Scaling the heights of Snowdon, Pen-Y-Fan and Cader Idris, this is the ideal challenge for those whose New Year’s resolution is to get fit or anyone who wants to help give brighter futures to those affected by cancer.

No experience is necessary, volunteers must simply be up for the challenge and raise more than £349 in sponsor money. All volunteers will depart from Cardiff on the evening of Friday 25th May and start the first ascent to the summit of Snowdon at first light on Saturday. After the 1085m climb, fundraisers will be transported to Cader Idris for the 892m hike to the top, before lunch and finally the 886m uphill trek of Pen-Y-Fan. Volunteers will be rewarded at the end with a well earned barbeque.

Speaking of the challenge, Nathan Gibbons, head of operations at British Military Fitness, said: “The three peaks is an excellent way of challenging yourself while raising money for a great cause.

“All fitness levels are catered for and no previous experience in walking or mountaineering is required, participants just need an appetite for adventure and great team spirit – we’ll look after the rest.”

Cancer Research Wales charity director Liz Andrews said: “This is an exciting challenge that anyone can take part in. We’re hoping to get as many people involved as possible to raise as much as we can.”

Transport, food and instructors are all provided by on the day, all volunteers need to do is come dressed appropriately and raise enough sponsorship money.

If you think you are cut out for the walk of a lifetime and want to help beat cancer, then call the Cancer Research Wales fundraising team on 029 20 316976. They will send out a registration pack and everything needed to take part.

Both Principality Building Society and St David’s Centre in Cardiff city centre have chosen Cancer Research Wales to be the beneficiary of a variety of fundraising activities they will hold throughout 2012.

Charity Director Liz Andrews said: “We’re delighted that these two very high profile organisations have decided to help raise funds with Cancer Research Wales this year.

“Around half the people in the UK will be affected by cancer – either directly or indirectly – at some stage in their lives. But we are making excellent progress in fighting the disease.

“Our charity was set up in 1966 to fund research into cancer here in Wales and we now have our own research laboratory – the Velindre Cancer Centre – at Velindre Hospital, Cardiff. And we also fund other research into cancer at facilities all over Wales.

“Of all the money we raise, more than 90p in the pound goes directly into cancer research, so all our fundraisers can rest assured their money is being put to good use.

“I’d like to thank Principality Building Society and St David’s Centre in advance for deciding to help us – and we look forward to working with them and their staff throughout the year ahead.”

The first study led by Dr Andrew Godkin (pictured) at the Heath Hospital in Cardiff examined the impact of T-regulatory cells (T-regs) in colon cancer patients, both before and following surgical removal of the tumour. T-reg cells, which as their name suggests, normally function to stringently regulate and suppress the activity of key modulators in the immune system in order to prevent inappropriate over-stimulation of the immune system which can lead to the destruction of healthy tissue and autoimmune disease. The main physiological target of T-reg cells are T-effector cells, a vital cell of the immune system whose role is to keep the body free of disease through the killing and removal of cancerous cells and cells infected with invading microbes. Dr Godkin and his team have revealed that the blood and tumours of colon cancer patients harbour increased numbers of T-reg cells, which in line with their function, invoke an immuno-suppressive trait within the immune system. These alterations skew the overall immune response in favour of the tumour, thus allowing the cancer to grow, unrestrained by the T-effector cells which set out to eliminate the cancer. The work published in the leading journal Gut, also went on to show that following surgery, the number of T-reg cells in the blood of patients decreased to levels of that observed in healthy subjects. Importantly, this reduction was accompanied by an improvement in the ability of patients T-effector cells to recognise and mount an immune response against tumour-associated molecules they recognise as foreign. Collectively, these findings strongly implicate the tumour as the causal factor for the increased T-reg number and the accompanying immuno-suppression observed in colon cancer patients.

The above findings have a number of therapeutic implications, including the use of vaccines in cancer. The concept of using vaccination strategies to eradicate tumours is appealing, although the reality is more sobering, given that many clinical trials involving cancer vaccines have met with limited success. One significant factor is the inability of patients’ immune system to mount an effective response and produce cells and antibodies that will home in and attack the cancer. Indeed, T-reg cells are considered the most potent inhibitors of anti-tumour immunity and the greatest obstacle to effective cancer vaccines. However, insights gained from studies such as the one described above provide new information and clues of how to use such therapeutic modalities more effectively. To this end, Dr Godkin is currently undertaking a CRW sponsored Phase II cancer vaccine clinical trial in patients with advanced colon cancer. The trial will incorporate the use low dose cyclophosphamide, a conventional chemotherapeutic agent that has the ability to selectively deplete the number of immuno-suppressive T-reg cells in the blood and tumours of colon cancer patients. Following depletion of T-reg cells, a cancer vaccine will be administered so that a more effective immune response can be invoked toward the modified colon cancer molecules contained within the vaccine design. The expected boost in anti-tumour immunity will hopefully result with increased elimination of cancerous colon tissue in these patients. The sequential series images (right) illustrate how activated T cells can home in (panel1) and kill cancer cells through the release of immune mediators as depicted by increased cancer cell blebbing and lysis (panels 2 and 3). The trial called TaCTiCC represents one of the first bench-to-bedside studies of its nature in Wales and is a great example of how, with research, better use can be made of existing anti-cancer agents such as cyclophosphamide.

