Consortium CANCER

IRELAND-NORTHERN IRELAND-NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE 

SUMMER 2002 / VOL. 2, ISSUE 2 • WWW.ALLIRELANDNCI.ORG

A PERIODIC UPDATE OF PROGRESS AND EVENTS

Ireland Invests in Cancer Research

Department of Health 

and Human Services

United States

Department of Health, 

Social Services and Public Safety

Northern Ireland

Department of Health 

and Children

Ireland

Visit our Web site at

www.allirelandnci.org

Clinical trials are essential to the advancement

of cancer care. A primary goal of the

Consortium is to enhance the capacity of the

island of Ireland to conduct cancer clinical

trials both locally and internationally.

In Northern Ireland, the reorganisation of

clinical cancer services in the late 1990s laid

the groundwork for an expansion of clinical

trial activity. Four regional cancer units were

established at Altnagelvin, Antrim, Ulster,

and Craigavon Hospitals. In addition, the

development of a state-of-the-art cancer

centre at Belfast City Hospital was begun

and is scheduled for completion in 2005.

These changes created an infrastructure for a

clinical trials programme that is now under way.

As a complement to the network that

already exists in Northern Ireland, the

Republic of Ireland is expanding its cancer

research infrastructure. In November 2001,

the Health Research Board (HRB) in Dublin

made funding available to hospitals interested

in developing centres for clinical cancer research.

The following hospitals received awards:

■ St. Vincent’s University Hospital/St. Luke’s

Hospital, Dublin

■ University College Hospital, Galway

■ Cork University Hospital

■ Beaumont Hospital, Dublin

Two smaller planning awards were made to

the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick,

and to Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin.

Hospitals have since been actively engaged

in staff recruitment and training.

“This is the first time public funding has

been made available for clinical trials in

Irish hospitals,” said Dr. Ruth Barrington, 

Chief Executive of the HRB. 

In February 2002, in order to encourage the

participation of other hospitals, the HRB

initiated a second call for proposals from

hospitals interested in developing their 

clinical trial capabilities. The application

process is now closed. This summer an

expert panel will review applications and

select additional hospitals to receive awards.

The panel is seeking hospitals that meet a

number of standards, including current

service to cancer patients, links with academic

institutions, the commitment of hospital

management and medical and nursing staff,

and the existence of a well-functioning

research ethics committee. Funding for the

second call totals €3 million.

Members of the Consortium, and particularly

the Clinical Trials Working Group, are seeking

to establish an all-island cancer clinical trials

network, including a statistical and data

management centre. This network is being

modeled after NCI’s cooperative groups,

which conduct trials from multiple locations

in the United States. Plans are under way to

create a headquarters that would support

the cooperative group. The expanded and

strengthened network of cancer centres in

Northern Ireland and Ireland will utilise

net-TrialsTM, a clinical trials information 

system developed by NCI for its intramural

clinical research programme.

At the Ambassador’s Residence (left to right): Dr. Andrew

von Eschenbach, Director of the National Cancer Institute; 

Dr. Henrietta Campbell, Chief Medical Officer, Northern Ireland;

Sean O’Huiginn, Ambassador of Ireland; and Dr. Tony Holohan,

Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Ireland. (See story on page 2.)

Board of Directors

Honored in

Washington, D.C.
Consortium CANCER

IRELAND-NORTHERN IRELAND-NATIONAL 

CANCER INSTITUTE

Board of Directors Honored in

Washington, D.C.

In April 2002, the Ambassador of Ireland,

Sean O’Huiginn, hosted the Consortium

at his residence in Washington, D.C., in

honor of the members of the Board of

Directors. The reception heralded the

conclusion of meetings of the

Consortium’s Board and Implementation

Group. U.S. Secretary of Health and

Human Services, Tommy G. Thompson,

voiced his support of the Consortium

and its efforts to improve cancer care 

in Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Consortium Welcomes 

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach to Board

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, an internationally recognised urologic surgeon,

was welcomed as a new member of the

Board of Directors in January 2002,

when he joined NCI as its 12th director.

Before coming to NCI, Dr. von Eschenbach

directed the Genitourinary Cancer Center

and the Prostate Cancer Research Program at the

University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He

was also president-elect of the American Cancer Society.

