Vancouver - BC Cancer launched its Millennium Campaign today, a bold new plan to create a world-class research and treatment centre for excellence in cancer science. April 7, 1997 marks the beginning of the 1,000-day countdown to the 21st Century. During this time, BC Cancer will set the stage to find cures for cancer. 

Dr. Don Carlow, BC Cancer's president and chief executive officer, announced the plan at a media conference in Vancouver. He said BC Cancer is positioning itself to make significant breakthroughs. The new millennium is the target date to have in place the means for finding the cures.

"The cures for cancer are within our grasp," Carlow says. "With our unique, combined research and treatment cancer control system, we have the ability to apply the most up-to-date research to patient care and treatment, faster than anywhere else in Canada, and possibly the world."

"If you combine our incredible team of researchers and our comprehensive cancer control system, together with the worldwide effort to map the genetic makeup of the human body, you have a formula for success. The mystery of cancer will be unravelled and cures will be found -- and there is every possibility that this will happen right here in B.C."

BC Cancer's research team includes Dr. Michael Smith, Nobel Prize winner and cancer survivor, Dr. Mary-Claire King, who discovered the genetic basis of breast cancer, and a host of other internationally recognized scientists.

"The only way to find cures is through research," says Dr. Victor Ling, BC Cancer's vice-president of research. "The only way to improve treatment is through research.

The only way to learn more about cancer is through research, and we have some of the best researchers in the world. The Millennium Campaign will allow us to go out and recruit more."

The cornerstone of the Millennium Campaign is the construction of a 200,000-square foot research centre and a $100-million fund-raising project to support the plan. The fund-raising target is the largest ever attempted by a health care organization in Canada.

Other initiatives of the Millennium Campaign include the following:

• Establishment of a leading edge technology fund;   
• Expansion of the Vancouver Island Cancer Centre;   
• Capital funding for new and replacement equipment;   
• Core support to set up and maintain research laboratories and stabilize funding for scientists;   
• Recruitment of "best-in-their-field" scientists;   
• Establishment of new chairs in cancer research;   
• Support for expanded clinical research activities; and   
• Support for province-wide cancer education and development programs for physicians and health care workers.

Attending the noon-hour announcement were BC Cancer scientists and physicians, several hundred community and business leaders, BC Health Minister Joy MacPhail, Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen, and former BC Lieutenant Governor David Lam.

BC Cancer is comprised of the BC Cancer Agency, the BC Cancer Foundation and the BC Cancer Research Centre. BC Cancer provides leadership in cancer care, treatment, and research in British Columbia.

Contacts: Libby Brown, Annabel Bruce, or Papinder Rehncy at 877-6107 or 877-6000.