From student doctor to patient overnight, Conor Stapleton shares his story of skin cancer:
"I woke at 7 a.m. as usual. Quickly throwing on my placement clothes, grabbing a coffee, and jumping on the Luas; it was a normal day. Little did I know that evening as I finished my day of medical school placement, I would receive a call from my dermatologist informing me that a mole I had removed from my back was cancerous, melanoma to be precise. So began a whirlwind of medical appointments, surgeries, and scans, during which I found out that cancerous cells had spread to my lymph nodes. My life was utterly changed, moving from student doctor to patient overnight.
Over the last two years I have been receiving immunotherapy in order to prevent the recurrence of my cancer. These treatments would not have been available just a few years ago. Because of research and medical innovation, I do not just have to watch and wait, and hope that my cancer does not return. Melanoma is notoriously difficult to treat, but it has been an area that has demonstrated the need and necessity of clinical research, with promising results. The start of my treatment course involved a form of immunotherapy, once every fortnight in hospital. Thankfully, I experienced no side effects, a testament to modern medicines.
Despite these advancements in treatment, the best way we can fight skin cancer is prevention. That means following the guidelines of national organizations, for example, wearing sunscreen every day from April to September and performing regular skin checks.
We all have experiences with cancer, whether it is a friend or family member who has been diagnosed, or as part of our studies or work, but nothing can prepare you for being diagnosed yourself.
The future which one day was predictable is erased and filled with scans, treatments, and solemn clinic room conversations. As I traveled home on the Luas that day of my diagnosis, I wondered what the next few months would hold. Fear and sadness were prominent emotions in the proceeding days but I was helped by my amazing family, friends, and medical team. Thankfully, I am trilled to report that, thanks to research, I am doing great. At the start of May I sat my final exams, and I'm delighted to say I passed!
I would encourage everyone reading this to help support Breakthrough Cancer Research and become skin cancer aware.”
On May 8th, World Ovarian Cancer Day 2021, Ireland’s foremost Ovarian Cancer Campaigners, Researchers, and Patient Advocates advised women across Ireland not to ignore the warning signs of Ovarian Cancer, a disease commonly known as the ‘silent killer’.
As part of our activity on World Ovarian Cancer Day we hosted a free webinar - Ovarian Cancer: PARP Inhibitors And Beyond, featuring talks by Dr. Dearbhaile Collins, Medical Oncologist, Anne Herlihy, an ovarian cancer patient and a Q&A.
While there have been many advances in the diagnosis and treatment of other cancers, ovarian cancer is just entering a new era of treatment with poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors being the most promising drugs that have entered the clinical setting. PARP inhibitors are having a significant impact as a maintenance treatment on disease-free intervals and are more beneficial in patients with a BRCA mutation. Other patient groups may benefit also and identifying these groups will be important for future research.
Don't worry if you missed this webinar, you can watch it back now.
Watch On-Demand Now: Ovarian Cancer: PARP Inhibitors and Beyond Webinar
Make Yourself Aware of the Signs & Symptoms
As well as May playing host to World Ovarian Cancer Day and Skin CancerPrevention Month, it was also Ocular Melanoma Awareness Month. We therefore wished to take this opportunity to introduce you to two of our researchers, Marzia Pendino (PhD Award) and Dr Husvinee Sundaramurthi (Post-doctoral Award).
Patients diagnosed with primary eye cancer or uveal melanoma (UM) sadly have poor survival. 50% will suffer from metastatic UM, with a median overall survival of 4 to 15 months, with approximately 15% of patients making it to the one-year mark. Within Ireland, it is estimated that the incidence rate of UM per capita is 1.3 cases/100,000 yearly, higher than in the UK or USA.
Current treatment options are surgical removal of the eye and combined radiation therapy. Hence, there is an imperative need to identify novel drugs to treat uveal melanoma. Histone deacetylase 6 inhibitors (HDAC6i) have shown great promise as an anti-neoplastic agent and are currently under clinical trial investigations for other cancers.
The goal of Marzia and Dr. Husvinee's study is to identify the capability of HDAC6i to prevent UM tumour growth and to understand how HDAC6i works to prevent UM tumour growth. It is hoped that this study will lead to new therapies for UM.
Calling All Cancer Survivors In The Food Industry
At the end of the year we hope to launch an exciting new campaign - but we need your help! We are looking to find cancer survivors working in the food and hospitality industry. You could be a food producer, a jam maker, a chef, a waiter, a baker, a food supplier, a cheese maker or the person who wraps the cheese – Breakthrough wants to hear from you.
Through this project we wish to showcase the many talents of cancer survivors, raise awareness of what’s possible with research and also raise money to fund new research into poor prognosis cancers.
Working with one of Ireland’s most high-profile chefs, JP McMahon, this will be a follow up campaign to our multi-award-winning Shop That Nearly Wasn’t – the world’s first shop 100% stocked and staffed by cancer survivors.
If this sounds like you, a cancer survivor working in the food industry, and you are interested in getting involved please contact us at survivor@breakcancer.ie or telephone 021 4226655.
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