Arthur Smith (drums) Chris Sullivan and Kym Hudson (singing) David Thomas (guitar)
Colleagues from Royal Bank of Scotland recently got together for a tribute night in memory of their friend, Wendy Butler. Wendy sadly died from pancreatic cancer in February 2012 after a heroic battle with the disease. Her boss, Chris Sullivan wanted an event to raise money for the charity in a venue that Wendy had previously enjoyed.
Hosting the night of live entertainment was The Luxe in Spitalfields, who kindly contributed towards the fundraising effort. A fantastic live band performed getting everyone up on their feet and Wendy’s friends and family got the chance to remember her in fine tradition; through memories and music. The various raffle prizes and door entry fees raised around £1,400 for Pancreatic Cancer Action. But more importantly the evening was filled with laughter and smiles; an appropriate tribute.
Wendy’s friend and colleague, Sue Maddams, has kindly shared with us this poem that she wrote for the event:
Wendy Butler : This is Your Night
Left to right: Amy Barke, Cherrie Carter, Sue Maddams
We weren’t sure how to show we cared
So we chose a venue that we’d shared
Relations and friends gathered at the site
To give you one hell of a tribute nite
We all paid a tenner to get through the door
Spent loads on winning raffle prizes galore
The band played songs all through the night
We sang and danced – t’was a marvellous sight
We remembered you with fond memories
And raised over a grand – we hope you were pleased
Wendy, the night was a ball and you were the star
And our thoughts are with you, wherever you are!
Pancreatic Cancer Action would like to thank all those who took part in this wonderful tribute to Wendy’s life and who generously raised so much money for a cause she passionately supported.
- Posted by Admin on May 10, 2012
Pancreatic Cancer Action is a member of the Cancer Campaigning Group (CCG), a coalition of around 50 charities who are campaigning for better services for people with cancer and their families. We are conducting a project looking at what ‘integrated care’ means to people living with cancer and their carers.
Integrated care means having a seamless, well co-ordinated experience, across GP, hospital, and social services. In practical terms, it can mean things like your GP knowing what stage of treatment you are at, always seeing the same hospital doctor or specialist nurse, appointments and test results being provided quickly, and not having to keep explaining the same things to different people.
We are asking people living with cancer, or their carers, to fill in this survey of nine questions to help us understand what matters most to you. By filling in this questionnaire, you will help us to make sure that the voices of people living with cancer and their carers are heard as the Government works to make integrated care a reality. The findings of the survey will help inform the messaging of the CCG as the group engages with the Government on the issue.
The survey can be filled in here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CCGintegration.
Thank you for your time. The survey will be open until Friday 25 May. The survey findings will be posted on www.cancercampaigninggroup.org.uk in the summer.
- Posted by Admin on May 5, 2012
Scientists at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute and the Welcome Trust Sanger Institute believe they have made an important step in understanding how genes affect pancreatic cancer growth and that this research could lead to a potential new class of drugs to more effectively treat the disease.
Published in the scientific journal, Nature, the scientists looked at mice which carry a faulty gene called K-ras – which is thought to be involved in about 80-90% of all pancreatic cancers. They were looking for new genes involved in pancreatic cancer, and while they uncovered many genes already known to be implicated in the formation of the disease, they were surprised to find that the most common gene fault was one with no previous links to any cancer type.
What they discovered was a gene called USP9x, which normally would stop a cell from dividing uncontrollably (what is cancer?), and which is switched on in a healthy pancreas, was switched off in mice with early pancreatic cancer.
The researchers then looked at samples of pancreatic tumours taken from patients. They found very low levels of USP9x activity in samples from patients whose cancers has spread aggressively. What they also found was that the gene itself wasn’t mutated but the chemical tabs on the surface of the DNA that switch genes on and off (epigenetic marks) had ‘flipped’.
USP9x, according to the scientists, is the first common tumour suppressor gene (a gene that protects against cancer) to have been found for pancreatic cancer and they believe that it may be involved in around one in seven pancreatic cancers.
These discoveries also suggest that drugs which can alter the epigenetic marks to switch on or off could offer potential treatment options to patients in the future. It is thought there are some experimental drugs (currently used in clinical trials for other cancer such as lung) and the drug azacytidine currently used in myeloid leukaemia, could form the basis of a clinical trial for pancreatic cancer to investigate the effects of epigenetic modulator drugs.
Note to patients: This research was based in mice and needs further testing before any possible treatments are available for clinical trials.
Source: Cancer Research UK press release 30th April 2012
Article: (subscription required) Pedro et al., (2012) The deubiquitinase USP9X suppresses pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Nature doi:10.1038/nature11114
- Posted by Admin on April 30, 2012
Pancreatic cancer e-petition poster for download and print off or contact us for A3 printed version we can send to you free of charge
Please help us spread the word and get those all-important signatures on the pancreatic cancer e-petition so pancreatic cancer can be debated in Parliament. We have now designed a set of posters and flyers you can print off and put up anywhere and everywhere! We have also had the A3 posters professionally printed and these you can order from us FREE OF CHARGE.
Click here for more information on the posters for the pancreatic cancer e-petition
What is the e-petition?
Thanks to Ken Crawley, there is now an official e-petition set up on the HM Government website. We need 100,000 signatures before November in order for pancreatic cancer to be debated in Parliament. To sign now, click on the link below:
Sign the pancreatic cancer e-petition now!
THANK YOU!
- Posted by Admin on
Jan is deciding whether to have surgery or not for operable pancreatic cancer
Jan tells her story about being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which can be treated with surgery. Yet she cannot decide whether to have the surgery or not. Her past experience of surgery and hospitals has put her off having any surgical procedure, even if it will save her life.
In her own honest account, Jan grapples with making a decision that most patients with pancreatic cancer will not have the luxury of making. As, for most patients, late diagnosis means surgery is not an option. Read Jan’s pancreatic cancer patient experience and let us know what you think.
- Posted by Admin on April 11, 2012
