Yorkshire’s first mobile chemotherapy unit (MCU)
In 2017, we provided £700,000 to fund Yorkshire’s first mobile chemotherapy unit. This innovative project enables chemotherapy treatments to be accessed by patients who live in the wider area of North and East Yorkshire, bringing their treatments ‘closer to home’. The MCU visits Bridlington, Malton, Scarborough and Selby weekly and in doing so, helps relieve pressure on the NHS.
We could not have met these milestones without your kind and generous donations. To help us fund further developments, please donate to York Against Cancer today.
Beating bladder cancer
In 1992, five years after launch, we opened the Jack Birch Unit (JBU) at the University of York. Currently led by Professor Jenny Southgate, the JBU has made landmark discoveries in understanding the causes, prevention and treatment of bladder cancer. The research findings of the JBU have been published widely in scientific and medical journals.
For example, the team has been investigating how human urothelial cells (the cells that line the bladder) respond to different types of damage, and how this may influence the development of cancer.
In 2019, York Against Cancer pledged £1.3 million towards a five-year research plan for the Jack Birch Unit. In the same year, the JBU made a breakthrough discovery in understanding the link between bladder cancer and smoking.
The core funding York Against Cancer provides to the JBU ensures high quality cancer research happens locally. It also guarantees that a critical mass of expertise is active in our region to promote NHS collaborations and the training of the next generation of York scientists.
Preventing prostate cancer
In 2019, a generous legacy donation led the York Against Cancer team to make invaluable discoveries in prostate cancer treatment. Working with Dr Deborah O’Connell at the York Plasma Institute, teams at the University of York identified a mechanism which causes plasma or radiotherapy to fail. This can result in regrowth of cancerous cells in the prostate.
By making this discovery, the York Plasma Institute can now make inroads into treating prostate cancer. None of this would have been possible without this generous £100,000 donation.
Funding bowel cancer diagnostics
In 2016, we granted £35,000 to a consultant gastroenterologist at York Hospital to identify those most at risk of bowel cancer. The research is looking into “biomarkers”, which are chemicals present in those most at risk of bowel cancer.
The findings will help to prevent misleading statistics in bowel cancer diagnoses – for example, just six per cent of those undergoing fast track treatment actually have bowel cancer. By targeting the disease earlier, we can help to dramatically improve recovery rates and life expectancy.
Need to contact us?
Call us on 01904 764 466 or email office@yorkagainstcancer.org.uk and one of our friendly team will be happy to help.