Cork-based charity launches €1m cancer research fund

Cork-based national charity Breakthrough Cancer Research has launched a €1m fund for pancreatic cancer research.

The charity, founded by West Cork surgeon and cancer researcher Gerry O’Sullivan, expects this fund to have an impact for patients with the devastating disease across the island of Ireland.

About 600 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Ireland every year, with more than 560 deaths recorded here. Northern Ireland records 290 new cases annually, along with more than 255 deaths.

Anthony Gorman was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in 2022. He said the diagnosis “turns your world upside down”.

“It is a disease that so many people do not survive and that, in reality, is never far from your mind.

“I have already lost my sister and my mum to cancer, and I live with a genetic condition that increases my own risk, so research is not something abstract to me — it is what gives me hope,” he said.

He added the All-Ireland Cancer Network gives real hope that pancreatic cancer will not always carry such devastating outcomes.

The new island-wide programme, launched today to mark World Cancer Day, aims to improve early detection and outcomes for one of Ireland’s most difficult-to-treat cancers.

Charity chief executive Orla Dolan, the daughter of the founder Mr O’Sullivan, said: “Pancreatic cancer is one of the greatest challenges we face in cancer research today. Outcomes remain devastatingly poor, largely because the disease is so often diagnosed late and treatment options are limited.

“This €1m investment is about creating lasting research infrastructure that can change outcomes for people with pancreatic cancer not just today but into the future.”

The Breakthrough Cancer Research’s grant has been awarded to a new all-island research network led by Gráinne O’Kane, a consultant medical oncologist and professor at University College Dublin.

An event at University College Cork (UCC) today will hear details of an exciting new €10m research fund for the Cork and South of Ireland region.

The investment is made up of clinical trial revenue and philanthropy.

The project will be led by UCC, and it will make connections between cutting-edge cancer research and regional cancer centres.

It will see access to more state-of-the-art clinical trials for patients with all types of cancers across the wider region.

“Working with the HSE South-West and other partners, cancer research at UCC will develop a research ecosystem that will bring the latest international cancer research direct to those at risk of or living with a cancer diagnosis,” a spokesperson for UCC said.