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Friday 5th July 2024 Patients and their families will be gathering on Friday this week at St. Nicholas Parish Church, Liverpool for a dove release to commemorate all those who have died of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung caused by asbestos.
The event is being organised by the Merseyside Asbestos Victims Support Group with all proceeds going to research into finding better treatment and a cure for these insidious diseases. John Flanagan, Manager at Merseyside Asbestos Victims Support Group said: “We will be calling upon the new government for more research funding into mesothelioma, we are presently supporting Professor Judy Coulson and Dr. Sarah Barnett in a collaborative project using a new Hen’s egg model to test potential personalised therapies for mesothelioma”.
“While research is paramount in our work, our core role is helping patients and their families to secure their just welfare benefits, which is not helped when the DWP refuse to communicate via email and insist on the postal service as the only means of delivery to send vital applications for welfare benefits for patients with terminal conditions. The week this was announced the Post Office were on strike! We will be calling on the new government to recognise the internet and return to using the same technology as the rest of world” In closing he said: “We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Reverend Crispin Pailing for all of his assistance with our Action Mesothelioma Day events each year, always allowing us to perform our commemorative dove release in the church yard of Our Lady and St Nicholas” Guest speakers attending the event “I will be talking about our new way of modelling mesothelioma tumour growth utilising fertilised hen’s eggs. I will explain how cancer cells grow inside the egg to form tumour nodules which more closely resemble tumours in patients.” He added: “We can then use these lab-grown tumours to understand how tumours grow and test new treatment options. I will briefly discuss some of the new ideas we are testing at the University of Liverpool to tackle the disease” “Mesothelioma is a rare type of cancer that is directly linked to asbestos exposure in most cases, typically developing decades later. “ She added: “While mesothelioma doesn’t receive the same amount of publicity as other cancers, it is still a devastating condition for the patient and their families particularly as the prognosis is usually extremely poor. Treatment options are limited and there is clear need for more research into this disease to identify new therapies. Events such as Action Mesothelioma Day are vital for raising awareness about mesothelioma and the legacy of asbestos use in the UK.” Source: MAVSG / University Of Liverpool
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Action Mesothelioma Day (AMD) held globally to raise awareness of the disease which causes over 7,000 deaths plus per year in the UK and approximately 240,000 deaths globally. 
He added: 
Dr Niall Kenneth, Group Leader, 
Dr. Sarah Barnett,