Donations and Awareness Update

Pictured above, is myself with the Howe of Fife rotary club president, Dennis Beattie

The presentation that I made at the Howe of Fife Rotary club was a great success. The members were all very interested about cancer, and many of them were not aware how big a problem it is in the developing world. I am so happy to have been able to increase the awarness of cancer already.

The members of the Rotary Club were all very lovely, before I made my presentation, they treated me to a tasty meal. After my presentation, I was also given a very nice vote of thanks by Mr Andrew Kennedy who is also a vet.

 
More importantly, I am very greatful to the Rotary Club, for writing about my presentation on their website. If you would like to see what they have written please follow this link here: Howe of Fife Rotary Club: Sylvia's Presentation . They really have taken it in their hearts to increase the awareness of cancer in Uganda and I appreciate this so much.

At the end of the rotary meeting, I was also very kindly donated £40 towards my project. I am also extremely greatefull for this contribution and it means a lot to me.

I must say thank you very much to my academic tutor Dr Amanda Fleet for inviting me along to the Howe of Fife Rotary Club and giving me the amazing opportunity to make a presentation to its members.

What will I be doing in Uganda

Whilst in Uganda, I will be joining a group of volunteers with the Uganda Cancer Research Foundation. I will be participating in a programme which is split up into 3 mean areas.

1. Outreach: We will visit rural villages, schools, rotary clubs and other community groups raising the awarness of cancer via presentations and workshops.We will tell people what cancer is, how it is detected and the importance of early diagnosis, both in terms of prognosis and in reducing treatment costs.
2. Academic: I will help out as a research assistant by helping to collect data about cancer incidence throughout the country. The results of which, will show trends of cancer in Uganda. This is important in terms of public health planning. I will also help out with other ongoing research projects, which will give me an invaluable insight into the how academic research is conducted.
3. Clinical: I will shadow doctors and conduct simple medical procedures at the Uganda Cancer Institute. I will also be mentoring Ugandan Medical student

As you can see, this is a very exciting project. It will involve many different skills. I will be working under conditions that I have never worked in before which I am looking forward to. I am eager to learn and what I will be exposed to whilst in Uganda will help my education tremendously. However, more importantly, I cannot wait to increase the awareness of Cancer throughout the Uganda.

Remember, if you would like to support my project, please leave a donation. Any amount will be greatly appreciated.

HIV and Cancer

As I said in a previous post, I am going to write about the links between HIV infection and cancer.

Earlier this week, when I made a presentation to the Howe of Fife rotary club, one of the members told me that they had no idea that HIV infection can increase the risks of cancer. This highlighted to me the importance of needing to increase the awareness of cancer. HIV infection rates in Sub Saharan Africa are extremely high, which results in millions of people being predisposed to many types of cancer. In addition, the introduction of better treatment for HIV positive individuals has increased their life expectancy, resulting in the incidence of certain cancers to increase.

There are several cancers which when present mark the progression of HIV into AIDS. These include:

• Kaposi Sarcoma (KS)

1. rare in the HIV negative population
2. patients with HIV infection are 200-300 more likely to develop KS than those without
3. the use of the newest HIV medication actually reduces the risk of developing KS

• non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL)

1.  also known as aids related lymphoma
2. HIV infection variably increases the risk developing this cancer by between 40-400 times.

• invasive cervical cancer. (ICC)

1. although it is an AIDS defining cancer, the research linking ICC with HIV is still inconsistant

There are also other cancers, which although are not AIDS defining, have higher incidence rates in those with HIV infection compared to those who how are HIV negative. Research has shown that HIV infected people have a 2-3 fold increase in developing these types of cancer. These cancers are often described as Non Aids defining, Aids Associated malignancies or opportunistic cancers. These include

• Hodgkins Disease (HD)

1. HIV infection increases the risk of developing HD by 7-11 times compared to the general population

• Lung Cancer

1. HIV infected patients are 2-7 times more likely to develop lung cancer compared to HIV negative individuals
2. long term tobacco exposure is usually much lower in HIV infected patients as it is normally diagnosed at an earlier stage
3. The most recent treatment for HIV has caused an almost 9 fold increase in the rates of lung cancer, however this is probably more due to the increased life expectancy.

The prognosis cancer patients that are HIV postitive compared to those that are HIV negative tends to be much worse, irregardless of the type of cancer. This may be due to cancers being more aggressive in those that have compromised immune systems,. In addition, HIV patients, often present with much more advanced cancers at the time of diagnosis and at much younger ages.

The exact causes and reasons why HIV infection increases the risks of cancer is stil unclear. However there are several different hypothesis. The main one due to the bodies own lack of immune response. It may also be that AIDS defining cancers are related to cancer promoting viruses such as HPV. Also, the increased rate of general infections might increase the risk of cancer. However, it may be that other risk factors such as multiple sexual partners, drug use, increased alcohol/tobacco consumption may be the cause for increased cancer rates among HIV infected individuals.

Regardless of whether these cancers are directly related to HIV infection, treating cancer in HIV-positive patients remains a challenge because of drug interactions, compounded side effects, and the potential effect of chemotherapy on the patient.

Howe of Fife Rotary Club

I have been given an amazing opportunity to spread the word of the Uganda Cancer Research Foundation at the Howe of Fife Rotary Club tomorrow evening. I am very excited about this. It will be great to increase the awareness of cancer in Uganda, and I will hopefully be able to make links with Howe of Fife Rotary Club and Rotary clubs in Uganda.

Many thanks to my University Careers Centre and Travel Centre

Last week, I was selected to give a 3 minute presentation to a commitee of representatives from my university's Careers Centre and Travel Service about my Summer Project. I was very happy to be given this opportunity and today I gave my presentation. I was so happy when later on today I received a wonderful e-mail saying that I was the chosen candidate for the travel bursary. Subject to satisfactory completion of the University Risk Assessment forms, I will be given £300 towards my travel costs.

This is a very large contribution and I am so happy and grateful for being awarded this bursary. I really appreciate it that my university has shown me this support towards my summer project and to UCRF.