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World Cancer Day 2018
2nd February 2018
World Cancer Day 2018 takes place on Sunday 4 February. Under the banner ‘We can. I can.’ The day will encourage people to be more active – in every sense – in the fight against a disease that, in less than two decades, is predicted to directly affect up to 21.7 million people per year worldwide by 2030.
Cancer continues to be a national clinical priority for the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland. Beating Cancer: Ambition and Action (2016), set out a series of priorities including actions to:
- embed research in the ethos of our healthcare services
- give individuals access to, and opportunity to participate in, clinical trials appropriate to their circumstances
- support a clear programme of research targeted at improving outcomes and/or experiences of cancer.
Through investments in the NHS Research Scotland infrastructure, a coordinated network of clinical research expertise, data safe havens and accredited tissue biorepositories facilitate recruitment to cancer studies and the use of tissue and health data in cancer research.
The NRS cancer network is responsible for driving research in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Last year 494 studies were active in Scotland with 5616 patients taking part in cancer studies. A ground-breaking new pancreatic cancer trial, which aims to match patients with more targeted and effective treatment for their tumours, was also announced and researchers at Beatson made the discovery that discovered that a drug used to treat ovarian cancer could also treat brain tumours.
This presents a snapshot of Scotland’s commitment to driving high-quality cancer research and later in the year Glasgow will play host to the NCRI Cancer Conference - the UK’s largest forum showcasing the latest advances in cancer research.
Professor David Cameron, NRS Cancer Research Champion, Professor of Oncology, University of Edinburgh and Director of Cancer Services, NHS Lothian comments:
“Research is critical to improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Scotland has great expertise in cancer research and strategic investments in genomics and precision medicine provide new opportunities for cutting-edge research.
“Our strong infrastructure, unified health system, e-health records and strong record of collaboration maximise Scotland’s potential as a destination for world-leading clinical research.
“This, in turn, increases opportunities for patients to participate in trials and benefit from the improved results that will bring.”
People can contribute to the success of World Cancer Day: every post, share or tweet adds to the noise and raises the profile of cancer in people’s minds, in the world’s media and on the global health and development agenda.
For more information visit: www.worldcancerday.org.
