£95k donation to UCL cancer research

Bottoms Up, a North-West London bowel cancer charity, has donated £95,000 to UCL to buy a vital piece of equipment to aid cancer research. The 'CellSearch' machine, which helps to detect tumour cells in the blood stream, was presented at an event at the UCL Cancer Institute on 11 March. Professor Chris Boshoff, Director of the UCL Cancer Institute, said: 'The generous funding raised by Bottoms Up, combined with funding from the National Institute for Health Research, has allowed us to purchase this equipment and fund a technician and running costs. We believe that this initiative will play an important role in the monitoring of patients being treated for cancer and that this technology will play an expanding role in cancer research within UCL.' Tina Hancock, Chairman of the Bottoms Up bowel cancer charity, says: 'As a small, local charity we have in the past donated funds to the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust for vital early diagnostic equipment for bowel cancer. When Anthony Glantz, the husband of one of our committee members, sadly died of the disease two years ago, we decided to look at research opportunities to support. As soon as we heard about the need for the CellSearch machine for the UCL Cancer Institute we knew that we had found the perfect fund-raising goal. It has been an absolute privilege to be associated with UCL and the fantastic research work carried out at the Institute.' Bowel cancer, also known as colon or colorectal cancer, is the second most common cancer to kill people in the UK, causing more deaths every year than breast and cervical cancer combined.