Our aim is to understand cancer. To understand the research needs for our region, the treatments which must be developed in order to benefit patients today, and to understand how we can ultimately develop cures for cancer. We work to advance our understanding of personalised medicines and treatment programmes to benefit cancer patients currently living in our region.
In the majority of cases, cancer is still treated with a ‘one size fits all approach’. Patients are given a standard treatment which can in many cases be ineffective and overly aggressive – with the treatment itself bringing much pain and distress to the patient. Who wouldn’t be frightened by the idea of a strong dose of chemotherapy, with all of the damage that the treatment itself causes?
Add to this the fact that in so many cases this aggressive treatment will not offer any benefits to the patient’s outcome, simply because their genetic make-up dictates this.
We are lucky that in our generation we have developed a way of mapping a human’s DNA and genetic make-up – and it is this technology that means that in the future we hope cancer treatment will reach a stage where a patient’s DNA can be read to be able to understand what treatment would best benefit them. Enabling us to provide them with personalised treatment.
And this is our aim at Clatterbridge Cancer Research. That in years to come we will be able to read the DNA of everyone in our region and understand their genetic chances of getting cancer, how we could prevent it and what we could do to treat it. This may seem like a long way off – but with your continuing support, it is much closer than you think.
This technology we refer to is called a Gene Reader or a DNA Sequencer. It is a vital part of our work and we would like to be using it every day to move even quicker towards answers – but this work is costly and every time we use our Gene Reader it costs us £8000. Find out more about our costs and what you can do to help.