William Litchfield is the Associate Vice President, Development for Vancouver Island with the BC Cancer Foundation, where he leads fundraising for the new BC Cancer Centre in Nanaimo as well as the Gift and Estate Planning team for the Province. His background spans international development across South America and Africa and senior leadership roles at Vancouver Island University. Now based in Nanaimo, William focuses on building strong community partnerships to bring world-class cancer care closer to home. When he’s not working, he and his wife Joani have a small hobby farm where they attempt to wrangle three teenagers, two dogs, a cat, chickens and bees!
It was a small Probus meeting on May 1, but it was this lucky group who got to learn about the revolutionary advances in Cancer research and care and the quantum leaps that sound more like magic than science. But they’re not.
Mr. William Litchfield was our guest speaker. A key leader at the BC Cancer Foundation, Vancouver Island, he shared with us the profound improvements in cancer care because of research on this Island. For example, men suffering prostate cancer traditionally must undergo 35 separate treatments. The Foundation funded the research that demonstrated that 5 treatments were as effective as 35. Further trials allowed the number of treatments to fall to just 2 treatments. For men all over the Island, treatment now means a few days in Victoria (and soon Nanaimo) rather than weeks.
The specific role of the Cancer Foundation is to fund new and innovative care. Another result of their funding is the Canadian research using the science of immunotherapy including killer T cells. Out of 100 adults suffering from blood lymphomas who had been through every standard treatment without lasting remission, 67 of them are now cancer free. Trialing is now going on to apply this research to children. And there was so much more. Personally, I am sorry that not every single Probus member was present to hear the entire list of game changing treatments.
In a table-turning move, it was the audience who asked William how to make donations. He replied that cheques are written to the BC Cancer Foundation, Vancouver Island. All the money stays on Vancouver Island for Vancouver Island purposes.
Completing his message of good news, William told us that the Nanaimo Cancer Centre will be completed in 2028 and will offer a comprehensive range of treatments, diagnostics and much more parking!
Janet Walker
