This pretty little thing is, in fact, a cancer cell!

An interesting question is ‘How do cancer cells remain dormant for many years?’ It’s an unfortunate fact that, despite apparently successful treatment, cancer can sometimes come back many years after diagnosis. And this could be because some cancer cells enter into a hibernation-like state, called ‘dormancy’. “What it means for a cell to be dormant is essentially that it’s not dividing,” says Dr Simon Buczacki, a bowel cancer expert who specialises in dormancy. To learn more about this read this blog from Cancer Research UK …

(An article by John Furse – LRB, 7th November 2019.)

The Americanisation of the NHS is not something waiting for us in a post-Brexit future. It is already in full swing. Since 2017 Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) have been taking over the purchasing as well as the provision of NHS services in England, deciding who gets which services, which are free and which – as with the dentist and prescriptions – we have to pay for. Known in the US as Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs), ICSs are partnerships between hospitals, clinicians and private sector providers designed – and incentivised – to limit and reduce public healthcare costs, and in particular to lessen the demand on hospitals. Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs), the forerunners of ACOs, were pioneered by the US health insurance provider Kaiser Permanente in 1953. President Nixon’s adviser John Ehrlichman explained to his boss the basic concept before the passage of the 1973 HMO Act: ‘The less care they give them the more money they make.’ In May 2016 Jeremy Hunt, then health minister, admitted at a Commons Health Committee hearing that Kaiser was a model for his planned NHS reforms. When a trial of ACOs was announced in the UK in 2017, it caused an outcry from campaigners and NHS England quickly rebranded them ICSs. But the Kaiser model isn’t new to healthcare policy in the UK: it has been the inspiration for the long and discreet process of the dismantling and reformation of the NHS since the 1980s. 

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Stand Up To Cancer scientist, Professor Simon Leedham, is supporting research into an entirely new treatment option for people with bowel cancer by investigating a molecule called GREMLIN1. Watch the following animation, which provides the background to the project…

Our Jazz and Coffee morning on Saturday 22nd June was a HUGE success. Members, especially Erika baked a fabulous range of wonderful cakes. We even had a ploughman’s lunch with delicious home baked bread. The weather shone blissfully, so we could sit in the pretty garden at St Margaret’s Cottage and the band “Work in Progress” provided a background of perfect music for a lazy Summer’s day. Here’s a sound clip of the band, recorded on the day; something  to remind those who were there what a great day it turned out to be.

We had an enormous raffle, again thanks to members’ generosity and to Jim Gray who managed to get local stores to contribute several prizes. Our grateful thanks to all those who helped on the day by setting things up, washing up and clearing away. As soon as we know how much was raised by the event, we shall publish it on this website.

Go to our Photo Album for more memories of the day.

AN EVALUATION

This all-day event took place in the foyer of the ASDA stores in Hollingbury, Brighton.  It was funded by Macmillan.  Our aim was to raise awareness of the first signs of bowel cancer amongst the public and to ensure that they knew what to do should the signs be positive.  It was not a fund-raising event.

The event was a multi-agency collaboration with C-Side working with the following organisations:  The Macmillan Horizon Centre; Albion in the Community (the charitable branch of the Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club); the Sussex Bowel Screening Programme; the Colorectal Nurse Specialist team from The Royal Sussex County Hospital and members from C-Side Colorectal Cancer Support Group.

Twenty volunteers from all the participating groups gave up their time over the day, engaging with the public and distributing leaflets and information.  They were well-prepared with shared information and advice on how to approach the public.    When specific questions were asked about Bowel Screening or advice about Bowel cancer was required, volunteers referred people to our clinical specialists: the Colorectal Nurse Specialists or the Clinician representing the Sussex Bowel Screening Programme.  These specialists recorded some of the  “meaningful conversations” to show our sponsors the sort of impact we were having.  We had a large pull up banner, wore t-shirts that showed a unified presence and a table of information in the form of leaflets and posters. We also had tote bags printed by C-Side in which we could put leaflets, and AITC provided us with even more tote bags and pens as freebies.  Furthermore, ASDA were extremely generous and provided several trays of free fruit to support us with our healthy eating message.

While it is difficult to be precise about our impact, we ascertained that we engaged with more than 1000 members of the public between us during the day.  Even people we did not talk to took leaflets and saw what we were about.  Despite being very busy, the clinical specialists recorded 30 “meaningful conversations” – just a sample of the sort of questions we were asked during the day.  People were generally very agreeable and interested in what we were offering and all involved thought it was a very worthwhile event.

Some specific comments received by participants included:

• It was a well run event
• Volunteers were given a clear direction
• There were more than enough volunteers but the venue (some thought) was restrictive, so that it sometimes felt crowded
• The footfall was high
• The separate, private space considered by the nurses was not possible
• The t-shirts were very effective and immediately identified volunteers
• We had leaflet overkill! Next time (as we hope there will be a repeat) we will be more selective in our choice of leaflets.
• In the future we might do a smaller “pop-up” event in a range of different venues.

C-Side is only a small charity, but we feel it was a very worthwhile event to have run.  While we clearly had an impact on members of the public, perhaps our biggest achievement was to get the different participating groups working together collaboratively to really raise awareness of bowel cancer.

On 30th April one of our members, Don, gave a presentation on Advance Directives. The presentation was as shown below; click into the image then use your keyboard arrow keys or mouse to advance the content. Several links are included showing in yellowish-green text; clicking on them will open the link in a new tab. When you’ve finished with the link’s content, close the tab to return to the presentation.

In addition, here’s two more links to papers related to the subject:-

Advance directives discussion BMJ: Some of the ethical and legal issues

Advance-Decision-Pack-v2.1: Advice on how to go about formulating and establishing these Directives.

Listen to this BBC Inside Health sound clip on Prehabilitation. It’s about 15 minutes in length, but well worth the listening as it describes just how being as fit as possible, before beginning surgery or chemotherapy treatment, increases the favourable outcomes of that treatment.

In thus excellent podcast series Dr Mark Porter demystifies health issues, separating fact from fiction and bringing clarity to conflicting health advice, with the help of regular contributor GP Margaret McCartney. Click on Radio 4 image to see what other health podcasts are available.

To listen to the part of this one, dealing with Prehabilitation, use the play/pause button to play the clip and the volume slider to adjust for listening comfort.