I am taking part in the epic Fire Walk challenge as part of the Nuclear Medicine team to raise funds for Mount Vernon Cancer Centre.

Our team are raising funds to develop a new dedicated Nuclear Medicine Therapy Suite at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. This day case unit is for patients who require new targeted therapies for prostate cancer.

About 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some time during their life. In the UK prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with around 52,000 men diagnosed every year (2016-2018 data). The incidence rate of prostate cancer is expected to increase by 15% between 2023-2025.

Prostate cancer that has not spread outside of the prostate gland can be treated with radical treatments. However, for some men, at the time their cancer is diagnosed it may already have spread, and current treatments include hormone therapies, chemotherapy and molecular radiotherapy.

Mount Vernon Cancer Centre sees a large volume of prostate cancer patients. Whilst the radical treatment approach can vary, longer-term management of palliative patients has increased. As more patients are living with cancer, ongoing symptomatic management and symptom-free survival is increasing.

Lutetium-177 (177Lu)-PSMA is a new innovative therapy, where a radioactive dose is injected into the patient, targeting the disease and treating it directly, unlike chemotherapy, which treats the body as a whole.

The Nuclear Medicine Department would like to offer this new therapy to their prostate cancer patients. However, to offer this treatment, refurbishment of the existing patient waiting area and therapy rooms is needed.

This new space will allow the patients to receive their treatment as a ‘day case’, rather than needing to stay in the ward overnight.

At Mount Vernon Cancer Centre we pride ourselves in offering a wide range of advanced and innovative treatments for cancer. By offering Lutetium we are expanding the range of treatment options available to prostate cancer patients requiring longer term supportive care.

A new nuclear medicine therapy suite will mean we can offer patients more targeted molecular therapies in a calm, friendly and comfortable environment without the need to have an overnight stay on our wards.

I would really appreciate any donations to my page for this amazing cause.