Head and neck cancer patients in Liverpool will soon be able to benefit from improved research and development into treatments for the illness with a new £130,000 state-of-the-art laboratory at Aintree University Hospital.
The facility means that cancer researchers from the University of Liverpool will be able to work much more closely with patients as they work to improve care and medicine for people affected by this disease.
Highest rates
Merseyside and Cheshire have the highest rates of head and neck cancer in England, but thanks to the new facilities, researchers based at the University will now have a satellite lab which is nearer to the patients they are studying.
The lab will be used by researchers from the University’s Institute of Translational Medicine which has a specialist research group for head and neck cancer. These cancers are rare but numerous, and include mouth and tongue cancer or rarer forms of the disease affecting the nose or sinuses. The lab will also host researchers specialising in liver cancer.
More effective research
Professor Richard Shaw is a surgeon who works at the University and Aintree University Hospital and will be overseeing the new facility. He said: “Some samples have to be collected on site and then stored in specialist equipment. Previously, our base five miles from the hospital made this very difficult, so I’m grateful for the new lab which will make our research much more effective.”
Catherine Beardshaw, Chief Executive of Aintree University Hospital, said: “Aintree’s staff deliver some of the best outcomes in the world for the treatment of head and neck cancers. We are delighted to be able to support this new facility, along with the University and the Johnson Foundation, because it demonstrates our commitment to research and development and to improving the health of our local population.”
