Tuesday, 14 September 2021
The University of Nottingham lit its iconic Trent Building gold in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness month.
Childhood Cancer Awareness month (CCAM) takes place every September to highlight the signs and symptoms, diagnosis and treatments for children’s cancers with the aim of raising awareness and funds.
The Trent Building was glowing gold on the evening of 16th September and joined iconic buildings across the region and UK who are lighting up gold during the month.
Research into Childhood Cancer is taking place at the University of Nottingham with Dr Shaarna Shanmugavadivel leading the Childhood Cancer Diagnosis Study to understand how cancer is diagnosed in children and young people across the UK.
The project aims to help researchers to understand the journey that children and young people experience from the start of their symptoms until they receive their diagnosis of cancer.
To do this, experts will collect information about what symptoms they experience, who they go to see with these symptoms initially, and how long it takes before the diagnosis is reached.
Dr Shanmugavadivel: “It’s fantastic that the University is supporting Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and lighting up gold. The misperception by the public and professionals that childhood cancer is rare means it is often not considered until the child has multiple symptoms at which point it is more likely to be at an advanced stage. Time is crucial; untreated, tumours grow bigger and can spread around the body requiring more extensive surgery and more intensive therapies to offer cure. Early diagnosis is therefore key and this is why raising awareness of the signs and symptoms through campaigns such as HeadSmart and undertaking research to understand diagnostic delays is vital to help ensure better survival and long-term outcomes for children.”
Jane Icke who works at the University of Nottingham is backing the CCAM campaign as her daughter Alice has been treated for cancer twice – kidney cancer in 2014, known as a Wilms tumour, which returned in her lung in 2015. Alice was treated at QMC and is now almost 5 years in remission.
Alice during her treatment for cancer.
Jane said: “It took repeated trips to the GP with various symptoms before we got a cancer diagnosis for Alice. Her symptoms could have been many childhood illnesses which made it difficult to spot initially and it wasn’t until we took her with a very swollen tummy that we were sent to hospital. Even then I never in a million years thought it could be cancer. Finding out your child has cancer is a devastating shock as are the treatments children face which are harsh and gruelling with many side effects. Alice had two major surgeries, countless rounds of chemotherapy which led to fevers and illness due to reduced immunity, blood transfusions and inevitable hospital stays. She also had radiotherapy and finally high dose chemo followed by a stem cell transplant. To improve children’s chances of survival and to reduce the long term side effects of treatment there needs to be better awareness around the signs and symptoms of cancer in children, which isn’t as rare as people think, and more funding for the development of kinder, more targeted treatments.”
Alice has now been in remission for almost 5 years
A number of Childhood Cancer charities are involved in CCAM fundraising activities including: CCLG, and Cancer Research UK
Story credits
More information is available from Jane Icke, Media Relations Manager for the Faculty of Science at the University of Nottingham, on +44 (0)115 951 5751, jane.icke@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
More news…