Kilkenny cancer expert explores new ways to help patients survive

A leading Kilkenny oncologist and cancer researcher who is exploring new ways to help patients survive difficult-to-treat cancers has urged the public to support Daffodil Day, which takes place on Friday March 25.

Dr Dearbhaile Collins received the Irish Cancer Society’s prestigious Cancer Research Leadership Award in 2021 which has helped her dedicate time to looking at exciting new ways to treat cancers, on top of her role as a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Cork University Hospital.

Dr Collins is the Lung Cancer Lead for the hospital as well as being a Senior Lecturer in Cancer Research at University College Cork, and she is currently involved in a number of clinical trials to help find ever more effective therapies that can see more and more people survive their cancer diagnosis.

Dr Collins said: “I intend for my own research to have a significant patient impact, that’s the whole point of taking it to a clinical trial. I hope to identify new ways to target cancers – especially the ones that we struggle with, those that are resistant to immunotherapy and existing targeted treatments.

“I want to be where the unmet need is, where patients aren’t getting improvements to their survival curves. The Clinician Research Leadership Award from the Irish Cancer Society is giving me that time to be more involved in the actual scientific side: to plan the research, to design the trials, and to write the protocols, and I would urge the public to give generously this Daffodil Day to support researchers like me,” added Dr Collins, who is also the Gynaecological Trial Lead for Cancer Trials Ireland.

On top of supporting life-changing cancer research, the Irish Cancer Society provides vital services to patients and their families in Kilkenny each year, including nearly 400 counselling sessions, 331 nights of in-home Night Nursing for patients in their final days, and almost 200 Volunteer Driving lifts to get patients safely to and from their hospital appointments in 2021.

As Daffodil Day returns to the streets of Ireland for the first time since 2019 on March 25, the Irish Cancer Society is calling on the public to take part in any way they can to show solidarity and support for anyone affected by cancer.