Cancer ride buys new, hi-tech treatments
Each bicycle that crossed the finish line at the 9th annual Big Move Cancer Ride Sunday made life a little easier for local cancer patients.
The event raised more than $300,000 that is being used to purchase new, hyper-accurate radiation machines designed to target tumours while minimizing a patient’s radiation exposure.
“What this technology allows us to do is not just target the tumour, but because it targets the tumour and avoids the surrounding healthy tissue, we can use higher doses of radiation,” said Dr. Janice Giesbrecht, medical director of the Walker Family Cancer Centre in St. Catharines.
“That means we are able to improve treatment and reduce the side effects on patients.”
Nearly 500 people participated in the ride Sunday, around 100 more than in 2016, organizers said.
“I think what you have are teams of people who ride every year and new people joining the event because their families or friends have been impacted by cancer,” said Roger Ali, president and CEO of ONE Foundation for Niagara Health, the fundraising organization that operates the annual bike ride.
Participants raise money for the cancer centre and take part in a 25 km, 50 km, or 100 km bike ride through Niagara which begins and ends at Club Roma on Vansickle Road.
Ali said while hospitals in Ontario receive operational funds from the provincial government, equipment is not covered. Events like the Big Move Cancer Ride raise critical funds to buy state-of-the-art equipment, he said.
Over the last nine years, the Big Move Cancer Ride’s 3,500 cyclists has raised nearly $3.1 million for the cancer centre.
Giesbrecht said the new radiation equipment was installed before the cycling event, and was used to a treat a person for the first time last week.
She said older generations of radiation treatment tended to hit the entire body, causing serious side effects. Over time, treatment methods have become more focused to reduce overall radiation exposure. It also allows oncologists to attack tumours located in particularly sensitive areas of the body, including around the brain and heart.
The new device not only targets cancerous tissue but can track it as it moves during treatment.
“You may be laying still, and we can keep your arms or legs from moving, but internally things are still moving. You breathe, for example, which moves things,” she said. “Over time, the tumour shrinks as well, so this is really an improvement.”
Giesbrecht said new, more effective equipment also means fewer Niagara patients will need to be sent to another hospital for treatment.
Some patients with complex cases will still be sent to Hamilton or Toronto, but Giesbrecht said as the Walker Family Cancer Centre improves its quality of care, the number of patients who can be treated closer to home increases.
Although the annual cancer ride wrapped up Sunday, donations can be made to this year’s event until Oct .31 atwww. big move cancer ride. com or by calling 905-323-3863.