The Christie in Manchester was presented with a cheque for £77,000 by the Steve Prescott Foundation (SPF) recently for research into pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), a rare form of abdominal cancer. Trustee Linzi Prescott and SPF Chairman Mike Denning made the presentation to Dr Malcolm Wilson, Lead Clinician for Colorectal Surgery and joint Lead Clinician, and Professor Sarah O'Dwyer, co-founder of The Christie Colorectal and Peritoneal Oncology Centre (CPOC), Lead Clinician for Peritoneal Tumours and Clinical Director of the Christie Clinic. The Christie is one of the nominated charities of the SPF founder Steve Prescott MBE who had battled PMP for more than seven years after diagnosis in 2007. The donation was part of over £231k presented by the SPF in 2016 to The Christie, The Rugby League Benevolent Fund and the SPF Special Causes Fund.
Steve Prescott underwent a 32-hour pioneering life-saving modified multivisceral and abdominal wall transplant in October 2013 at the Oxford Intestinal Transplant Centre. Steve underwent this operation safely and had managed to defeat his tumour. However he very sadly succumbed to acute graft versus host disease.
Through his bravery and challenge that he had set on to himself by being the first to undergo this procedure, Stephen paved a way in a field that has become beneficial for other sufferers of PMP.
The Christie Colorectal and Peritoneal Oncology Charitable Fund allocate donations received for research, education and specialist equipment used by the unit. Equipment purchased includes a non-invasive ventilation device, a theatre video link and recorder, and a Endoscopic carbon dioxide (CO2) regulation unit for endoscopic procedures.
Research programmes include the annual Christie Cytoreductive Surgery and HIPEC Study day and a project to assess the cost effectiveness of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and HiPEC in the treatment of peritoneal metastasis of colorectal origin (PMCR) and a review of the changing patterns of referral and treatment in pseudomyxoma peritonei.
Several Research Fellowships are under consideration for patients undergoing major abdominal surgery at CPOC.
Funding for a co-ordinator for patient involvement including social media / information development and patient event development has also been applied for.
The SPF is delighted that the significant donations made to the Christie over the past nine years continues to support PMP sufferers and their families and advance the treatment and education of the disease.