Oesophageal & Bowel Cancer Awareness Month - Know the Signs & Symptoms
APRIL 2022
Peter Browne's Story
Oesophageal Cancer is a cancer of the pipe connecting the mouth to the stomach. It’s an aggressive disease with low survival rates and has a very poor response to treatment. Only 20% of the 450 people diagnosed with this disease annually in Ireland are alive after 5 years.
Given April marks Oesophageal Cancer awareness month, we would like to share with you this conversation between Peter Browne, survivor of Oesophageal Cancer, and Dr. Frances Drummond, our Research Manager. Peter is an uilleann pipe player, traditional music teacher and lecturer, and a keen music enthusiast. He was also an RTÉ radio presenter and producer for four decades. Our sincere thanks to Peter for sharing his experience and raising awareness of Oesophageal Cancer.
April is Oesophageal Cancer Awareness Month - Become familiar with the signs & symptoms
World Immunisation Week
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Vaccines are the medical embodiment of this statement, and in the centuries since their introduction, they have saved untold millions of lives. Most recently, we’ve seen their remarkable impact on COVID-19, stemming the tide of the pandemic by reducing fatalities and complications. Yet when we think of vaccines, we tend to associate them with infectious disease. Immunisation has a major role to play in cancer prevention too, and it’s important understand precisely why.
The human papilloma virus (HPV) is a perfect example of how striking the impact of targeted vaccination can be. Like all viruses, it thrives by hijacking the machinery of our cells to reproduce and spread. Most HPV’s are relatively harmless and are often cleared by the immune system within a couple of years. Some strains, however, have less desirable consequences. About a dozen types are defined as “high-risk” – persistent infection with these dreadful versions slowly begins to cause lasting, destructive changes to affected skin cells. Over time, these accumulated changes can result in the emergence of cancer. For most people infected with even a high-risk strain of HPV, the immune system eventually clears it. But for an unlucky few, it lingers, eventually progressing to cancer. Cervical cancer is the most obvious manifestation of this, with the overwhelming majority of cases caused by just two types, HPV-16 and 18.
By vaccinating young people against the cancer causing strains of HPV, the virus is unable to take hold. Consequently, there is no persistent infection, nor the detrimental excessive overproduction of skin cells and dampening of anti-cancer mechanisms. The net result is that those immunised are protected from these cancers. Since its introduction in 2006, the effects have been astounding; thanks to widespread adoption, Australia is on track to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
While cancer is not something we immediately think of when considering the effects of vaccination on our well-being, vaccines are already playing an astounding role in reducing the burden of cancer worldwide. This World Immunisation week, we should remember the incredible inroads vaccination has made against cancer, and the incredible future it further promises.
April is also Bowel Cancer Awareness Month - Make Yourself Aware of the Signs & Symptoms
We are delighted to announce the inaugural ALL-IRELAND CANCER NETWORK (AllCaN) PROGRAMME GRANT. This is a new Breakthrough Cancer Research funding programme and will fund networks of the best scientists/researchers at institutions across the Island of Ireland, to develop new and innovative approaches to improving cancer outcomes. Researchers will collaborate across disciplines, institutions, and as appropriate across the four pillars of prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship.
One network will be funded to up to €1,000,000 for a maximum of 3 to 4 years and Oesophageal Cancer will be the focus of the inaugural AllCaN Programme grant (2023-2027). Oesophageal cancer impacts approximately 450 people annually in Ireland, and claims more than 400 lives every year. Incidence is increasing. While oesophageal cancer survival has improved over the last two decades, 5-year survival remains at 20%.
To understand the Oesophageal Cancer Research expertise nationally, as well as the barriers and facilitators to making a real impact on survival from this cancer, Breakthrough organised the 2021 All-Ireland Oesophageal Cancer Symposium, with the theme of ‘Doubling Oesophageal Cancer Survival by 2040; Building a Roadmap’ (April 27th 2021). This cancer research network programme (the AllCaN Programme), was conceived as an outcome of this symposium, to overcome some of the barriers identified and to facilitate implementation of a roadmap proposed to double Oesophageal Cancer survival and half mortality.
The successful researchers that will work together on this project will have a common goal, and will pool their knowledge and resources to work together to eliminate barriers and to hasten the progression needed to improve patient outcomes.
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