COLLAGE OF COURAGE
Cancer fighting heroes are honoured ‘Hunt for treatment keeps me going’
THIS amazing picture of a pioneering cancer research hero tells hundreds of moving stories.
The magical mosaic of Dr Christine Dufès is composed of photographs of poignant moments cancer patients would never have seen without receiving cures or treatments.
Tomorrow the giant portrait will be unveiled at East London’s Spitalfields Market.
The impressive 2m square artwork is a tribute to Dr Dufès and the other unsung scientists who have saved so many lives.
French prostate cancer researcher Dr Dufès said: “Working towards a potential future treatment against cancer is what keeps me going.”
Dr Dufès is part of Worldwide Cancer Research’s innovative Curestarter community, in which the best scientists receive funding for their work in finding cures.
The charity, which states that its mission is to end all suffering caused by cancer, has spent £200million on research across the globe and £100m in the UK alone.
Urgent
Dr Dufès is based at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and specialises in researching treatments for prostate cancer that has either returned or spread.
She and her team have been developing a novel “seek and destroy” drug as well as DNA carriers that target cancer cells without harming healthy ones.
The expert has now shown how using this technology in the lab against two different types of prostate tumours resulted in 70% of them vanishing over the course of a month.
She said: “During my pharmacy studies in France I worked part-time in the oncology department of a hospital and witnessed how a cancer diagnosis disrupted people’s lives.
“I realised then there was an urgent need for new therapies.
“Our knowledge of cancer has improved greatly in the past 20 years.
“We now know there’s huge variability, not just between different cancers but between patients with the same cancer, so new, more personalised treatment approaches are going to help improve survival rates.”
Prostate cancer remains one of the most common cancers in men, with 130 new cases diagnosed every day in the UK alone.
The researchers admit they still do not know what causes it, but they do know the risk for men increases with age and is also higher where there is a family history.
Worldwide Cancer Research, which is currently funding 80 research projects in 17 countries, will also unveil a second mosaic highlighting the work of fundraiser Adam Coulson, of East Lothian, Scotland. He has supported the charity since losing both his parents, Dave and Elaine, to cancer.
Here ordinary people who have had cancer share photos of moments they would not have had without a cure or treatment developed by scientists such as Dr Dufès.