Canada has over 60 Prostate Cancer Support Groups that meet once a month. This Richmond group in British Columbia is founded in 2013 by volunteers and focused on providing help to Chinese-speaking men, but everyone is welcome. We speak English, Cantonese and Mandarin, meet on the second Thursday of every month from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Seniors Centre of Minoru Centre for Active Living (7191 Granville Avenue, Richmond, BC V6Y 1N9 Multipurpose Room 1 (1033)). Join us for the professional presentation and talk to other men and family members who have been dealing with prostate cancer for weeks, months or even years.

No registration is required and all ages are welcome. Please swipe your Seniors Facility Pass ($36/year for seniors 55+ or spouses) or pay a $5 drop-in fee at the front desk when arriving for each session.

If you want to chat one on one with a survivor, you may drop in our walking club. The Richmond Blue Walkers walk 5-10 km on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 am-11 am, along the beautiful river dykes and parks in Richmond (Walk in the Richmond Shopping Centre during the rainy days or cold seasons). Click here for the schedule or contact Daniel Leung at 604-836-6423 for the locations and meeting places.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada accepts donations online, please go to http://prostatecanada.ca/ 捐款前列腺癌基金會請到 http://prostatecanada.ca/

此支援小組乃義工組織,我們講英語普通話廣東話幫助您了解良性前列腺疾病與前列腺癌的病徵預防治療康復與最新醫療硏究等資訊每月第二個星期四下午6:30-8:30在「明納健康活動中心」的長者中心多用途活動室1 (1033)

每次都需要在前台的會員證(55歲以上長者年費$36),也可以付$5的單次場地費

列治文前列腺癌友步行團「藍天健行」每週二和週四早上9時至11時沿著美麗的河堤和公園散步在下雨天或寒冷季節步行於列治文購物中心)。點擊查詢活動更新 打電話604-836-6423 (Daniel)

This blog is provided as a public service. Any persons using the information or documents provided on the blog do so at their own risk.

You are advised to seek professional services from licensed physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and health care professionals, if and when necessary.

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Nuclear medicine can cure cancer, and Canadian researchers are stepping up the fight

 

UBC Media Relations | May 4, 2023

Media Release

Nuclear medicine can cure cancer, and Canadian researchers are stepping up the fight

Contact: Brett Goldhawk (info at bottom)

A UBC-led team has received more than $23 million in federal funding to develop precision radiopharmaceuticals that promise to transform cancer treatment in Canada and beyond.

Radiation has been a staple of cancer treatment for decades, with approximately 50 per cent of cancer patients receiving radiation therapy at some point in their journey.

While effective, traditional radiation therapies rely on intense beams of energy shot from outside the body. These beams can kill cancer, but their use is limited to select locations, making them less suited for difficult-to-treat metastatic cancers that have spread to multiple sites.

Now, a UBC-led team of Canadian researchers has received $23.7 million in federal funding to develop a new generation of radiation therapy, known as radiopharmaceutical therapy, that delivers highly targeted doses of radiation from within.

The therapies work like a homing device — using specially designed molecules to seek out and deliver radioactive isotopes directly to cancer cells wherever they might be in the body. These radioactive warheads kill cancer with high precision, while causing minimal harm to surrounding healthy tissue and fewer side effects for patients.

“This is the holy grail of cancer treatment. These disease-targeting molecules circulate throughout the body, binding tightly to cancer cells in order to eliminate them with a highly localized blast of energy,” explained principal investigator Dr. François Bénard, professor of radiology and associate dean at UBC’s faculty of medicine, and senior executive director of the BC Cancer Research Institute, a UBC-affiliated institute of the Provincial Health Services Authority.

Made-in-Canada medicine

The multidisciplinary research team involves researchers from UBC, BC Cancer, TRIUMF, Simon Fraser University, Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, Western University, University of Toronto, University of Alberta and the Lawson Health Research Institute.

One of the key challenges they hope to overcome: a global shortage of radioisotopes. The worldwide supply of one promising element, actinium-225, is equivalent to only a few grains of sand—enough to treat no more than 2,000 patients a year.

Partnering with TRIUMF—Canada’s particle accelerator centre—the team will use cyclotrons to produce clinical-grade isotopes in adequate quantities to supply Canada and the world.

“Alpha-emitting isotopes like actinium-225 have tremendous potential to change how we treat cancer, and to significantly improve health outcomes for patients,” said Dr. Paul Schaffer, director of TRIUMF’s life sciences division. “TRIUMF is delighted to leverage its laboratory space and capabilities to ramp up and provide large quantities of rare isotopes like actinium-225, and to collaborate in the critical research taking place.”

The radioisotopes are attached to targeting molecules that recognize and bind to proteins on the surface of cancer cells. Another key component, known as bifunctional chelating ligands, connects the radioactive isotope to the targeting molecule and ensures its safe transport through the body.

The project is designing biomolecules to target a range of cancer types, including prostate, pancreatic, breast and blood cancers.

“Radiopharmaceutical design is intrinsically modular, which gives us the flexibility to customize each drug to a specific disease target,” said co-principal investigator Dr. Caterina Ramogida, assistant professor of chemistry at Simon Fraser University, joint with TRIUMF. “Using this adaptable approach, we have the potential to develop an arsenal of different drugs tailored for various types of cancer.”

Bringing treatments to the clinic

By integrating Canadian expertise in oncology, radiology, nuclear physics, nuclear engineering, chemistry, biology, clinical medicine and health economics, the team hopes to bring multiple drug candidates into future clinical trials in the coming years and to accelerate their widespread adoption in Canada.

“We will establish Canada as a world leader in the field of nuclear medicine and ensure Canadians and patients around the world have access to these innovative medicines sooner,” said Dr. Bénard. “These radiopharmaceuticals can significantly improve the quality of life and life expectancy of patients with cancer, particularly metastatic cancers, many of which are currently untreatable.”

Cancer remains the leading cause of death in Canada with nearly one in two Canadians expected to be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. One in four Canadians will die from the disease.

Multimedia assets: Dropbox

Permalink:
https://news.ubc.ca/2023/05/04/nuclear-medicine-cure-cancer-canadian-researchers/

Contact:

Brett Goldhawk
UBC Faculty of Medicine
Tel: 778-952-7858
Email: Brett.Goldhawk@ubc.ca

UBC Media Relations
6251 Cecil Green Park Road
Vancouver, BC

Tel: 604 822 6397
Email: media.relations@ubc.ca

news.ubc.ca

   

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