Visit to Cancer Research Centre

On a cold night in late November I headed down to the Somers Cancer Research Building at Southampton General Hospital for the handing over of the cheque from last year’s challenge. It was a special evening as the Chief Clinician of Cancer Research UK Prof Peter Johnson wanted to say thanks by taking us on a tour of the centre.

Cancer Research UK spends money researching all types of cancer from the most common to rare types of tumours. The Southampton research centre was one of the first in the UK and focuses on the biology and treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, bladder and breast cancer and cancer genetics.

The tour started with a talk in which Professor Johnson reviewed global trends in cancer and some of the recent scientific breakthroughs. There were some very large numbers as approximately 11 million people a year are diagnosed with cancer of which 1.4 million are lung cancer, 1.1 million breast cancer, and around a million each for bowel and stomach cancer. Worldwide cancer is responsible for 13% of all deaths, but in developed countries like the United States its estimated to be responsible for as much as 25% and one in three people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime.

With these statistics in our mind and a quick crash course in cancer genetics we then spent time touring the labs and talking to the scientists carrying out the research. It was amazing to see how much technology played a key role in the research and the lab environment was a lot more sophisticated than when I did my PhD back in 1988! The analysis they were able to do was very impressive and there has been significant progress in the development of targeted therapy drugs that act specifically on detectable molecular abnormalities in certain tumors, and which minimize damage to normal cells. It was amazing to hear the progress being made and to see how the money raised was helping towards day-to-day care as well as cures and prevention.

Working in the field of collaboration technologies at Cisco and looking to improve the efficiencies of our global teams at work, I was also impressed at the way Cancer Research UK worked globally with cancer research centers in United States, Europe and beyond. It was clear this really was a global war against cancer and it was also clear how important all the money we raised was in that war. It’s something we’re all proud to support and we’re excited to be riding again for them and our other charities this year.