Experts at a cancer research centre in Nottingham are launching a fundraising event which could help it save lives with more ground-breaking treatments.
The John van Geest Centre recently made breakthroughs in breast and ovarian cancer, which could lead on to vaccines and cancer-attacking therapies.
It’s now appealing to the public and businesses to join a drive to pay for more revolutionary research.
Poignantly called 1in2 Day – after the ratio of people who will get cancer – it is being held on Friday, February 26.
The money raised will go towards funding more work on better treatments and preventative medicines.
Individuals and businesses are being asked to run challenges and money-spinning drives big or small – from cake sales to endurance challenges.
Professor Robert Rees is director of the centre, on Nottingham Trent University’s Clifton Campus.
He said despite the progress made, there’s still a long way to go.
“We still have around 11,000 breast cancer patients dying per year in the UK alone,” he said.
“That’s still 20 per cent, if you like, that have traumatic experiences and succumb to their diseases,” he said.
“It would be fantastic if we could find a cure and make us all redundant – that’s actually the ambition we all have.”
Big breakthroughs: The cancer battles being won by van Geest
Breast cancer: Experts found a protein in the tumours of people in the early stages of a breast cancer type who cannot be helped by chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. They are now working towards a treatment which could produce antibodies against the cancer, vaccinating people against the disease. Clinical trials are planned.
Ovarian cancer: Scientists have also found a thread of proteins in the genes of women with ovarian cancer that seem to be linked to surviving the disease or dying – depending on the amount that are present. It is hoped this will lead to the development of therapies at the centre which will be able to boost or attack the proteins, depending on their levels, in order to kill the cancer.
Another person with a unique drive to back 1in2 Day is Gotham mum and businesswoman Louise Third.
She overcame breast cancer in 2013 and got involved in fundraising for the centre. Today she is its campaign board chair.
Louise underwent successful radiotherapy and chemotherapy but says at first the diagnosis was a shock – despite her form of the disease being treatable.
“Yes I had cancer but I was lucky – it was treatable,” she said.
“It was one of those situations where I thought ‘let’s just get on with it’.”
“Ultimately I think about my two daughters. I definitely don’t want them to go through what I went through. If you can have a vaccine in years to come against breast cancer then it’s a job well done.”
Picture: Louise Third, centre, with daughters Rachel, left, and Clare, right
Like many of the scientists working at the centre, Prof Rees has his own personal motive for his work. His father, Alfred, died of the disease when he was just 14.
He said: “I’m trying to make it happen for family reasons as much as anything else. It’s a bit like revenge – you could think of it as getting your own back.”
The centre and Nottingham Trent University have held their own 1in2 Day for the last three years, but are now opening it up to the public and hope to get people involved across Notts.
Prof Rees added: “For £10 we can do a genetic test or sequence a new cancer gene, right up to buying important equipment which can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds – so at both ends of the spectrum we need support.”
Click here for more information about 1in2 day and how you can get involved.
