News
Changing the Face of Cancer Treatment With Beatson Cancer Charity
Thu 4th August 2016
The Foundation is delighted to announce the first of our new partnerships for season 2016/17 – a special year-long association with our friends at Beatson Cancer Charity which aims to help change the face of cancer treatment.
The Foundation has always enjoyed a close relationship with the charity, organising player visits and donating in-kind items and funds in the past. However, for season 2016/17 we are developing that relationship by pledging to raise £10,000 towards an important new Radiotherapy Research Project aiming to ensure that more people will win the battle against cancer.
Foundation Director Connal Cochrane commented, “This project will really help to contribute to the fight against cancer. We are looking forward to developing our relationship with Beatson Cancer Charity which provides invaluable support to people who have been diagnosed with cancer and their families in the west of Scotland.
“Cancer affects so many people’s lives and Scotland has one of the highest rates in Europe, with 2 in 5 of us developing cancer at some point in our lives. We want to help Beatson Cancer Charity in its crucial work giving care and support to people in Scotland who are dealing with a cancer diagnosis.”
The pioneering Radiotherapy Research Project aims to increase the effectiveness of radiotherapy treatments and significantly increase survival rates and improve quality of life for people who require radiotherapy as part of their treatment plan.
About half of all patients receive radiotherapy and for many it is the reason they are cured. Unfortunately too many people cannot be cured due to the risk of damage to surrounding, healthy tissues, limiting the amount of treatment patients can safely be given.
The Radiotherapy Research project aims to change that by increasing the ability of radiotherapy treatments to shrink, control and in some cases eradicate cancers.
Cancer specialist and lead on the project, Professor Anthony Chalmers, commented: “Radiotherapy has been one of the most effective forms of cancer treatment for many years. Today, we have a wide range of innovative equipment and techniques that deliver radiotherapy much more accurately meaning in some cases we can give a higher dose to a tumour, increasing the possibility of cure.
“These are exciting breakthroughs and at The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre we’re continuing to refine them in our radiotherapy department and in our laboratories. The next critical step is to test them on patients and for that we need financial support to create the Radiotherapy Research Project.
“The project will significantly increase the ability of radiotherapy treatments to shrink, control and in some cases eradicate cancers. This is positive news for those with lung, brain, pancreas and head and neck cancers where there is currently a poor outlook. On behalf of everyone at The Beatson and Beatson Cancer Charity, I’m very grateful for this incredible support from The Rangers Charity Foundation which will help change the face of cancer treatment on a global scale.”
To find out more about Beatson Cancer Charity, visit www.beatsoncancercharity.org.
