The Oesophageal Cancer Fund (OCF) is a registered
charity set up by friends of Lucilla Hyland to raise money for research
into oesophageal cancer under the direction of consultant surgeon,
Professor Tom Walsh.Professor Tom Walsh lectures at the Royal College
of Surgeons in Ireland and is a Consultant in Surgery at James Connolly
Memorial Hospital and at Blackrock Clinic and the Bon Secour Hospital.
He is currently the Editor of the Irish Journal of Medical Science.
In 1996, he published a landmark paper in
the New England Journal of Medicine on the value of multimodality
treatment for oesophageal cancer. His chief research interest is
in the role of multimodality treatment for oesophageal cancer and
the management of micrometastases.
He studied medicine at UCD and St Vincent's Hospital and obtained
his Fellowship in Surgery (FRCSI) in 1981. He undertook further
clinical training in Durham and Newcastle-upon-Tyne and was awarded
a Masters Degree in Surgery for research in 1985.
He was appointed senior registrar in Dublin
1986 and Senior Lecturer in Surgery at Trinity College 1989. While
working with Professor Tom Hennessy, he developed his interest in
oesophageal cancer. In 1995 he was awarded an MD degree for research
in oesophageal cancer.
Dear Supporter,
Dear Supporter, Of all the cancers that
can afflict us, cancer of the oesophagus (or gullet) is one of
the most lethal. This is because of its insidious onset and rapid
spread. It is at an advanced stage in the majority at the time
of diagnosis.
The main symptoms are difficulty swallowing
and weight loss. It is notable that its incidence is increasing
rapidly in the Western World and Irish women are near the top
of the European league in terms of increasing incidence. The management
has traditionally been surgery. But because the disease is widespread
in the majority when diagnosed, surgery alone is successful only
in the few.
However, advances have been made. Research
that we carried out in Dublin between 1990 and 1996 showed that
chemotherapy and radiotherapy given before surgery was superior
to surgery alone and this is now the standard treatment in most
units world-wide. Further collaborative research has helped us
to understand the spread of cancer to the bone marrow and this
will hopefully help identify which patients will need systemic
treatment and which patients have cleared their disease after
treatment.
Our goal is to improve on the outcome
for patients with oesophageal cancer. The key steps in our research
approach are:
1. To add more effective agents to the
current treatment
2. To identify patients who need systemic treatment
3. To accurately assess response to treatment
4. To identify those who need further treatment.
The proceeds of Lollipop Day will enable
us to carry out this programme.
Through the Lucilla Hyland Research Fellowship,
it will provide financial support for a doctor who will focus
his or her MD research in this area. It is only through further
research that we can find better solutions to this deadly disease.
We are very grateful for your support and would like to assure
you that it will make a difference.
Thank
you for your support.
Sincerely,
Thomas N Walsh
Professor in Surgery, Royal College of
Surgeons in Ireland Consultant Surgeon, James Connolly Memorial
Hospital.
