World Cancer Day - 4 February 2016

As short as February is, it still holds quite a few remarkable days. The obvious one is Valentine’s Day, the 29th of February (since it’s a leap year)…and one other day which might not be as well-known: World Cancer Day on February 4th.

I believe this is something almost everyone can relate to. When I did my last year of college, we had a fundraising event for the Norwegian Cancer association (Kreftforeningen). A representative from this association held a motivational talk for us before the actual fundraising day. He asked everyone who knew someone affected by cancer to stand up and I don’t think anyone in the room remained seated. He held this talk three times that day and the result was the same every time. He made his point clear; everyone knows someone affected by cancer. Hence, why research is so crucial.

You might have walked past the Life Sciences building on Highfield Campus with the posters stating “The cure for cancer? You’re it”. Maybe you didn’t think about it twice, but it refers to the research the University is currently doing on cancer and immunology.

The University of Southampton does research on two particular cases which are very close to my heart. The first is their research on Alzheimer’s and the second is their research on cancer. Since World Cancer Day is coming up and because this is something really important to me, I thought I’d dedicate this blog post to tell you a bit about the research University of Southampton does and how you can get involved.

Currently, the University is fundraising for a new Centre for Cancer Immunology and, as I’m writing this blogpost they have raised £13,859,877. That’s just over 50% of what the university needs to build this centre, as the goal is £25 million. Among many others, The Wolfson Foundation has donated £450,000.

Let’s be honest; they wouldn’t have raised so much money if this wasn’t a revolutionary research area. I’m not a medicine researcher nor a medical student, but I have done my reading and I encourage you as well to take a look at the University’s campaign website dedicated to this research.

Being able to build this centre, which would be the first dedicated cancer immunology centre in the UK, means that the University could double the number of people working on cancer immunology and undoubtedly accelerate the development of immunotherapy treatments. Treating cancer with immunotherapy is already being done today and the results are more than promising.

I won’t repeat here everything that’s already so nicely presented on their website, but I will urge everyone who has the possibility to donate or spread the word to do so. I don’t believe everything is possible, but I believe that a cure for cancer out there.

Here are photos of the two people I thought of when I stood up that day back in college. This is why cancer research is a matter close to my heart.

The campaign is something everyone can get involved with, including staff, students, alumni and members of the public. For example, many bake sales have been held to raise money!

For now, I will just leave you with this quote from Paul Raine, who sums up my thoughts. He is one of the donors to this cause and hope you will spare ten minutes to read some more of their success stories.

“There are good reasons why it takes a long time to conduct medical research and investing in this area will help to make breakthroughs more quickly. I believe that this new Centre will hugely raise the profile of immunology and immunotherapies as a way to treat and stop cancer.” 

Alexandra