Farleys Foundation Funds Vital Cancer Research

Research shows that people living in the North West are 25% more likely to get cancer.

In Lancashire, the top 5 most common cancers are:

• Breast

• Prostate

• Colorectal

• Melanoma

• Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma

Many cancers are also much more common in Lancashire than in the rest of the country. Bladder cancer is 26% more common, cancer of the cervix is 21% higher and head and neck cancer rates are 19% higher than the rest of England average.

The region also suffers overwhelmingly from extreme social-deprivation and health inequalities that when combined, lead to a lower than average life-expectancy and quality of life for its communities.

Since it’s inception, the Farleys Foundation has been committed to providing grants and funding to local projects to the benefit of local people. With this in mind, we are pleased to have provided a grant of £2,500 to North West Cancer Research to fund research at their Lancaster lab.

The charity is currently funding projects across numerous cancers, one example of which is the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Project.

Breast cancer remains the most common cancers for women in the North West and is responsible for 1 in 6 female cancer deaths.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer with a high level of recurrence and secondary cancers leading to poor survival rates. Although great progress has been made with most breast cancers, there is a severe lack of targeted treatments for TNBC.

North West Cancer Research aims to change that by undertaking a ground-breaking research project taking place in Lancashire, hoping to find better, more effective treatments for people with Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

In the project titled “Small molecule induced degradation of centrosome clustering proteins: development of a novel, cancer-specific therapeutic approach”, the researchers aim to understand the molecules found in TNBC breast tumours.

The researchers will also explore ways to remove KIFC1 from cells using drug-like molecules as this can stop the growth of cancer cells, and they have already seen similar results in prostate cancer cells. Hopefully, this knowledge will identify new and innovative treatments for one of the most devastating types of breast cancer.

Alastair Richards, CEO of North West Cancer Research, commented: "The support we receive from Farleys will help us tackle these inequalities through life-saving cancer research taking place right here in the region and our communities in Blackburn, Preston, Burnley and Accrington will directly benefit from this partnership." 

A team from Farleys recently took a tour around the North West Cancer Research labs at Lancaster University to see first hand where the funding goes before presenting the team with the donation.

Jade Jump, personal injury solicitor at Farleys, commented: “It was great to get a look around the labs and see the vital work North West Cancer Research is doing and exactly how the donation from the Farleys Foundation will support that. We’re passionate about using the Farleys Foundation to improve the lives of people in our communities and tackling health inequalities is so important as a part of that.

"We’re proud to support North West Cancer Research and to spread the word to help them secure the funding for research for years to come.”

For more information about the Farleys Foundation and the causes it supports, please visit this dedicated page.