"In 2011, I turned 60 years old, retired from full-time work, and was enjoying my life with my wife Mary. Our four boys were reared, I had a rewarding mix of interesting part-time roles and Mary and I were enjoying having a few holidays each year. Life was good.
In early 2012, out of the blue, I started having chest spasms, which lasted perhaps 10-15 minutes. It was strange – was it some form of chest cold, or flu, which sometimes bothered me before? I don’t think I really associated it with eating or swallowing, which was odd I suppose in hindsight.
I had these spasms intermittently for perhaps six weeks before I decided I should talk to my GP. Although my description of my problem was perhaps a bit vague, he immediately referred me for an endoscopy. Within a fortnight the consultant had seen enough to book me in for a CAT scan “in case it is cancer”.
On Good Friday 2012, a day after my CAT scan, I left the hospital with the diagnosis of oesophageal cancer. I googled the term and instantly regretted it – the prognosis was horrendous. Apparently only one in five would survive for five years. The most immediate question for me was ‘would I be dead in three months, or six, or twelve?’
What caused the cancer? I still don’t know. I was reasonably fit, only a little overweight, a moderate drinker and never smoked. I did not recognise the symptoms I had as “difficulty swallowing”, which is how it is often described. For me, swallowing is in the throat, while I had chest pains. I never had reflux or Barratt’s Syndrome.
During Easter week, Mary and I spent that Chapter One restaurant voucher we had and I began making preparations, like making my bank accounts joint. Then it was over to my medical team who were getting ready to roll out the ‘gold standard’ treatment as they called it; a programme of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery. My doctor was reassuringly straight about everything, including the treatment and possible effects on quality of life afterwards…if I survived.
In the following weeks I was ‘marked-up’ for radiotherapy, having dots marked on my chest to facilitate precision targeting of the tumour. The aim was to shrink it before surgery. However, then there was a delay when nothing seemed to happen. This was the most difficult period for me. My swallowing was now worsening, which meant my cancer must be growing and I was waiting day after day for treatment.
Eight weeks after my diagnosis I started chemo and radiotherapy. I immediately felt more positive, helped by persuading myself that the tumour had begun to shrink. While the radiation had a tiring effect, the chemo was largely manageable. When these elements were completed, I had a period to build up my strength again before surgery.
In late August I underwent surgery to remove the tumour. As I had been warned, the after effects were severe but as soon as I came to, I started thinking positively about what I would be doing in the weeks and months to follow. After ten days I left hospital to recuperate at home.
I steadily recovered my strength in the weeks after the surgery. At first, I had supplementary night-time feeding through a tube, but more normal meals were welcome, even if in smaller portions than before. I had check-ups with my medical team at growing intervals. There was great advice from the whole support team – nurses, dieticians, physiotherapists and others.
I resumed part-time work within three months and my confidence of full recovery grew. My consultant told me that while I could have regular scans to check for any recurrence, the more recent line of thinking was not to scan unless a problem was suspected, because of the scares which came with false positives. I agreed with this approach; intervene only when necessary. In the end I did ask for one scan after about 18 months; which thankfully gave an all-clear.
Within just nine months of the surgery, I was feeling good and was very positive about my recovery and future. We decided to visit our son in Vancouver, Canada and took in the Rockies during this wonderful visit. Since then, we have done lots of other travel and I have never felt limited or constrained. I am back to having an excellent quality of life because of the medical care I received, and which I am forever grateful for. That care built on the knowledge developed and applied by many researchers and clinicians, and the specialist organisation of cancer care.
We have made great strides in Ireland and survival rates are increasing steadily. I was amazed to hear recently about advances in less invasive treatments, the use of keyhole surgery, and even remote robotic surgery techniques. All offer the possibility of better treatments and outcomes.
Before my own scare I had known nothing about oesophageal cancer. There had been no cancer history in my family. Researchers are seeking to better understand the causes of cancers, the ways in which they can best be treated, and how quality of life can be improved for those in treatment, in remission and in recovery. I benefited from that knowledge. I was cured. My hope is that many more will be too."
Seán Dorgan, Oesophageal Cancer Survivor
On Sunday 19th September, women across Ireland will be lacing up their runners to take part in not one, but two women's mini marathons.
