The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Cancer research cash boost
The Rotary Club of Dundee is providing vital funds to complete a medical research project aimed at saving lives through earlier detection of serious illnesses.
As part of a £100,000 windfall for good causes in and around the city to mark the club’s centenary year, £11,000 has gone to support a bowel screening campaign which has rolled out across the UK since its creation locally.
Project leader Professor Bob Steele said the population of Dundee would hugely benefit from the research because of the city’s high levels of multimorbidity – people affected by two or more chronic conditions.
His team at Dundee University is currently working on a significant development of the successful screening programme.
They need £11,000 to complete their work over the next 12 months and the Rotary club has stepped up with the crucial funding.
The bowel cancer initiative has already saved thousands of lives of people over the age of 50.
The disease can affect one in 20 people, but is one of the most treatable forms of cancers if detected early through faecal haemoglobin – blood in stool samples.
Professor Steele’s team developed the screening programme to identify bowel cancer in its early stages and greatly increase chances of positive outcomes through early treatment.
Further research has now opened the distinct possibility of Faecal Immunochemical Testing being developed to detect early signs of other serious illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.
Prof Steele said: “The research team in Dundee is delighted to have this donation from the Rotary Club of Dundee, as it allows us to take this important research forward to a stage where it could have a significant clinical impact.”
Robert Dunn, chairman of the Rotary club’s centenary committee and a former president, said: “We are delighted to support this very worthwhile medical research project with Professor Bob Steele and his team at Dundee University.
“This is another donation made this year as part of our £100,000 set aside by the Rotary Club of Dundee in recognition of the club’s 100th anniversary.”