Movember moustaches push €1.75m into cancer research

The Movember winter sprouting of moustaches by thousands of Irish men in the name of charity has produced tangible benefits with funds going to prostate cancer research.

Some €1.75 million raised for charity is to be used by the Irish Cancer Society to establish an initiative to monitor, benchmark and report on prostate cancer treatment outcomes, it announced today.

Some €350,000 a year, over the next five years, will go to the Irish Prostate Cancer Outcomes Research. The initiative will provide evidence-based data to doctors and hospitals on prostate cancer as well as helping to improve the quality of treatment and care of men newly diagnosed with the disease, according to Prof John Fitzpatrick, head of research at the society.

“IPCOR will be the first Irish, quality clinical registry, funded by the Irish Cancer Society and Movember, that will contain population-based, clinical and patient-reported data of men diagnosed with prostate cancer.”

The incidence of prostate cancer is rising in Ireland and the disease is more common in younger people than before. However, many "indolent" cases don't need active treatment and outcomes are generally good. The cure rate for those who get an early diagnosis can be as high as 90 per cent.

Prof Fitzpatrick says the new research initiative should provide a much-needed boost in public awareness of prostate cancer. Although the disease is as prevalent among men as breast cancer is among women, its public profile is much lower.

The benefits of screening for breast cancer were established far earlier than for prostate cancer, according to Prof Fitzpatrick. Whereas eight international screening studies have pointed to the benefits of screening for breast cancer, so far only one major piece of research has shown increased survival benefits resulting from screening for prostate cancer.

There are also issues with the standard PSA test for prostate cancer, because levels can be affected by factors not related to cancer.

The ICS has called for applications from suitably qualified organisations to make proposals to establish the new research group and manage the grant. Applications must be received by September 6th.

[ www.movember.com ]