“This therapy has the potential to reduce pancreatic tumours to a size which would make curative surgery an option for a greater number of patients, as well as increasing palliative care options in those at a very advanced stage.
I believe this research will deliver a very positive step forward.”
Treat pancreatic cancer better than before
Pancreatic cancer is one the most deadly forms of the disease and while treatments for some types of cancer have made huge strides forward, the survival rates for pancreatic cancer have not improved in 40 years
- 200,000 people die from pancreatic cancer every year, worldwide
- Only 5% of people with pancreatic cancer are still alive five years after diagnosis
- Only 1% of people diagnosed are still alive after ten years
Here at Ulster University, our researchers are working to change these dramatic outcomes through the development of micro-bubble technology - helping to target and therefore treat pancreatic cancer better than before.
Deliver the treatment right where it is needed
One of the most difficult problems of treating many cancers is how to deliver the treatment right where it is needed – direct to the tumour – without causing damage to other parts of the patient’s body.
Professor John Callan and his team are undertaking ground-breaking research to further develop micro-bubble technology which can deliver a combination treatment directly to the cancerous tumour.
The goal is to shrink the tumour and enable potentially life-saving surgery to be an option for a greater number of patients.
“When my Uncle Harold was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, within a matter of weeks he was gone. It is a shockingly aggressive disease, and very difficult to treat.
By the time the symptoms appear, in most cases, it is too late to do anything. I’m a graduate of Ulster University and when I heard about the research being done by Professor Callan and his team I wanted to help out in some way.
So in memory of Uncle Harold, my whole family joined together and made a donation to the University, in support of this amazing study.””