A Kelowna, B.C., couple has made a significant donation that will help kickstart the province’s first-of-its-kind cancer research program.
Ken and Gloria Sargent have donated $1.5 million towards cancer research on the surgical front.
“This is a historical moment for BC Cancer Kelowna and why I say that is that their gift has helped solidify and establish the first-ever surgical oncology research program,” said Pardeep Khrod, associate vice-president of the B.C. Cancer Foundation.
The Kelowna-based program is expected to have significant impact on patient outcomes.
“All the advances that we make, anything incremental, any advances we make, it’s all based on research,” said Dr. Chris Baliski, a surgical oncologist.
Baliski, who will head up the program, said the research will help determine best treatment options.
“Surgery is a key component of approximately 60 per cent of patients with cancer, so there’s a good chance that surgery is going to be a component of their care, and we want to make sure to optimize that component,” he told Global News.
The research will help pioneer more precise and less invasive techniques and look at more innovative ways of doing things, such as offering chemotherapy ahead of surgery instead of the other way around.
“It used to be, if you had a cancer, very often you have surgery and then you have chemotherapy. Now we’re actually looking at changing the paradigm in that we’re going to do chemotherapy first,” Baliski said.
“A large tumour that maybe would have been very difficult to take out, or very disfiguring…now we can shrink that down and we can actually provide less invasive surgery for patients.”
The program will also allow for a lot more clinical trials to be done in Kelowna with a primary focus on patients with highly prevalent cancers, such as breast and thyroid cancer and melanoma.
“We want to make sure that patients have access to it now, as opposed to two, three, five years from now, so all the patients receive the benefit,” Bailiski said.
The program will begin Sept. 11 with a team of nurses, statisticians and data abstractors supporting the research.
“It’s very exciting,” Baliski said. “As opposed to doing the research on the side of my desk and doing it on my own in the evenings and on weekends, I’m actually going to have the supports built around me.”
BC Cancer is naming its molecular and imaging and therapeutic suite after the Sargents to honour their generous gift.
“This will continue their legacy in giving, and also mark this historical moment here in our community,” Khrod said.
Baliski said the new program will be very beneficial to both patients and doctors alike.
“As a cancer surgeon, I want to make sure that I’m providing the best care possible,” Baliski said.
“I also want to make sure that patients in the community that are being looked after by other surgeons who are doing their best to look after them are also seeing the best care possible, and there’s a whole research methodology about looking at care that’s provided in ways you can improve upon things and that’s going to improve the outcomes for our patients.”