Delivering the promise of longer and healthier lives

The donations you make to the BC Cancer Foundation towards funding research at the BC Cancer Agency have a direct effect on prevention and reducing cancer mortality rates and improving the quality of life for people with cancer in British Columbia. All donations stay in B.C., improving the lives of your family, friends and neighbours both now and in the future.

Here are a 10 reasons to be optimistic about the future of cancer care and research

• Cancer is moving towards becoming a chronic, not fatal disease. Drugs are being developed that enable people to manage their cancer and continue to lead productive lives. 

• Advances in screening and prevention have led to vaccines that can prevent cancer. For example, HPV vaccine could reduce cervical cancer deaths worldwide by as much as two-thirds.
   
• The discovery of biomarkers as diagnostic and prognostic tools is a big step toward personalized medicine in our lifetime. In the foreseeable future, cancer prevention, screening, treatment and palliative care will be based on your genetic profile. The BC Cancer Agency is uniquely positioned to be a prolific source of these kinds of discoveries.
   
• The BC Cancer Agency’s Genome Sciences Centre is breaking new ground. As one of the world’s top genome research labs dedicated to cancer research, it is at the centre of recent international discoveries in lymphoma, ovarian and breast cancers.
   
• BC Cancer Agency’s Tumour Tissue Repository is the first in Canada. It is critical to genomic research; supports translational research; sets the standard for cancer tissue banking across and beyond Canada, and involves patients as active research partners.
   
• Stem cells are a promising future treatment option. BC Cancer Agency researchers lead in understanding how deadly cancers like leukemia develop from stem cells and are studying their use as a treatment alternative to painful bone marrow transplant.
   
• One day you could use your own immune system to fight cancer. Researchers at the Agency’s Deeley Research Centre are world leaders in studying how to harness and enhance a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer and prevent its recurrence.
   
• The BC Cancer Agency’s Centre of Excellence for Functional Cancer Imaging is developing new uses for PET/CT scanning. PET/CT scanning can show a cancer’s exact location in a patient’s body; reveal the size and spread of tumours; assist in treatment decisions that can avoid unnecessary surgery and reduce chemotherapy or radiation.
   
• Invention of optical technology for widespread early detection and screening use. The hand-held VELscope, developed at the BC Cancer Agency, can detect precancerous and cancerous oral tissue during your regular dental checkup; boost survival rates to 80 per cent; and prevent one of the most disfiguring cancers.
   
• The BC Cancer Agency attracts leading experts from around the world. It provides the same gold-standard cancer care to everyone in B.C. and has a 50-year, ongoing database of patient treatment and outcomes—an invaluable research tool.