Pelican in the media

 Among the most recent publications or articles relevant to Pelican’s work are:

New focal therapy treatment for prostate cancer could provide an alternative to traditional treatment with significantly fewer harmful side effects…

In April 2012 the major UK national newspapers, television and radio stations, plus Basingstoke-regional papers and radio stations, covered the publication in the Lancet Oncology of the results of the HIFU focal therapy for prostate cancer study part-funded by Pelican.

The treatment, which uses high-intensity focused ultrasound to selectively target individual cancer sites just a few millimetres in size (focal therapy), could offer an alternative to traditional treatment with significantly fewer side effects. Focal therapy is similar in principle to the ‘lumpectomy’ operation commonly used as an alternative to a full mastectomy in breast cancer.

The results show that 12 months after treatment none of the 41 men in the trial had incontinence of urine and just 1 in 10 suffered from poor erections – common side effects of conventional treatment. The majority of men (95 per cent) were also cancer-free after a year.

Read Pelican’s full news story, BBC Radio 4’s Adam Brimelow’s article (originally broadcast on the Today programme, 17 April), or the articles published in the Daily Telegraph, The Independent, the Guardian, the Daily Mail (online), Sky News (online), the Mirror, Basingstoke Gazette.

The story was also taken up and widely reported across the world.

Pelican’s press release for the story can be found under Press Releases on the website.

‘Sound waves blasted away my tumour’ is an article about a participant in the prostate cancer focal therapy (HIFU) trial in The Express, June 28, 2011.

‘Surgical research spurned for 'sexy' science projects’ is an online article about the lack of investment in surgical research on the BBC website, 15 June 2011. You can download the Royal College of Surgeons report that this BBC article is based on here.

‘Improving management of bowel cancer – the role of MRI’ is an article published in the Clinical Services Journal, June 2011.

‘Pioneering liver surgery for colorectal cancer metastases’ is an article published in the Clinical Services Journal, April 2011.

‘Pioneering techniques in cancer surgery’ is an article published in the Clinical Services Journal, May 2010.