B.C. Cancer Foundation revealed treatment method called ‘theranostics’ to be used at new centre
A new hospital in B.C. will be a hub for futuristic cancer treatment.
The B.C. Cancer Centre—being built as part of the new hospital going up in the Cloverdale neighbourhood of Surrey—will utilize cutting-edge technology.
Scott MacDonald, associate director for the B.C. Cancer Foundation’s Fraser region, said the foundation has been tasked with raising $30 million for the new cancer centre. MacDonald, who was speaking at the AGM for the Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce Sept. 19, said the money will help pay for specialized equipment that will make the cancer centre one of the leading treatment facilities in Canada.
“One of the biggest pieces is something called the cyclotron,” MacDonald said. “A cyclotron creates radioactive isotopes. Those are the pieces we need to use a PET/CT scanner.”
Once a person ingests the radioactive isotopes, MacDonald said, they circle around the body, find the cancerous cells, and bind to them. The PET/CT can then find the bunches of isotopes grouped together on the cancerous tissue. Doctors can then find out exactly where the cancer is and start treatment.
But, he added, the future of cancer treatment is going to be “made in Cloverdale.” He said a cutting-edge treatment called “theranostics” will be used at the cancer centre. Theranostics is anything that combines therapy and diagnostics. In terms of cancer, and what that means for patients, he said it will be transformative.
“That is where we use therapy and treatment at the same time,” MacDonald explained. “The next step is having those little radioactive isotopes carry a small piece of radiation. It will hunt down and enter the cancer cell and kill it. That’s where we are going in the coming years and that’s going to be happening in Cloverdale.”
This nuclear medicine works by attaching different types of toxic radiation behind the radioactive isotopes. Once that isotope “sticks” to the cancer cell, the radiation then does its work.
“So when it’s looking for cancer, it doesn’t just show us where it is,” he added. “It goes into the cell and kills the cancer one cell at a time.”
MacDonald said this type of nuclear, high-tech medicine is not mainstream yet, but it is being tested in a couple of places right now in the U.S. and there is a trial going on in B.C.
“That is what the new centre is going to bring,” he said. “It’s going to bring that kind of cutting-edge, mind-bending technology here.”
MacDonald noted there will be five linear accelerators in the new cancer centre and the facility will be able to perform 100,000 treatments per year.
He explained that the B.C. Cancer Foundation’s campaign to raise $30 million had a soft launch last year when the groundbreaking ceremony happened in Cloverdale. Now the foundation is currently working on some promotional materials and looking for families who want to be “the champions of this centre.” The foundation plans to ramp up the campaign in 2025. They have already raised about $4 million.
“The B.C. Cancer Foundation is the fundraising arm of B.C. Cancer,” MacDonald noted. He said B.C. Cancer changed its name from B.C. Cancer Agency several years ago.
He added the B.C. Cancer Foundation will use the $30 million to fund specialized equipment, including the cyclotron, two PET/CT machines, and an MRI machine.
The new hospital and cancer centre will open in 2030.
