B.C. minister says investment in nuclear medicine will expand cancer care

State-of-the-art nuclear medicine is being developed at UBC, and the province announced Tuesday that it’s spending $32 million to fund the Triumf cancer research lab and to build a new cyclotrone machine and radiopharmacy laboratory.

The cyclotron machine will produce radioactive isotopes – used for cancer diagnosis, research and treatment – and will put B.C. at the forefront of this technology in Canada, according to Nigel Smith, who heads up Triumf.

“(We're) positioning our province as a driving force in Canada’s nuclear medicine ecosystem,” said Smith on Tuesday.

Isotopes are used in PET CT scans and are critical for detecting cancer and monitoring its spread.

A global shortage of isotopes in 2022 posed a temporary threat to such scans. The new machine being built at UBC will expand B.C.'s capacity from 16,000 PET CT scans per year to 41,000 per year.

“Increasing our PET CT scan access enables our physicians to accurately stage our cancers, (then) determine appropriate treatment options and treatment planning,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix on Tuesday.

The importance of early detection is all too familiar for Leah Rowntree. She was diagnosed last spring with Stage 3 breast cancer missed during routine mammograms, and has undergone chemotherapy, surgery and radiation treatment.

“The point of getting early diagnosis is to avoid that kind of harsh treatment and then give you a better prognosis,” said Rowntree.

The news come amidst presure for the province to provide better access to timely detection and treatment. Since last spring, B.C. has been sending breast and prostate cancer patients to Washington State for radation treatment.

Dix says that program – a contract with facilities in Bellingham – is maxed out at 50 patients per week.

“(It’s) a two-year agreement and I would expect that we will no longer need it within the time for that agreement,” said Dix.

The cyclotrone is expected to be up in operation producing isotopes by 2026 – not a moment to soon for those who know first-hand the value of early detection, or for the 44,000 British Columbians every year who are expected to receive a cancer diagnosis by 2034.