Day 9.  Cambridge

The start location for day 9 was much appreciated by Sir Ian and his walking team, it doesn't get any better than right outside the Hotel Du Vin front door.

Yet again we had dodged the rain and it was blue skies and bright sunshine above. As mentioned earlier in this walk diary, we always seem to be very lucky with the weather.

Once out of the city, the long stretches of main road that lay ahead gave us chance to think of some of the established crew members that were unable to make this walk, either for work or health reasons,  including Richard & Christine Lines, Mary Pope and the legendary funny man G.T (Geoff Taylor). The walks are a team effort.

Beefy's crew always includes the superb medical team, headed up by Dave Roberts (aka Rooster) and the 2nd best physio (after Rooster) Nick 'No. 2' Turner.
  
The treatment they give literally keeps the walk on the road, it includes blister draining & dressings, sports massages and the agonising shins rub. The aim of the last one is to remove all of the build-up of toxins and fluid from the front of the lower leg, allowing the walkers to flex properly and walk naturally day after day... but it does hurt!

After a 26 mile walk, as it was in Manchester, it is the medics who get Beefy and the boys ready and able to do it all again the next morning.

Back on the walk and for the second day running, the country's second most popular athlete (after Sir Ian) had joined us.

In the 27 years of the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research walks, there are quite a few celebrities and sports stars who mention that they will show their support and come and walk for a day...but don't actually turn up!  Double Olympic Champion Daley Thompson ALWAYS turns up and walks, (even if he always seems to choose the shorter, flatter routes these days).  Great effort DT.

The public walk in the afternoon is very well attended, with lots of children joining in for the final 4 miles.

Day 9 draws to a close. Just one city remains on the list and we head off to the capital.

London is calling. 

Big Gaz.    

[The views in this blog are my own and any offense caused to celebrities, physios, and sporting legends (however popular) is 100% intentional]

Survival rates for cancer in the UK are not as good as in some other countries.

One of the reasons for this is poorer outcomes among certain groups and including older patients aged 75 years and over. An international research study by the National Cancer Equality Initiative (NCEI) has now shown that in several countries older people are often not offered the treatment most likely to benefit them.

The study (www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/02/age-oncology)  explored the extent to which age influences treatment decisions across a range of cancers: breast cancer (non-HER2-positive); chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML); colorectal cancer (bowel cancer); non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer).

The findings revealed that while clinicians believe they do not discriminate against older people, there is a tendency for less intensive treatments to be prescribed according to the chronological age of the patient rather than their biological age. This means that more robust older patients are potentially denied potentially curative or life prolonging treatments.

Older people may also unwittingly collude in the process as they often have preconceptions about the side effects of chemotherapy or not report symptoms accurately or quickly enough.

Part of the problem is that clinical trials tend not to include older patients. Increased trial activity in this age group would provide clinicians with the information they need to better determine what approach is best for their patients.

Our Research Director Professor Chris Bunce says: “It’s time to revisit the options for older cancer patients. The advent of novel therapies and better care together with an increased understanding of these diseases is extending the opportunities for meaningful anticancer treatments over and above palliative care”.

The National Cancer Equality Initiative (NCEI) and the Pharmaceutical Oncology Initiative (POI) collaborated on this study, supported by the Department of Health.

The NCEI says more work needs to be done to provide guidance for clinicians so that they have accurate information about an older person’s ability to benefit from cancer treatment rather than making assumptions on the basis of age.

Sally Clark – Science Communications Team