IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER
Cancer patients in Wales will benefit from new developments with the launch of the Wales Cancer Bank, which will revolutionise the opportunities for cancer research in Wales.

Minister for Health and Social Services, Jane Hutt, officially launched the Wales Cancer Bank today at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff Bay.

Patients with possible or confirmed cancer, plus some other patients, will be asked to take part in the Wales Cancer Bank project. Their permission will be sought to keep a portion of their tissue, and also a blood sample, for future scientific studies.These studies will help to establish the causes of cancer, help identify new areas for treatment and to select the best treatments for individual patients.This may take years to achieve but is a major investment for future generations.

The Minister praised the work of the Cancer Bank and said,"This pioneering development will bring many benefits to Wales.

"The knowledge gleaned from research carried out by specialists working with the Cancer Bank will make a major contribution to the health of people in Wales,and indeed the wider world.

"The aim is to achieve a greater understanding of cancer and to be able to provide better treatments for patients with cancer..

"This initiative clearly demonstrates our commitment to developing a scientific evidence base to form the basis of our fight against cancer.

Professor Malcolm Mason, Director of the Wales Cancer Bank said, ‘As a doctor treating cancer patients, I am only too aware of the limitations of our current treatments. We desperately need a new assault on this disease and I believe that the Wales Cancer Bank will provide just that'.

Professor the Baroness Ilora Finlay of Llandaff supports the initiative and said, ‘The challenge is that cancer is so complicated and studies need to be done on hundreds, or even thousands, of samples to give meaningful results. That is why it is important that the Wales Cancer Bank is a huge scale project. Indeed, it will be a unique resource in the UK and will work closely with similar initiatives in Europe '.

Patient group representatives from around Wales have been fully involved in the setting up of the Wales Cancer Bank and Mr Neil Formstone said, ‘As far as patients are concerned, this is one of the most important projects to fight cancer in Wales in the last decade'.

The Wales Cancer Bank was established in April 2003 and is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Notes for editors
For further information please contact

For further information on University of Wales Bangor please contact
Elinor Elis-Williams, Press Officer, on 01248 383298 or email aos033@bangor.ac.uk

For further information on University of Wales Swansea please contact
Deborah Williams,Public Relations Assistant, on 01792 602040 or email press@swansea.ac.uk

For further information on University of Wales College of Medicine please contact
Mary Leyshon, Public Relations Officer, on 029 2074 2752 or email LeyshonMC@cardiff.ac.uk

For interviews with Professor Mason please contact:
Mary Leyshon
Public Relations Officer
University of Wales College of Medicine
Tel: 029 2074 2752
Email: LeyshonMC@cardiff.ac.uk

For interviews with Mr Neil Formstone please contact him direct on 07831 226422.

Profiles

Professor Malcolm Mason MD, FRCP, FRCR

Malcolm Mason was appointed Professor of Clinical Oncology at the University of Wales College of Medicine in January 1997. His main specialist interests lie in the treatment of urological cancers and also laboratory interests in cancer immunotherapy and prostate cancer. He has been UK co-ordinator of several Medical Research Council (MRC) cancer trials in prostate cancer and testis cancer. He is also Co-ordinating Editor of the Urological Cancers Sub-group (Prostate Diseases Group) for the Cochrane Cancer Network. He is a member of the Cancer Services Co-ordinating Group, and has been the Chairman of the Cancer Standards Group (formerly the Minimum Standards Group) since its inception. He is the Director of the Wales Cancer Bank.

Professor the Baroness Ilora Finlay of Llandaff

Ilora Finlay, Professor of Palliative Medicine, was educated at Wimbledon High School before studying at St Mary's Hospital Medical School and London University .  She is a former Welsh Woman of the Year and was one of the 15 "People's Peers" that were appointed in 2001. She is a Consultant in Palliative Care Services at Velindre NHS Trust and has been Vice Dean to the University of Wales College of Medicine, School of Medicine since 2000. Professor Finlay's work at Holme Towers Marie Curie Cancer Care, which she established, has made her a world authority on the care of terminally ill cancer patients.

Mr Neil Formstone

Chair of the Patient Liaison and Ethics committee, Wales Cancer Bank, Neil was first diagnosed with cancer in Autumn 1994. He is a former non executive member (1990/94) of the Family Health Services Authority ( FHSA) and Conwy Community Health Countcil (CHC) member 1995-1999. He joined the patients group in June 1999 at the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre, 9 months prior to it opening and has been Chairman since the group was formally established in October 1999. Neil was invited to join the Cancer Services Co-ordinating Group (CSCG) in 2002 and is a current patient member. He's also been heavily involved across Wales in a number of areas of cancer treatment etc. He has recently been appointed to the Royal College of Radiologists as a patient member and is also working on a number of projects for Macmillan in their patient forum/s.