Cancer Research & Medical Innovations
Groundbreaking research has always been one of the key aims of York Against Cancer. We were co-founded by a university researcher in 1987, and have been supporting scientists at the University of York since our earliest days. In fact, our first project was funded in 1988, just a year after we began! Since then, we have funded more than £5million of research and medical innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
Beating Bladder Cancer at the Jack Birch Unit
In 1992, five years after we began, 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.
“Bladder cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers in the UK, with over 23,000 people diagnosed each year and over 100,000 people living with it in the UK. It is one of the most expensive cancers for the NHS to treat, yet it receives less than 1% of dedicated UK cancer research funding.”
This is why the work that we support at the JBU is so vital, as they seek to understand the “how” and “why” of bladder cancer and discover how to stop it before it starts.
The funding that York Against Cancer provides to the JBU also ensures high quality cancer research happens locally, and 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.
Bowel Cancer Diagnostics
York Against Cancer has granted a consultant gastroenterologist at York Hospital £35,000 to research a test to identify people at risk of bowel cancer. One in 30 people will get bowel cancer during their lifetime, and when caught early, it is much easier to treat.
Family doctors currently decide who should be referred to specialists through national guidelines based on patients’ symptoms. However, these symptoms can be misleading; of every 100 patients undergoing fast-track hospital assessment, just six actually have bowel cancer. Fifty per cent of bowel cancers are detected in other ways, such as when patients turn up at A & E with symptoms of advanced disease.
Consultant gastroenterologist, Dr James Turvill, is interested in two chemicals associated with a high risk of bowel cancer, believing they could lead to a much-improved testing regime.
In previous research conducted by Dr Turvill and others, the two substances, known as biomarkers, proved highly sensitive in detecting cases of bowel cancer, with one of them, Calprotectin, finding 98.6 per cent of cancers and the other, Faecal Immunochemical Test for haemoglobin (FIT), proving even more sensitive.
Both biomarkers also flag up cases that go on to prove non-cancerous, although significantly fewer than is the case for the current symptom-based assessments. Dr Turvill hopes that further tests will refine the process so that the biomarkers, either individually or in combination, can weed out more of these ‘false positives’.
If the work is successful, the national guidelines on bowel cancer referral could be amended to include the biomarker test, potentially greatly reducing the numbers sent for investigations that subsequently turn out to have been needless.
“We are ahead of the curve with this. Other units are interested in this up and down the country. It could lead to us diagnosing cancers urgently and with much more efficiency.”
Surgical Robot
In 2022, York Against Cancer made a £680,000 donation to fund a brand new robotic surgical system at York Hospital, entitled the da Vinic Surgical System. This innovative technology allows for less invasive procedures then open surgery, and grants more precision in difficult to access areas than traditional key-hole surgery, leading to fewer complications.
The surgical robot is designed to translate the surgeon’s hand movements at the console in real time, moving like a human hand but with a greater range of motion and precision. Combined with a significantly magnified view, it will make difficult operations much easier and allow for an earlier return to function for the patient.
“We’re already seeing the advantages. Patients are more able to return to activity with less post-operative pain.”
If you would like to find out more about our groundbreaking research and medical innovations, call us on 01904 764466 or email office@yorkagainstcancer.org.uk.