7th Annual Underwear Affair Raises $633,000 for Cancers Below the Belt!

I am thrilled with the enthusiasm from all the participants in this year’s Underwear Affair. The event raised $633,000 for research focused on cancers below the waist, which will lead to improved outcomes for patients across the province. You can read more about the event here.

Underwear Affair participants and supporters are helping us bring awareness to this important group of cancers. And together, we are ensuring research projects in priority areas are able to continue with a positive impact on future outcomes.

There is a broad range of cancers that can develop below the waist and the more public awareness we can create about these cancers then the larger our opportunity is to help BC Cancer Agency researchers improve on early detection and enhancements to patient care.

Thanks to each and every one of our participants and volunteers and those families and friends who came to cheer them on. It was a truly inspiring event and it would not have been a success without you. 

Thank you for being our partner in discovery.

Celebrating an Important Investment in BrainCare BC!

This month, Dr. Brian Toyota and the BrainCare BC team celebrated an incredible gift of $350,000 from Eleni Skalbania, owner of the Wedgewood Hotel & Spa, in support of a revolutionary new brain cancer treatment technology. Named for the technology, Team AutoLITT, led by the Wedgewood Hotel & Spa’s Philip Meyer and professional cyclist, Christian Meier, raised an additional $80,000 through the July 22 Prospera Valley GranFondo cycling event.

The BC Cancer Agency will be the first cancer care facility in Canada to receive the AutoLITT, which utilizes a laser probe to directly target the tumour. This sophisticated method prevents damage to the brain’s healthy tissue, reduces surgery time, and has the potential to reduce long term side effects of treatment.

You can read more about this story here.

BC Cancer Agency Library Expands in Surrey

A new Cancer Information Centre is available to patients, family members and the public at the BC Cancer Agency Fraser Valley Centre thanks to a generous $50,000 gift to the BC Cancer Foundation from the Rotary Club of Surrey.

The Cancer Information Centre offers books, audiovisuals and online resources on a range of topics, including cancer treatment, complementary and integrative medicine, side effects, nutrition and survivorship. The centre is located in the lobby of the BC Cancer Agency’s Fraser Valley Centre at 13750 96th Avenue, Surrey, and is open Monday to Friday between 8:30am to 4:00 pm.

You can read more about this donation story here.

Partners in Discovery Guest Bloggers

A warm thank you to Dr. Dianne Miller for her blog posts about the future of ovarian and gynecologic cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency. We are fortunate to have such a talented, dedicated team of people working in this area in B.C.  The future is very bright indeed.

For the month of August, please welcome Kelsie Thu. Kelsie is a graduate student in interdisciplinary oncology at the University of British Columbia. AAs part of an up and coming generation of cancer researchers, Kelsie will share with us the exciting developments happening in lung cancer research at the BC Cancer Research Centre.

Read our Partners in Discovery blog here.