Alberta announces new cyclotron for Calgary

CALGARY — Calgary is getting its first cyclotron to expedite medical testing and cancer treatments. A cyclotron speeds up tiny, charged particles and shoots them at a target to make radioactive materials for medical scans and treatments.

Health minister Adriana LaGrange (pictured) said Edmonton has two cyclotrons and that a third in Calgary will speed up testing, which is expected to triple in Alberta over the next 15 years.

The cyclotron is part of $71 million in government and donor funding for a new radiopharmaceutical centre at Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre.

The centre will also support the development of next-generation radioactive medications. It’s expected to be completed in three years.

LaGrange told reporters that timing is critical with radiopharmaceuticals.

“When it comes to these medicines, every second counts. They begin to decay as soon as they are produced,” LaGrange said.

“Right now, every dose used in southern Alberta has to come from Edmonton. Producing them here in Calgary means less time in transit and more reliable supply for patients.”

The new Calgary Radiopharmaceutical Centre will enable an expansion of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning capacity in Southern Alberta and continuity of Single Photon (SPECT) imaging.

The patient experience will be improved by providing a new radiopharmaceutical supply to Southern Alberta and offer access to additional PET/SPECT imaging opportunities due to manufacturing and production of a broader scope of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals.

The CRC will be centrally located on an empty lot on the east side of the Tom Baker Cancer Centre on the Foothills Medical Centre campus.

This option is preferred because it is close in proximity to the diagnostic imaging area, and suitably close to the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre and the University of Calgary Foothills Campus facilities. The resulting short transport distance allows the preparation and use of short half-lived isotopes.