B.C. cancer patients will soon have access to new treatment

Cancer patients in the province will now be able to access a wider range of treatment services.

Premier David Eby and Health Minister Adrian Dix announced Sunday, in Vancouver, that leukemia and lymphoma patients will now have better access to Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell (CAR-T) therapy in B.C.

Eby says this new treatment is “truly a miracle of modern science.”

The province has partnered with BC Cancer, Provincial Laboratory Medicine Services, Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), and BC Children’s Hospital to provide these treatments.

“Cancer touches the lives of so many people in British Columbia,” said Premier David Eby.

“Our goal is to lead the country with better and faster ways to prevent, detect, and treat cancers so we can stop this disease in its tracks.”

Eby says they are starting “now” to support eligible cancer patients and their families with CAR-T therapy.

Dix says the first CAR-T therapy treatment started this month.

“We have been offering clinical trials with this new program, up to 20 eligible adult patients, (and) up to five eligible pediatric patients will receive treatment in (the) province in taken patient assessment began in January 2024 It is underway. And the first treatment starts this month,” he said.

The adult patients are treated at VGH, and the pediatric patients are treated at the BC Children’s Hospital.

“This is an important milestone in our continuing efforts to enhance treatment options and expand access to life-saving cancer care services for people living in B.C.,” said Dix.

“We know that the incidence of cancer is increasing as our population ages and grows at unprecedented rates. That is why we are bolstering our resources and infrastructure to benefit and empower patients and healthcare professionals with the support they need in our fight against cancer.”

Dix says this therapy is only used when primary cancer treatments like chemotherapy are not successful.

At the announcement, Mary-Jill Asrat, parent of a pediatric CAR-T patient said CAR-T changes their lives. She says the treatment significantly increased the odds of a successful bone marrow transplant.

“Access to CAR-T was life-saving for our eight-year-old son, who was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of two. It has given him back his childhood – school, sports, play dates, and time with family. We are thrilled that this innovative therapy will now be an option available to other children facing a similar journey and that it will bring hope to families from across B.C.”

The announcement added to B.C.’s 10-year Cancer Care Action Plan, with $270 million earmarked in this year’s provincial budget to fight cancer over three years.

The plan includes improving access to cervical cancer screening, HPV vaccines, radiation therapy, and specialized cancer care.

“By improving access to CAR T-cell therapy, we’re bringing this new life-saving treatment closer to home for patients with some advanced blood cancers who are no longer responding to conventional treatments,” said Dr. Kim Chi, EVP at BC Cancer.

Chi says when awareness increases and screenings are made more accessible, more people tend to participate.

“This starts with efforts to find cancer in its earliest stages to the promotion of our cancer screening programs, including the new cervix self-screening program launched earlier this year that allows individuals to more conveniently screen for HPV the virus that causes cervical cancer.”

The province has promised to bolster its work to increase capacity, access to specialized cancer diagnosis and treatments, and better access to oncologists.

“This includes increasing PET CT scanning which will enable us to detect cancers more precisely using molecular markers genomic testing,” he said.

“(We) will also increase precision radiation therapy which delivers more accurate treatment with higher efficacy and fewer side effects and introduce new targeted anti-cancer drugs.”

Eby says the budget also provides funding for capital projects, including cancer centres in Surrey, Nanaimo, Burnaby, and Kamloops.

With files from Raynaldo Suarez and David Nadalini.