My name is Professor David Withers and for years Worldwide Cancer Research scientists like myself have been exploring exciting new ways to advance our understanding of cancer - thinking outside of the box to discover new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease.
Your support has been vital in funding my immunotherapy research. Together we can think outside the box to improve immunotherapies for people living with cancer.
Funding for discovery research, like the research funded by Worldwide Cancer Research, has already declined by more than 25% in recent years. This makes an already extremely difficult challenge - curing cancer - even more challenging.
Without this fundamental research, it is impossible to develop new and superior treatments that can save the lives of people with cancer - and give more families more time with their loved ones.
Sixteen years ago, my father died of pancreatic cancer. He was only 59 when it was discovered, and the diagnosis really came out of the blue. My parents had just bought a camper van to enable them to get out and explore more, with their children all finally having flown the nest.
Looking back, the worst part was that we all quickly learnt that there were basically no good treatment options available to him.
Having no hope that anything could be done really sapped my father's will to carry on, and he became very withdrawn. He died less than five months later. The loss of my dad happened very early in my research career and this devastatingly difficult and sad time for our family has shaped my career as a cancer researcher.
Having now established my research lab and expertise, I want to use these skills to help discover new treatment possibilities for cancer and to keep families together for longer.
It is my hope that I can make a difference to other families facing the same situation as mine did when my father was diagnosed.
I would like to think that treatment possibilities for all cancers are not too far away. Discovery research, such as learning to better manipulate our immune response, will help us achieve this.
My team and I at the University of Birmingham, with the kind support of you and Worldwide Cancer Research, are trying to find out more about how our immune system and immunotherapies work against cancer.
We hope a better understanding of these processes will help to improve the current immunotherapies, making them useful for more patients. Your support is vital in funding my immunotherapy research.
Together we can think outside the box to improve immunotherapies for people living with cancer. I think my father would be proud that we are doing all we can to help people living with cancer, now and for generations to come. He had just a 1% chance of surviving his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, beyond 10 years. You can change that.
By becoming a Curestarter, you can help us continue to support more bright ideas like Professor Withers' - allowing us to potentially uncover new knowledge about cancer that could lead to lifesaving new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer.
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