Breast cancer group to hold talk on advances in local research

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. It is the main cause of death in women aged 40 to 59 and about 1 in 10 women will develop breast cancer. 

Risk factors such as age, first live birth, family history and menopause account for nearly 50% of the risk with environmental factors also playing an important part. These are scary statistics.

This is why research in this field plays a crucial role. The Breast Cancer Research Group within the University of Malta was setup around five years ago as cooperation between various Departments at University and Mater Dei Hospital, all with the aim to study and solve breast cancer issues in Malta.

To discuss this subject, Malta Café Scientifique and the Research Trust of the University of Malta (RIDT) are organising the event, 'Surviving & Thriving: Breast cancer research in Malta' , on Monday 25 May, at 7.30pm, at The Palace, Valletta. The talk is being held under the auspices of the President of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

Prof. Christian Scerri, Dr. Godfrey Grech and Shawn Baldacchino will be talking about the latest breast cancer research to the public.

The Breast Cancer Research Group recently identified a marker in cells that controls the growth of blood cells. This marker is important in blood cancer disorder and the group is now looking to see its role in breast cancer.

This research is being supported by two NGOs, namely: Action For Breast Cancer Foundation (www.actionforbreastcancer.com);  the Alive Charity Foundation (alivecharity.com/2015/); and the EU-funded Imagenx project (http://imagenx.eu/).

Questions to the speakers are welcomed throughout this event. The Breast Cancer Research Group is made up of the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, the Department of Pathology and the Department of Surgery of the University of Malta, with the Department of Pathology and Surgery of Mater Dei Hospital. 

For seat reservation please contact [email protected]. Entrance is free.