Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust promoted a globally celebrated day to raise awareness and improve education around the fight against cancer.
World Cancer Day takes place annually on the 4th February and is an opportunity to bring people together to raise awareness of cancer, show support, and encourage its prevention, detection and treatment. The theme for this year’s campaign is #IAmAndIWill; encouraging people to make a personal commitment to take action to impact the future of cancer.
According to the World Health Organisation; at least one third of cancers are preventable through lifestyle choices alone. This includes quitting smoking, reducing and limiting alcohol consumption, maintaining a healthy weight and staying active, and reducing your exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. World Cancer Day is an opportunity to highlight this.
Alison Birtle, Consultant Oncologist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “Cancer affects approximately 1 in 6 of us, and so the chance of being unaffected as either the patient, carer or friend is remote. It affects us all. We can improve survival by better information empowering patients about what to look for, and better research into treatments and diagnosis. World Cancer Day highlights this so well.”
The Cancer Centre at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals is the centre for Lancashire and South Cumbria; offering innovative management for cancer with excellent clinical outcomes. The centre is also the training centre for complex cancer surgery across many sites; and has excellent recruitment into cancer clinical trials. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals was also the first hospital in the north of England to have the latest advanced robotic surgical system, the Da Vinci Xi cancer robot; which has been hugely successful in improving outcomes for cancer patients throughout Lancashire and south Cumbria, and leading to quicker recoveries.
Pierre Martin-Hirsch, Consultant Gynaecological Oncologist / Gynaecologist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “As the cancer centre for Lancashire and South Cumbria, as well as a leading research centre, we are able to bring emerging treatment and approaches to local patients now, as well as break new ground in healthcare that will benefit future generations.”