The second study was a collaborative venture involving five CRW supported scientists who together investigated whether immune dysfunction could play a significant role in clinical outcome of early stage Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). CLL, a chronic B-cell leukaemia is the most common form leukaemia in the UK and predominantly affects people over the age of 50. Most people with early stage CLL exhibit little if any symptoms and is often only detected incidentally following routine blood tests for other purposes. In the early stages of the disease most patients remain well for long periods of time and do not require any form of treatment. Instead they are continually monitored over years for evidence of disease progression, a process known as ‘watchful waiting’. It can frequently take over 12 years for people with early stage CLL to develop a level of advanced disease that will require therapeutic intervention. However, not an insignificant number of patients, particularly those of younger age, have a more rapid onset of disease progression and will require treatment sooner. For these patients, disease markers are needed that can identify those at high risk, given that the conventional pathological parameters currently used have their limitations. The group led by Drs Steve Man (pictured) and Chris Pepper found that the ratio of two molecules expressed on the surface of T cells in the blood of patients with early stage CLL, known as CD4 and CD8 can accurately determine those who have a significantly shorter lead in time to treatment. Specifically, a higher proportion of CD8 positive T cells relative to CD4 positive T cells (termed an inverted ratio), indicate that these patients required therapy between 3-5 years earlier than those patients with a normal CD4:CD8 ratio. The investigators also went on to show in the same paper, published in Clinical Cancer Research, that T cells in patients with an inverted ratio displayed markers of ‘exhaustion’. In other words, the very cells responsible for keeping tumour B cells in check had literally become ‘worn out’, resulting in a loss of immunological control of the cancer, paralleled with the onset of aggressive disease. With further work, the ability to pinpoint such high risk subgroups using such findings as described above may very well allow treating clinicians to better determine the exact course of treatment best suited for individual patients with early CLL.

Links to the detailed papers are as follows

Nunes T, Wong R, Mason M et al. Expansion of a CD8+PD-1+ replicative senescence phenotype in early stage CLL patients is associated with inverted CD4 :CD8 ratios and disease progression. Clinical Cancer Research (2012) Jan 20. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22190592

Betts G, Jones E, Junaid S et al. Suppression of tumour-specific CD4+ T cells by regulatory T cells is associated with progression of human colorectal cancer. Gut (2011) Dec 29. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22207629

Lisa Durston, who works at Cardiff headquartered PR agency Freshwater, will be running the London marathon on Sunday 22 April to support Cancer Research Wales.

This will be the second time Lisa has run the London marathon, having also taken part in 2009. She has also completed three half marathons in Cardiff and Bath.

Lisa said: “I am hoping to improve on my previous time of four hours 25 minutes although I do think it will be a tough challenge to pick up the pace.

“Training has started this week with four sessions of steady jogs covering 12 miles in total. I am following a 14-week tailored training plan and looking into local running clubs to get me in shape for race day.” 

The London marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world with 35,000 people expected to pound the street of the capital to tackle the 26.2 mile course. The event has raised over £450 million for charity since it was established in 1981.

Cancer Research Wales charity director Liz Andrews said: “It’s supporters like Lisa who give so much of their spare time to training and fundraising who make all the difference to the charity. All the money she raises in her marathon bid will go straight towards funding groundbreaking research here in Wales.

“We wish Lisa the best of luck with training plan and the run in April.” 

Lisa has pledged to raise £1,500 for Cancer Research Wales and has arranged a bag packing day at the Sainsbury’s superstore on Colchester Avenue on the 10 March to help her reach her target.

You can support her at www.justgiving.com/lisa-durston

The Lord Mayor’s Charity Gala Concert is taking place at City Hall on Wednesday 22 February and features music from the Cardiff Male Choir, the Cardiff University Big Band, The Apollo String Quartet and great American Songbook artists Daniel and Laura Curtis. Entertainment will also be provided from Britain’s Got Talent acts Jamie Pugh and Nathan Wyburn who made his name creating portraits out of marmite.

Boyd Clack, star of such blockbuster movies as Twin Town and Satellite City, will compère the evening which starts at 7:30pm.

Tickets for the gala are £15.00 and all money raised will stay in Wales and go towards finding treatments for cancer.

Liz Andrews, Charity Director at Cancer Research Wales said: “The Lord Mayor’s Charity Gala Concert has a fantastic line up which includes such a broad range of entertainers. The Lord Mayor did such a lot for Cancer Research Wales last year including launching our Family Bike Ride and Christmas shops and this is a great way to kick start 2012.”

To find out more about the event or purchase tickets call the Cancer Research Wales fundraising team on 029 2031 6976.

Cancer Research Wales is looking for hundreds of thrill seeking volunteers from across Wales to skydive in the name of charity.

No experience is necessary, just a lot of nerve and a sense of adventure. And, if you raise more than £395, you jump for free.

There are three types of jumps available – an ‘Accelerated FreeFall’ where you can experience the thrill of skydiving solo from up to 12,000 feet, a ‘Tandem Skydive’ from 10,000 feet attached to a professional instructor and a ‘Static Line’ jump which is performed solo from up to 3,000 feet – and you can jump from any one of over twenty British Parachute Association approved airfields across the UK.

If you would like to make a skydive and help beat cancer, give our fundraising team a call on 029 20 316976 and we’ll send you a full information pack and everything you need to take part in the experience of a lifetime.