Latest news

Trustee honoured in New Year Honours

February 8, 2021 by pelicanadmin

Pelican Cancer Foundation Trustee, Myrddin (Merv) Rees, received the OBE in recognition of his services to liver cancer surgery in the New Year Honours. Merv is a Consultant Hepatobiliary Surgeon and pioneered liver resection, the surgical removal of a part of the liver, in the 1980’s at Basingstoke & North Hampshire Hospital, at a time when many medical professionals said that liver resection could not be done. Merv learnt about the bloodless operating technique from an eminent surgeon in Germany, Johannes Scheele, and brought the practice to Basingstoke. His development led to dramatically increased survival rates for patients with liver secondaries, with well over 3,000 patients operated on to date.

Liver cancer is usually a secondary condition that has spread to the organ from a primary cancer in another part of the body, including the bowel. Merv has been a key part of creating the surgical expertise in treating bowel cancer and its associated secondary spread in Basingstoke and is a huge supporter of the work Pelican does.

Merv is always the first to acknowledge that he couldn’t have achieved all of this without many colleagues including his surgical and other medical colleagues, along with many clinical, admin and support teams over the years.

Merv has given his time generously, both professionally and as a Trustee, to many projects over the years and we are thrilled that his pioneering work has been recognised in this way. Pelican is very proud to be associated with such amazing clinical colleagues, of whom Merv is an outstanding example. Huge congratulations Merv.

COVID-19 update

January 20, 2021 by pelicanadmin

The team have settled in to working from home now and are focusing on moving the charity forwards. We remain steadfast in our commitment and mission of driving innovation and development in bowel cancer, focusing particularly on surgical treatment.

The Trustees continue to meet regularly to review the current situation and the team are working hard to support this. When the situation locally and nationally allows it, we look to resume our education and training activities both remotely and using more traditional delivery methods where possible. We are acutely aware of the current challenges facing staff across the NHS and how extremely hard they are working to treat all patients who need attention.

Our office is still housing staff from Basingstoke hospital, in order to free up space for clinical services in the hospital.

As the year progresses, we are hopeful that the vaccination programme and its rollout will gradually improve the situation for all. We look forward to delivering our excellent education programmes as soon as it is possible to do so.

Pelican IMPACT completes a successful two-year run

February 7, 2020 by pelicanadmin

Pelican IMPACT has now drawn to a close after two years on the road. Our workshop in Kent on the 17th January was the grand finale in what has been a broad-reaching and highly successful programme delivered throughout the UK and Ireland.

Professor Brendan Moran commented: “Spearheaded by Pelican Cancer Foundation and the current President of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Nicola Fearnhead, in conjunction with Professor Jim Hill, ACPGBI President 2017-2018 – and myself as immediate past-president in 2018-2019, IMPACT combined the experience of Pelican Cancer Foundation in MDT Course development and delivery with the clinical leadership of ACPGBI.

We are particularly grateful to our two main donors, The Lady Yuen Peng McNeice Charitable Foundation and the ACPGBI for the enormous financial support which made this venture possible. This initiative will improve outcomes for many of our most ill patients and will help integrate the crucial role of palliative care in complex cancer pathways. More patients will be cured and best care delivered to all. Thank you Pelican Cancer Foundation, ACPGBI, and all participants!”.

Pelican’s pioneering prostate cancer programme launched in Manchester

March 5, 2019 by pelicanadmin

Urology teams in Manchester are at the forefront of a national development programme to improve the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and are being helped by Pelican Cancer Foundation.

The first “Transformation in the Prostate Cancer Pathway: Teamwork for Patients” (TIPTOP) workshop was held in Manchester in February 2019.

After supporting prostate cancer research for the last 16 years, the Pelican team led by Consultant Urological Surgeon Mr Satish Maddineni presented the latest findings and recommendations around the UK to help patients achieve a timely and accurate diagnosis and further treatment.

The day-long presentations for regional prostate cancer teams (MDTs) – including urologists, radiologists, clinical nurse specialists, pathologists, oncologists,radiographers and cancer managers – were designed to raise awareness of how the diagnosis of prostate cancer is rapidly changing. For example, the introduction of MRI scans before taking a biopsy with the subsequent reduction in the number of patients requiring biopsies and therefore improving the accuracy of the biopsies themselves. The programme also outlined how patients should get their diagnosis much faster – ideally within 14 days; and the increase in treatment options.

The inaugural TIPTOP workshop, held at The LifeCentre in Sale, considered the best way forward, for both logistics and clinical developments. In addition to the presentations from medical experts and discussions, the MDT members from 12 hospitals in the Manchester area had the opportunity to network, meet colleagues and representatives from the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance including Professor David Shackley, Medical Director for GM Cancer.

One of the delegates from The Christie Hospital commented afterwards: “Everybody went away enthused and I look forward to progress being made in the North West.”

Another prostate cancer specialist said: “It was extremely interesting. As a result, I will work with urology experts and radiologists to improve access to MRI scanning and improve any time constraints.”

Prostate cancer survival is improving and has tripled in the last 40 years, however it remains the second most common cause of male cancer death with in the UK, with more than 47,200 new cases in 2015.

Mr Maddineni, consultant urologist at Salford Royal, said: “Pelican is very pleased and proud to bring the TIPTOP programme to prostate cancer teams around the country. It aims to raise awareness and give an improved understanding of the optimal diagnostic pathway for prostate cancer which they can then incorporate into their own practices.”

“The recent developments in imaging and prostate cancer diagnostic techniques, coupled with the arrival of new technologies that can destroy areas of cancer in the prostate, have enabled many men to enjoy a good quality of life after treatment.”

Pelican’s Chief Executive Sarah Crane said: “Pelican Cancer Foundation’s groundbreaking new programme will work with cancer specialists to adopt changes in the diagnosis of prostate cancer, with the aim of reducing the number of men who are diagnosed every year, and improving treatment for those who are.

“Our free workshops in Britain and Ireland are designed to help these specialist cancer teams treat patients for the best possible outcome. The programme will not only improve clinical confidence in prostate cancer care, it could also make long-term savings for the NHS.”