UCC launches 'transformative' €10m research programme on World Cancer Day

Professor Roisin Connolly: 'We would say as it stands we are covering the entire south of the country in terms of this initiative.' File picture: Jim Coughlan

Cancer patients across the south of Ireland will benefit from a new and “transformative” €10m research programme which will see better access to cutting-edge clinical trials.

The University College Cork-led programme aims to connect new research with regional cancer centres. It is being launched on Wednesday to mark World Cancer Day.

Cork and Ireland could be leaders in this type of research, according to Professor Roisin Connolly, director of Cancer Research at UCC and academic director at Cork University Hospital/UCC Cancer Centre.

“It is transformative for cancer research and clinical trials,” she said. “We’re bringing the expertise from the academic side and the hospital side together. We don’t believe that’s been done nationally to date in as cohesive a manner.” 

UCC is an academic partner for HSE Southwest covering Cork and Kerry, as well as for University Hospital Waterford. Prof. Connolly said the fund will support work on all cancer types. It will support all cancer disciplines taking care of patients.

This will include radiation oncology and palliative care in partnership with regional hospitals, including Marymount University Hospice. “We would say as it stands we are covering the entire south of the country in terms of this initiative,” she said.

The investment, made up of clinical trial revenue and philanthropy, will also support recruitment of “the best and brightest” to this region.

New work is already going on around brain cancer for example. A new melanoma and skin cancer expert will begin work shortly in Cork.

CUH CEO Jennifer Kearney welcomed the project, saying cancer affects thousands of families in Ireland every year.

“This commitment will enable our researchers and clinicians to push boundaries, translate discoveries into real-world treatments, and deliver renewed hope to patients nationwide,” her spokesperson said.

(Left to right) Professor Gráinne O’Kane, consultant medical oncologist at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin; Anthony Gorman, diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in September 2022; and Orla Dolan, CEO Breakthrough Cancer Research after committing €1m to an island-wide pancreatic cancer research programme aimed at improving early detection and outcomes. File photo: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland

World Cancer Day also sees a new €1m pancreatic research grant from Breakthrough Cancer Research. The national charity was founded by Cork surgeon Professor Jerry O’Sullivan.

Welcoming the fund Anthony Gorman, diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer in 2022, said diagnosis “turns your world upside down”. “It is a disease that so many people do not survive, and that reality is never far from your mind," he said. 

"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 added the AllCaN Pancreatic Cancer network “gives real hope pancreatic cancer will not always carry such devastating outcomes”.

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About 600 people are diagnosed with this cancer in Ireland annually. Over 560 people die with it every year. Northern Ireland sees 290 new cases annually and over 255 deaths from this cancer. 

CEO Orla Dolan 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.”

The grant was awarded to a new all-island research network led by Professor Gráinne O’Kane, oncologist and professor at University College Dublin. 

This is the second All-Ireland Cancer Network the charity has launched. Its first on oesophageal cancer has been in place since 2023.