The money raised by last year’s Property Picnic went towards four ‘academic-led’ trials (i.e., non-commercial trials) where patient drives the research questions needs rather than commercial concerns. Two of the trials were breast cancer trials, one in HER2-positive breast cancer (which affects 1 in 5 women in Ireland with breast cancer), the other in Triple Negative breast cancer (which affects 1 in 8 women in Ireland with breast cancer and is more common in younger women). The other two trials were in prostate cancer – one trial for previously untreated high-risk, localised prostate cancer and the other for progressive, metastatic (i.e., cancer that has spread from where it first formed) prostate cancer.

With the Property Picnic’s help, Cancer Trials Ireland was able to close out three of these trials and, in one case (the high-risk, localised prostate cancer study), present findings at a prestigious international cancer conference earlier this year, which showed the trial did achieve its primary objective of reducing prostate gland volume. These trials, and all future trials, help doctors and scientists advance ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancers that sadly affect many Irish patients and their families.