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This year, for the first time in Shandon Park’s history, both captains are raising funds for the same charitable cause. Gerry Power (Club Captain) and Lorna McNamara (Lady Captain) are asking for your support to fund important lung cancer research being carried out by a team lead by Dr Gerry Hanna in the Centre for Cancer Research & Cell Biology at Queen’s University.

Lung cancer is the commonest cause of cancer death in the UK in both men and women, causing more deaths than the next four commonest cancers in very late stages. Because of this, lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of any types of cancer.

Although most cases are related to smoking, 15% of people with lung cancer have never smoked. One such cancer is Mesothelioma, a less common type occurring in people exposed to asbestos, such as those who worked in the Belfast shipyard, Harland and Wolff.

Lung cancer research attracts only 4% of the funding yet accounts for 22% of all cancer deaths in the UK. Lung cancer may be treated with either surgery or radiotherapy in an attempt to cure. For those for whom a cure is not possible radiotherapy and chemotherapy can be used to improve symptoms and extend life.

Gerry Hanna is a senior lecturer and consultant in clinical oncology based at Queen’s and at the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre and he is a member of the Radiation Research Focus Group. This group includes oncologists, physics, radiographers and lab based scientists. With the help of this group, Gerry’s aim is to continue to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy either by improving the technical delivery of radiotherapy or by combining radiotherapy with novel drugs.

In the lab, Dr Hanna and the team work to explore the mechanisms of resistance to radiotherapy at the cellular level. From identifying the pathways of resistance it is hoped that new treatments can be developed to improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy treatment.

Your donation will help give new hope to lung cancer patients and will help transform the future for those living with the disease.