World Cancer Day: New study into hard-to-treat cancers - BBC News
Academics at Queen's University Belfast are studying pancreatic and oesophageal cancers.
Two cancers which are among the hardest to treat and have very low survival rates are to be the focus of pioneering research at Queen's University Belfast.

The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer in Northern Ireland is 4.9% and for oesophageal cancer is 18.6%.

In England, the statistics are 6.9% and approximately 15%.

Cancer survivor Paul Fox said only research will help us beat cancer, or at least learn to live with it.

This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Cancer survivor Paul Fox says he is "living beyond cancer"

The 47-year-old, from County Down, was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in July 2018.

It was detected early and having received treatment, three cycles of chemotherapy, he told BBC News NI that he is well on the road to recovery.

"I am very much living beyond cancer. I urge people particularly men to respond to symptoms, to seek help. It is actually being man enough," he said.

On this World Cancer Day, Cancer Focus Northern Ireland announced a £300,000 investment in pioneering research at Queen's University Belfast.

The new project will study pancreatic and oesophageal cancers.

Roisin Foster, chief executive of Cancer Focus NI, said: "We know that as people live longer, the incidence of cancer is rising and one in two of us can expect to get a diagnosis in our lifetime."

Dr Richard Turkington, oncologist and cancer researcher at Queen's, who is leading the research, said the "pioneering" new project aims to determine how immunotherapy can successfully treat pancreatic and oesophageal cancers.

"[These] are two cancers which at present are hard to treat and have very low survival rates," he said.

Immunotherapy works by overcoming cancer cells' ability to hide from the body's immune system. It allows a patient's immune defences to identify and destroy cancer cells, but does not always work for everyone.

Dr Turkington explained: "The outlook for these patients has remained unchanged for decades partly due to lack of research and investment.

"Our researchers will work to understand why most pancreatic and oesophageal types of cancers are resistant to immunotherapy and identify which drugs can be used to help overcome this resistance so patients will respond positively to the treatment.

"Immunotherapy has transformed the outlook for specific cancers, such as lung cancer and malignant melanoma, previously thought to be relatively untreatable.

"We believe the same revolution can occur for oesophageal and pancreatic cancers.

"This new work will enable us to drive forward a new era of treatment. If successful it has the potential to save lives both here and across the world."