Dr YK Ip tells his story of diagnosis and journey with rectal cancer Despite being a doctor he had to battle the health system for a year before his symptoms were confirmed as cancer!  He has an important message to share.

Dr Janet Rhodes is a surgical registrar trainee who has been awarded $50,000, thanks to the Hugh Green Foundation, to take time out of her clinical work to complete her PhD. Her supervisors are Professor John McCall and Dr Roslyn Kemp who are well known to GICI. Her words below describe the importance of her work.

“Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand. Some patients require surgery alone, while others need chemotherapy to complete treatment. It is not always clear which patients will require chemotherapy to optimise their chance of survival.
The Immunoscore is a recently developed tool that measures the patient’s immune response to cancer and helps to determine which patients may need additional therapies. My PhD will validate the use of the Immunoscore in New Zealand CRC. I will identify other aspects of the Immunoscore to improve its ability to predict outcomes for the patient”.

Congratulations Janet, we look forward to reading your progress.

Dr Iain Ward is a radiation oncologist at the Canterbury Regional Cancer and Haematology Service, specialising in the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer, head and neck cancer and soft tissue sarcoma.   After graduating from the University of Otago, he trained in medical oncology at Christchurch Hospital and in radiation oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.  This was followed by fellowships in gastrointestinal cancer and in head and neck cancer at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Canada.

Iain has been a Principal Investigator and a quality assurance reviewer of clinical trials in oesophageal cancer and gastric cancer.  He is a reviewer for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics.

Iain has been extensively involved in activities to promote quality improvement in the treatment of bowel cancer.  He is a member of the New Zealand Ministry of Health National Bowel Cancer Working Group.  He has been a member of groups that developed the guideline “Management of Early Bowel Cancer” for the New Zealand Guidelines Group, the “Standards of Service Provision for Bowel Cancer Patients in New Zealand” for the Ministry of Health, and bowel cancer indicators for the New Zealand Health Quality and Safety Commission Atlas of Healthcare Variation