Mike Ferguson,Sarah McVicar, Katy Titchmarsh, Peter Sant and Jim Banfi are running the Liverpool Marathon this year in memory of John Ferguson who died aged 58 on the 5th August having been diagnosed with Mesothelioma in May 2010.

Mike is John's son and Sarah and Katy are his nieces. Peter is a family friend whose father is also suffering from Mesothelioma, and Jim is a life long friend of John's.

John contracted the disease when he came into contact with asbestos doing vacation jobs for a few weeks when he and Jim were students together. 38 years later this dreadful  pernicious disease took his life.

During 2011 John underwent treatment at Barts Hospital.

Barts has one of the largest two mesothelioma outpatient clinics in the UK and sees around 100 new patients per year.

The number of new cases of mesothelioma is increasing despite asbestos being little used after the 1980s. This is due to a delay of 30-50 years between exposure to asbestos dust and the development of this disease.

Asbestos was widely used in industry, for example in construction and ship building as a result, of men born between 1940-1950, 1 in 100 will develop mesothelioma.

 

The Mesothelioma Team at Barts and The London Cancer Centre is aiming to raise the profile of this disease by offering patients the best possible treatment and conducting first-rate clinical and laboratory research including:

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Investigating the proteins that cause cell death.

Normally, the body destroys damaged cells but in cancerous cells this process is affected,so cells survive and develop. This is a particular problem in mesothelioma patients.

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Examining why mesothelioma, unlike other types of cancer, does not spread to other areas of the body.

It is hoped that understanding whythis is the case will help researchers and clinicians to develop moreeffective treatments.

Charitable donations are vital in helping to fund further ground-breaking research into mesothelioma and better treatments for patients.

 

Please help us make a difference!