Cutting edge research at Cork Cancer Research Centre.

According to the Irish Cancer Society (ICS) cancer affects one in three people in Ireland during the average lifetime. Sadly the likelihood is that you will know someone who has been or will be a victim of this destructive disease. So the next time a pink ribbon donation is in order dig deep, as you could be investing in your own or loved ones future treatment.
The term cancer describes a number of different illnesses characterized by abnormal growth and spread of cells. This overgrowth of cells can form a tumour and these tumours can be either benign or malignant. Benign tumours don’t invade surrounding tissue and spread therefore they are not life threatening although they will should be removed as they can cause problems. Malignant tumours have a goal to maliciously spread themselves as far as they can and are extremely hazardous to health. They leach into the lymph system or blood supply and effectively poison other organs and systems over time causing them to fail and resulting in death. These are the guys that we need to be wary of and they are being constantly monitored and researched in cancer research labs and centres all over the world.
So what’s going on with regards to cancer research under our very noses here in Cork city? I visited Dr Declan Soden, General Manager of Cork Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) to find out more…
The CCRC was established by Professor Gerald O’ Sullivan in 1999 in order to form a partnership between UCC and Cork University Hospitals. Under the director are 25 researchers, all with a common goal, to develop new, less invasive treatments for Cancer patients. “The activities of the centre include screening, prevention and early detection of the disease”, Dr Declan Soden advises me on the work of the organisation. With regards to screening there is a clinic in operation in The Mercy Hospital, which is funded by the centre, to identify people who are at a high risk of developing colorectal cancer. “Basically people under the age of fifty who have colorectal cancer are contacted and it is their direct family that are targeted to allow for early detection of the disease. If cancerous cells are found during the early stages of the disease it is very treatable and curable”, Dr Declan Soden, informed me.
And that’s only to start with. A preventative study is ongoing at present involving a ‘chemo-preventative agent’ called curcumin, a dye found in curries. The component has been found to have very potent anti-carcinogenic properties and it has also been seen to decrease the risk of colorectal and oesophageal cancer. So now there’s and excuse to tuck into a good old curry more often!
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The most active areas of research at the clinic are less invasive surgery and gene therapy. “We have just received permission from The Irish Medicines Board to do gene therapy in patients which will be the first of its kind in this country”, Dr Soden tells me. Gene therapy and less invasive therapy are two separate studies but Dr Declan Soden is hopeful that in a few years the therapies will be used to complement each other in the fight to cure cancer. The method is far less invasive manner than chemotherapy, radiography and surgery. “When you look at it from a research perspective, patients have billions of cells in their body. Chemotherapy affects all cells, normally most actively growing cells such as hair cells”, he explains. All of these innocent cells will be protected during treatment using this new, innovative treatment whilst cancer cells will be killed.
The first step in the two part treatment is electro-chemotherapy using the drug Bleomycin. The electric pulse allows for the tumour to be targeted specifically allowing for the drug level to be toxic in this area only and thus allowing for no side effects around the surrounding tissues and in the body. As a result of the drug being injected directly into the tumour it will shrink. Gene therapy will then be used afterwards to boost the body’s immune system and prevent secondary cancer from forming. Basically the scientific strategy behind gene therapy is to manipulate the body’s immune response against cancer rather than relying on drugs and chemotherapy. This truly innovative treatment has been successful in treating skin cancers in clinical trials but the researchers at CCRC are looking into expanding the treatment to treat internal cancers.
The future is bright but the research is unfortunately expensive and securing funding money is a constant battle for the centre. Although some of the ongoing research in Cork at present is part funded by the Cancer Research Ireland (CRI), the research division of the ICS, much of the funding comes from grant authorities, the Irish Department of Health and Children, the UCC Foundation, corporate donors and fundraising events. Dr Soden, “Without the driving force of the fundraising events CCRC just wouldn’t be in operation.” So if you want to donate to cancer research in Cork directly or if you have any ideas on fundraising contact Declan Soden on 021 4901335 or d.soden@ucc.ie