dr. Becker closer to patients. And connecting with the people his work impacts is what drives him, he says. “Meeting patients and donors, giving tours of our facility — it reminds me why I do this every day.”
It was one of these partnerships with local businessman and philanthropist David Krysko that helped launch Kelowna’s new Research and Development (R&D) Hub.
Thanks to a $2.76 million investment from the Krysko Family Foundation the collaborative multi-disciplinary space is supercharging clinical research by bringing key resources in-house including statistical analysis, computer programming, AI infrastructure and data support.
The R&D Hub is laying the groundwork for AI to transform every corner of cancer care, says Dr. Becker. “It’s going to change the way we do research here in the interior.”
BC Cancer – Kelowna's Dr. Hamid Raizee
Drs. Hamid Raziee: Using AI to Advance Care
Dr. Raziee, who joined BC Cancer – Kelowna in 2021 after training in Toronto and working at BC Cancer in Surrey, is expanding the use of high-precision radiation, such as brachytherapy, beyond gynecological cancers to include prostate cancer.
With more than half of all people diagnosed with cancer requiring radiation — a treatment which relies heavily on technology — he says there’s a huge opportunity for AI to provide more personalized, targeted care.
“We rely on technology to design and deliver radiation with precision. As computational tools and AI evolve, we’re only beginning to see how profoundly they’ll reshape radiotherapy.”
Transforming Treatment Paradigms
Beyond refining how cancer is treated, Dr. Raziee is helping transform what treatment looks like.
Advanced cervical cancer, if managed primarily through invasive surgery can cause life-altering side effects, but it can now often be treated non-surgically with curative outcomes through combined chemotherapy, radiation therapy and brachytherapy — sometimes supported by immunotherapy.
Brachytherapy is an essential component of effective care, and BC Cancer – Kelowna has the capability to personalize the technique to each patient’s tumour anatomy, says Dr. Raizee. “And by combining radiation and systemic therapies with effective and advanced brachytherapy, we’re not just managing cancer — we’re potentially curing it.”
He recalls one young patient with advanced cervical cancer who underwent this approach. Years later, her cancer is gone, and even after a recurrence in her lung, targeted stereotactic radiation (a highly precise form of external radiation) has kept her disease-free.
“She’s living a full life, raising her family. It’s a huge success story — and incredibly rewarding to help someone return to their normal life.”
Donors Make a Difference
Every breakthrough and advancement in treatment and technology at BC Cancer is made possible by donors, says Dr. Raizee.
A clear example is Kelowna’s PET/CT — acquired with $5 million in donor support in 2020 — “It’s a very important component of the care that we provide to our patients.”
Philanthropy also enabled the appointment of Dr. Juanita Crook as the Chair in Brachytherapy at BC Cancer – Kelowna, fostering research, mentorship and collaboration that drive progress. “It’s about bringing the right minds together,” says Dr. Raziee.
And Dr. Raizee says it’s been inspiring to witness the Interior rally around one of the most promising developments for the region — a new BC Cancer centre in Kamloops, which will bring radiation therapy closer to home for many, another powerful example of donor impact.
“Cancer care is not just a medical journey; it’s a deeply human experience that requires a strong community. We have that in the Interior, where donors play a vital role — not only through funding, which is essential to our work, but by championing the ideas and values that move our mission forward.”
