World Cancer Day

On World Cancer Day, we wanted to highlight why medical research matters and what drives us to continue our work on melanoma in the Division of Biomedical Sciences (DoBMS) at UHI.

Cancer will affect one out of every two people in the UK during their lifetime. This has a profound impact on the individual, their families, their friends and the healthcare professionals who look after them. When it is discovered at an early stage, there are often more treatment options available and a better overall likelihood of it working, however this is not always the case. Despite many significant advances in cancer treatments, there are still ~460 deaths from cancer every day in the UK.

We tragically had to face the outcome of cancer treatment being unsuccessful when we lost our friend and colleague Dr Sharon Hutchison to melanoma, a cancer which was the focus of her research. This has had a profound impact on the research team in the Department of Biomedical Sciences (DoBMS) and has significantly motivated our projects.

The MyMelanoma study was initiated following Dr Hutchison's death, aiming to become the largest and most comprehensive melanoma research study ever undertaken in Europe. The study is a collaboration between people diagnosed with a melanoma, researchers and clinicians to address some of the major underlying questions to better understand the risks, early detection, and treatment of melanoma.

To date, over 15,500 people diagnosed with a melanoma have signed up - an amazing start to achieving our goals!

Dr Colette Mustard and A/Prof. Antonia Pritchard from the DoBMS were integral in initiating the MyMelanoma study, with research funding from Melanoma Focus and CRUK.

Thanks to invaluable funds raised by colleagues at UHI EO for Charity of the Year in memory of Dr Hutchison, we have completed the first phase of a genetic study into melanoma susceptibility that happens in families. We are now continuing to collect samples in Inverness for a larger genetic study, as well as working on several other MyMelanoma projects with our collaborators in Oxford University.

On this World Cancer Day, we took a moment to remember Sharon and think about all the people that we know who have been affected by cancer. We strongly believe in the power of research to ultimately contribute to improving the outcomes of people diagnosed with cancer. We at UHI should be very proud of the research that members of the DoBMS Team have been a part of, through their careers, to advance this goal.