What have you helped us to fund this year?
- Prostate Cancer Buddy role, supporting African-Caribbean men to access treatment for prostate cancer.
- A dedicated Mental Health Practitioner for young adults.
- Walking football sessions with Arsenal in the Community.
- Comforting amenity kits for inpatients.
- Complementary therapies (massage, aromatherapy and more), provided for young people.
- Bell ringing experience for children celebrating milestones in their treatment.
- Staff room supplies.
Staff conferences and training
Umair Mahmood, Research Fellow in the Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, recently presented findings from his team’s competitively selected study at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO GI). The study, led by Dr Khurum Khan, explored outcomes in pancreatic cancer patients treated with long-term chemotherapy.
Suzy Day, Sarcoma Clinical Nurse Specialist, attended a course on managing cancer related pain.
- Courses in Independent Prescribing, X-Ray survival, Cardio-Oncology nursing, Paediatric Proton Beam Therapy, managing cancer related pain and more, plus conferences on a range of specialist subjects.
- Arts and crafts classes for children and young patients • Snack, book and boredom trolleys.
- Wi-Fi for our children’s ward.
- Zumba classes for staff.
- VR Headsets for pain distraction and entertainment.
- Medical training aids, vein finders and wheelchairs.
“It was a privilege to represent UCLH at the ASCO GI 2025 to showcase our outstanding GI Oncology service at the largest premier conference in this specialty and inform new findings in the field of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Our presentation was very well received by the global audience, where we identified promising clinical metrics aiding physicians to refine patient selection and optimize PDAC treatment strategies. These will inform physicians in the future to better counsel specific PDAC patients about the benefits of long-term chemotherapy vs recommending others to partake in clinical trials and avoid chemotherapy-specific toxicities.”
Conferences such as the ASCO GI Cancers Symposium provide an ideal platform to interact with key opinion leaders, which has now led to the development of a new collaboration between UCLH and the University of Oxford. Umair is looking forward to proactively driving this alliance involving the GI Oncology teams at both institutions.
“I would also like to express my gratitude to the Cancer Fund for supporting our presentation which has been instrumental in promoting our research efforts. The Cancer Fund team has been incredibly kind and supportive both during our interactions and with our conference presentation sponsorship request, which has translated into promising results for patients being cared for at our institution. Attending the ASCO GI Cancers Symposium has been an invaluable experience for me as a Research Fellow which has re-affirmed my aspiration of training as an academic oncologist aiming to make transformative advancements in cancer patient care.”
Umair Mahmood
“The UCLH Cancer Fund kindly funded my recent complex cancer pain course at the Marsden. I look after lots of patients in difficult pain every day and the course has been so helpful in providing better knowledge around different drugs to use, and also lots of opportunities to network with colleagues from other trusts. This is so helpful for my day-to-day job and will make a big difference to my patients. Thanks so much.”
Suzy Day, Sarcoma CNS
"The course was intensive, running from 08:45 to 17:45. Despite being conducted virtually, it was interactive and engaging throughout. The scenarios presented were highly relatable and significantly enhanced the learning experience. The course primarily focused on interpreting chest X-rays in both AED and oncology clinic settings, particularly for detecting metastatic disease. Learning that one of the lead lecturers is a consultant radiologist at UCLH made the content even more relevant for me.
The course has had an immediate impact on my confidence in reading chest X-rays, which I noticed in my clinic the very next day. I highly recommend this course to junior doctors working in AED and oncology/haematology ANPs who, like me, are new to interpreting X-rays.
Thank you once again for funding this course. It has made a substantial difference."
Gifty Howusu
Sarcoma Advanced Nurse Practitioner, UCLH
Ongoing prostate cancer research
The Cancer Fund is delighted to continue our support for the ongoing work of Zaf Tandogdu, Urologist and Robotic Prostate Cancer Surgeon, and his team.
Their work to improve outcomes for prostate cancer patients who undergo robotic surgery is demonstrating great results. The team are now keen to ensure the model they are using can be adopted widely across the NHS, especially for trusts who don’t have access to large clinical teams. Early findings have shown AI assisted triage to be very effective in reducing the time and resources needed in the early stages of creating a “surgical roadmap” for each patient. As part of this work, the team are collating results from MRI scans of those who have had prostate cancer surgery. This will enable them to gather a bank of data to inform the next steps of developing an AI engine. We will keep you posted about progress!
Superhero Sleep Buddies
A huge thank you again to our friends at Scamp and Dude, who donated teddies for our young patients.
The cuddly ‘Superhero Buddies’ use their superpowers to reassure children having general anaesthetic for their radiotherapy treatment. They even have a special pocket for a photo of a loved one, so children feel less isolated in hospital.
Movie nights
Having a chance to relax, focus on something other than treatment, and spend some quality time together is so important for children being treated for cancer on our wards. The play specialist team and clinical staff are absolutely brilliant in supporting them to do this, and we’re proud to be able to support the activities they choose – like the new (and already very popular!) movie nights.
There are plenty more exciting projects on the horizon, like a new quite room for Westmoreland Street Hospital, and equipment for assessing and monitoring motor ability for paediatric patients.