Today is World Cancer Research Day and to mark the day Cork based Breakthrough Cancer Research has announced a €2 million investment in new research into Ireland's 7 deadliest cancers.
Many patients with these cancers - lung, pancreatic, oesophageal, ovarian, liver, stomach and brain - have a lower chance of survival as they are typically diagnosed late when the cancer has already spread and it can therefore be very difficult to treat.
Breakthrough Cancer Research - which is celebrating it's 10 year anniversary - is to fund and run a new 5-year research strategy into these 7 cancers which are responsible for almost half of cancer deaths every year in Ireland.
Speaking to RedFM News CEO of Breakthrough Cancer Research Orla Dolan says research offers hope to people who have been told that they have a terminal disease:
"And when we look back on what we've delivered in the 10 years with public support, we're most proud to know that there are people who've had cancer, whose lives have been transformed, whose suffering has been lessened by research that we've supported. I mean, that just means everything to us. And building on that impact, we're today launching a new five-year-research-strategy, which will focus on the seven cancers, which still, despite some progress have the lowest survival rates. They are causing nearly 50%, or half, of all cancer deaths here in Ireland".