Both the VHI Women's Mini Marathon (10K) and The Echo Women's Mini Marathon (6k) will be taking place as virtual races, so no matter where in the country you are based it has never been easier to take part.
If you are planning to register for either of these challenges, we would be honoured if you would consider Breakthrough Cancer Research as your chosen charity to fundraise for. As we are fully funded by the generosity of the public, without your support vital research into poor prognosis cancers would not be possible.
For more information, or to register for either of these mini marathons please click on the buttons below.
Good luck and thank you to everyone who has already signed up and joined Team Breakthrough!
This September, frontline medical staff throughout the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will cycle to the Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge in Dublin to remember all those who have lost their lives to Covid-19.
This ICU4U event will see small teams of ICU doctors, nurses, paramedics, ambulance drivers, and gardaí depart from hospitals in Cork, Belfast, Galway, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford with midway points in Dundalk, Athlone, Portlaoise and Kilkenny. The cyclists will pass through as many community hospitals as possible en-route to Dublin, collecting white roses along the way to represent lives lost to this dreadful virus.
At the end of the cycle on Friday 3rd September, a commemoration ceremony will be held at the Memorial Gardens Islandbridge. The memorial will remember the victims of Covid-19 in front of 7000+ white roses, which will be displayed at the gardens for the weekend.
On Saturday 4th September members of the public will be invited to visit the commemoration site to take a rose and remember a loved one, making a charitable donation if they so wish.
Along with remembering those we have sadly lost, this charity cycle aims to raise €150,000 for those impacted by the secondary challenges of the pandemic, such as cancer research. Breakthrough Cancer Research are honoured to be one of four charities who will benefit from these much-needed funds. Breakthrough are joined by ALONE, Aware and Aware NI.
Due to Covid-19, the last year and a half was a difficult time for everyone – patients and families affected by cancer, but also research. For many months, we were unable to get into labs, clinical trials were delayed and many of our planned fundraisers had to be cancelled. Regrettably, we expect more people to be diagnosed with more advanced cancer due to the Covid-19 disruptions. When every second counts, new and better cancer treatments have never mattered more. Support for cancer research is needed more than ever, so being chosen by these frontline staff is amazing.
Dr. Simone Marcone is a post-doctoral researcher working in the lab of Prof. Jacintha O’Sullivan in Trinity St. James’s Cancer Institute. We caught up with Dr. Marcone to hear all about this exciting research into oesophageal cancer.
"My research project focuses on oesophageal cancer, a cancer of the foodpipe which has low survival rates and a very poor response to treatment. I aim to develop new drugs for a more effective treatment for cancers that do not respond to therapy. Chemotherapy in combination with radiotherapy is the normal treatment plan used to kill oesophageal cancer cells followed by surgery, however, the majority of patients (70%) do not respond to this treatment. My studies are focused on improving the response rate of patients with oesophageal cancer to radiotherapy by using a new drug combination that has been created here in our laboratory, which I hope will pave the way for more important advancements in cancer treatment.
We discovered a novel drug called Pyrazinib that can increase the response to radiotherapy in cancer cells which usually do not respond to this treatment. We have packed Pyrazinib with tiny gold particles, as this combination will help the drug to reach the tumour and increase the response to radiotherapy. I am studying how good this new combination drug is at killing resistant cancer cells when treated with radiotherapy, by using oesophageal cells in the lab, tumour samples from patients and in mice.
The development of new drugs, like Pyrazinib, that make tumours respond better to treatments will benefit patient care, resulting in better outcomes for these patients with cancer who have a poor prognosis. I truly believe that research is a top priority to discover new strategies for treating cancer. One of the reasons I’m passionate about cancer research is the opportunity to help find a cure, giving hope to people with cancer."
You are receiving this email because you are a Breakthrough Cancer Research supporter or subscriber. We wish to keep you updated on the amazing research and cancer trials that your generous donations are funding. Please note that you can unsubscribe at any time. Thank you as always for your support.
You are receiving this email because you are a Breakthrough Cancer Research supporter or subscriber. We wish to keep you updated on the amazing research and cancer trials that your generous donations are funding. Please note that you can unsubscribe at any time. Thank you as always for your support.
