Jane E. Brody’s  “The Road to Cancer Treatment Through Clinical Trials,” featured in the New York Times today, is a fantastic quick read that highlights the achievements of clinical trials in the last several decades. She discusses the incredible progress that has been made, particularly for cancer affecting children. However, she also notes that while 80-90% of young patients participate in clinical trials, only about 5% of adult patients join a trial. This figure poses a serious problem for the scientists and doctors who are looking to improve treatments.

What the article does not discuss, because it is written for an American audience, is the serious lack of funding for clinical trials here in New Zealand. If we don’t provide better funding for clinical trials, patients here will miss out on the opportunity to participate in this essential research.

To read the article, click here.

If you’re moved to help us fund clinical trials, you can donate or reach out to us to help us fundraise or spread the word!

GICI is working with two nutritionists to update our website with the best nutrition recommendations for staying healthy and lowering your risk of developing GI cancers. In addition to not smoking, the best thing you can do for your health is to maintain a healthy body weight and lifestyle.

We would love to hear your questions and feedback to make sure that we provide the most relevant information. Email your nutrition questions to info@gicinz.org.nz and we’ll work to include answers on the new page!

On Nov 7th we were lucky enough to have Scotty Stevenson from Sky Sport present a video about gastro-intestinal cancer to all our guests at one of our events. In the video Scotty talks about GI cancer, what GICI does and how his family has been affected by what is collectively NZ’s most common form of cancer.