Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Gibraltar sponsors GHA’s attendance at key conference

The Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Charitable Trust finished its campaign for the Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month of November by sponsoring the GHA’s attendance at a key conference that discussed the latest developments in patient care.

The charity facilitated the attendance the GHA’s Cancer Services Coordinator, Isobel Ellul, at the Central European Cooperative Oncology Group’s (CECOG) Pancreas Cancer Academy in Vienna.

The Pancreas Cancer Academy is in its fourth year but this is the first time Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Gibraltar has had the honour of being invited.

The Pancreatic Cancer Academy meeting is an independent educational program to improve current practice management of Pancreatic Cancer across Europe through education of physicians and health care professionals to ensure that patients with pancreatic cancer receive the highest standard of multi-disciplinary care.

PCA Gibraltar Charitable Trust said it was very happy to be able to arrange for Ms Ellul attend on behalf of the Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Gibraltar.

Louis Baldachino, founder of the Gibraltar Charity who arranged the attendance of the PCA Gibraltar Charitable Trust, said: “It was fantastic for the Gibraltar Charity to attend this very important conference and as always we are grateful to Ali Stunt, CEO of PCA UK, for making it possible.”

“GHA’s press release and Isobel Ellul’s comments shows the importance of the attendance to conference.”

With around 200 delegates from across Europe, consisting of doctors, nurses and patient advocates, a full and comprehensive programme of lectures and sessions were organised for all three groups.

The multi-disciplinary approach to sharing information and tips on cancer care meant the latest in pancreatic cancer news was available to all.

Topics as vast as surgery, first line chemotherapy treatments, immunotherapies, clinical trials, hereditary pancreatic cancer, nutrition, nausea and vomiting and setting up pancreas cancer charities, provided for much needed discussion and meaningful networking.

Most striking was the challenges facing the effective treatment of pancreatic cancer and why it is such a difficult organ to treat; early detection of the disease, meaning possible surgical intervention as first line treatment, was a key message of the conference.

Most importantly, the chance to meet the clinicians from Imperial College London, who have looked after some of the GHA pancreatic patients, establishing links with specialist nurses and UK patient advocacy groups was hugely beneficial for Ms Ellul, the GHA said.

This means cascading the learning and passing on the contacts to GHA healthcare professionals who will benefit from the specialist knowledge on offer from some of the delegates.

“The world of cancer types, it’s research, treatment options, risk factors and prevention is so vast, I am very grateful to Louis Baldachino from Pancreatic Cancer Gibraltar for giving me the opportunity to tap into a very small part of this knowledge and be able to use it for GHA colleagues to enable them to support pancreatic cancer patients in Gibraltar,” Ms Ellul said.