Charity: ‘Cancer won’t wait’
An ovarian cancer patient has detailed how Covid-19 has led to more uncertainty for people undergoing and waiting on treatment.
Lucy Fahy from West Cork is currently working with Breakthrough Cancer Research on a new national campaign to drive awareness of the urgent need for research funding.
She said: “Everyone is now in crisis, no matter their situation, so it almost feels like people are playing catch up to where patients with cancer were already. Living under threat, practicing hygiene, fearing infection, having all certainty of the future ripped away are all normal for anyone who has gone through something like cancer so now everyone’s getting a glimpse of how that is too.
“I suppose the main thing Covid-19 has done for those in cancer treatment is to add extra layers of uncertainty and to make an already difficult thing that bit more difficult.”
Lucy added: “Covid has made my world much smaller, which has intensified my cancer experience. It feels like all at once, every single coping mechanism carefully developed over time was suddenly removed and what was left was the illness, then this whole new threat on top. Now there is nowhere to run to, no normality to escape into.”
Lucy’s comments came as today, 4 February, is World Cancer Day and Breakthrough Cancer Research is calling for an urgent approach to finding new treatments for cancer, similar to the rapid response taken globally to combating Covid-19.
The charity says there is an urgent need for more research funding in Ireland, as the pandemic has effectively caused a ticking timebomb for the disease.
Cancer already takes one life every hour of every day in Ireland, a statistic that Breakthrough said will increase, as recurring lockdowns mean delays in cancer screenings, referrals and some treatments.
In addition to this, the pandemic’s impact on research has been significant with lab closures, disruptions to clinical trials and difficulty accessing patient samples to test, all of which make treatment more difficult while increasing the cancer challenge.
However on World Cancer Day, Breakthrough also wants to highlight and celebrate the incredible advancements that have been made in cancer treatment through research. The charity currently supports the work of 67 researchers throughout the country and has already brought eight cancer treatments successfully to clinical trial.
CEO of Breakthrough Cancer Research, Orla Dolan, said: “We all now know what it’s like to anxiously wait for a life-saving research breakthrough, to have hope for a future free from illness. However, while research is beginning to deliver for Covid, patients with cancer continue in a state of anxiety as they wait for a new treatment. Not only that, but their risks have increased and their only hope - cancer research - risks falling behind.
“Cancer won’t wait and Covid-19 is like a ticking timebomb for the disease.”