Allan Wolfram never would have met his grandson if it weren含羞草研究社檛 for the treatment he received through clinical trials at BC Cancer-Kelowna.

It was one of several stories the audience heard at an event that saw the Bannister family of Kelowna donate $1.5 million to the BC Cancer Foundation.

含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 certainly grateful to the staff here, they basically saved my life,含羞草研究社� Wolfram added.

Wolfram had esophageal cancer which had spread and caused a tumour in his brain.

Weeks after treatment the tumour shrunk and the cancer in his esophagus was gone.

含羞草研究社淪o yeah, clinical trials are important,含羞草研究社� he said.

Wolfram含羞草研究社檚 story resonated with the Bannister family.

含羞草研究社淥ur family has been touched by cancer,含羞草研究社� said Chad Bannister, Bannister Automotive Group. 含羞草研究社淢y grandpa passed away from prostrate cancer, my mom含羞草研究社檚 dad had colon cancer and survived, my wife had thyroid cancer, I含羞草研究社檝e had skin cancer.含羞草研究社�

Bannister said some of his employees and their families are also dealing with cancer.

含羞草研究社淚f we含羞草研究社檙e in a position to help make that treatment better and let our staff and let the community focus more on health, then that含羞草研究社檚 what we含羞草研究社檙e doing.含羞草研究社�

Bannister含羞草研究社檚 father, Lyn, added that stories such as Wolfram含羞草研究社檚 need to be heard.

含羞草研究社淎ll this money is being spent on cancer research and people think nothing is happening and you come to an event like this and you realize there are things happening. You listen to Allan, I mean that含羞草研究社檚 a helluva story. People don含羞草研究社檛 hear them enough I don含羞草研究社檛 think.含羞草研究社�

The Bannister含羞草研究社檚 donation will go towards creating a new, state-of-the-art systemic therapy suite at BC Cancer-Kelowna.

It will help meet the growing demand for cancer treatments in the Interior, and provide the infrastructure to bring early phase clinical trials to Kelowna for the first time.

While BC Cancer-Kelowna does conduct some clinical trials, once the therapy suite is operating, it opens to door to more and varied trials.

含羞草研究社淭he earlier clinical trials, we have to be really careful about what impacts they might have on the patients who are participating, so you need better monitoring capability,含羞草研究社� said Dr. Ross Halperin, executive medical director.

The new therapy suite will have that capability, he explained.

含羞草研究社淭he data from patients like Allan will inform us and make a therapy that wasn含羞草研究社檛 available as standard therapy before, and a clinical trial proves that it ought to be standard therapy.含羞草研究社�

Dr. Halperin added that the Bannister family含羞草研究社檚 gift will have an incredible impact on how patients will be treated in Kelowna.

Once completed, the therapy suite will serve cancer patients in the Interior.

含羞草研究社淚f there are trials that are only available in Kelowna, people from all across the province will then be travelling to access those treatments,含羞草研究社� said Pardeep Khrod, associate vice-president, of BC Cancer Foundation.

The donation is the largest gift to date for the $6.1 million project.

Construction is expected to start in spring 2024 and take approximately 18 months.

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