The WICC annual National Sponsor Appreciation Luncheon was held on Wednesday November 16th and hosted by Dan Beaudry and Candace Colquhoun at their beautiful offices at AIG, in downtown Toronto. The event was held both virtually and in-person and was attended by numerous delegates of WICC’s National Sponsors, WICC’s Provincial Chapters, WICC Ontario Board members as well as representatives of the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS).
After passionate opening remarks by WICC’s Co-Chair Marilyn Horrick, reminding us of WICC’s 25 year history and it’s valued mission, Dr. Reilly spoke on his CCS-funded research to develop “radiation nanomedicines” for treating two types of cancer triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of breast cancer with a poor prognosis, and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common and difficult to treat brain cancer. “The radiation nanomedicines are composed of small particles of gold, linked to radioisotopes that deliver short range radiation to tumours, which is very effective for treating these cancers preclinically, but is not harmful to normal tissues.” Dr. Reilly described his findings and provided a view to the future for this new type of radiation treatment for cancer.
Dr Raymond Reilly is a professor and the Director of the Centre for Pharmaceutical Oncology at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.
Afterwards Katrina Rudy, Communications Co-Chair, engaged the audience in a valued discussion on how WICC and its National Sponsors can work together in furthering WICC’s mission and enhancing the mutual benefits of the much valued partnership between WICC, its National Sponsors and the CCS.
In closing, Jane Parsons and Katie Evans of the Canadian Cancer Society thanked WICC and its Sponsors for their hard work, commitment and partnership in support of CCS’s mandate.
A wonderful afternoon, spent with great people with a common cause – making a real difference in the lives of Canadians affected by cancer.