Upon his arrival at NCI, Dr. von Eschenbach was asked 

if he had any major overall goals for the Institute. He

noted that early in his career, when he was in training

and practise as an oncologist, he and his colleagues

were dedicated “to finding cancer and killing it.” Now,

he sees the goal of NCI as not only to eradicate cancer

but “to target and control it by modulating and 

altering the behaviour of cancer.”

NCI’s role in the Consortium, according to Dr. von

Eschenbach, is one of friendship and partnership. It is

NCI’s charge to export the advantages of its biomedical

research programmes in an appropriate and sensitive

way. He noted that NCI will continue to collaborate

with Ireland and Northern Ireland in the Consortium’s

efforts to seek mutual solutions to cancer.

Secretary Tommy

Thompson of the

U.S. Department of

Health and Human

Services addresses

guests at embassy 

reception.

Dr. Andrew von

Eschenbach

Consortium Offers Training Opportunities

A cadre of well-trained cancer research specialists is crucial to the

improvement of cancer care on the island of Ireland. The Consortium is 

pursuing creation of a wide variety of training and fellowship opportunities

for cancer specialists from Ireland and Northern Ireland. Substantial

progress has been made in three training areas: clinical trials, cancer 

epidemiology, and prevention. Following is a round-up of past, current,

and future activities.

Clinical Trials

A clinical trials training programme was established as part of the

Consortium’s effort to create capacity for clinical cancer research on 

the island. Three clinical oncology nurses—Catherine O’Brien (St. James’s

Hospital), Marie Sheehan (Mid-Western Health Board), and Naomi Hill

(Belfast City Hospital)—completed the three-month programme in April

2002 in the United States. During that time, the nurses rotated between

the NCI Clinical Center and its branch at the National Naval Medical

Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The nurses described their experiences at

NCI as “rich” and “full.” 

The educational programme is designed to give oncology nurses with

degrees a chance to experience all aspects of working in a cancer clinical

trials centre. During their U.S. training, the nurses, with the help of local

oncology nurse-preceptors, focused on managing clinical trials as part of

a team.

In May 2002, the Nursing Working Group held an “Information Day” 

in Dublin to showcase Consortium training opportunities, including 

the clinical trials training programme. Interested applicants were in 

attendance. The Consortium plans to send four more nurses to the

United States by the end of the year to receive clinical trials training. 

Nurses from Ireland and Northern Ireland with their U.S. counterparts (left to right): Georgie Cusack,

National Cancer Institute, U. S.; Catherine O’Brien, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland; Kim Scott, National

Cancer Institute, U.S.; Marie Sheehan, Mid-Western Health Board, Limerick, Ireland; Nicole Drbohlav, National

Cancer Institute, U.S.; Naomi Hill, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Miranda Raggio,

National Cancer Institute, U.S.

2
Cancer Epidemiology

The first epidemiology fellows, Dr. Peter McCarron of Northern Ireland

and Dr. Paul Walsh of Ireland, concluded their postdoctoral study in

cancer epidemiology at NCI and are translating their experiences

into cancer research projects on the island. Utilising data from the

Northern Ireland Cancer Registry in Belfast, Dr. McCarron plans to

study patterns of care for either prostate cancer or lung cancer. 

Dr. Walsh is developing a project on breast cancer survival with the

Irish National Cancer Registry in Cork. It is anticipated that the 

fellows will help to direct collaborative clinical research activity on

the island of Ireland, which is a long-term strategy of the Consortium.

Efforts are already under way to select the next round of fellows.

Candidates will interview in October 2002 to commence their fellowships in the local registries in early 2003 and at NCI in mid-2003. 

Prevention

Promoting prevention in the management of cancer is a long-term

goal of the Consortium and, as a result, the Consortium encourages

scholar exchange in the area of prevention. In 2001, Northern Ireland

and the Republic of Ireland funded 16 positions for NCI’s Summer

Curriculum in Cancer Prevention. The five-week annual course

includes a four-week segment on the principles and practices of 

cancer prevention and a one-week segment on molecular prevention.

The principles and practises course covers the resources, data, methods,

and theories related to cancer prevention and control. It includes an

international day for participants from around the globe to present

to their colleagues the unique characteristics of cancer care and 

prevention in their home countries. The molecular prevention segment

provides participants with information on molecular biology and the

genetics of cancer as well as an overview of basic laboratory approaches

in epidemiology, bionutrition, chemoprevention, biomarkers, and

translational research. The faculty consists of approximately 100

experts from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NCI, other 

government agencies, academia, cancer centres, and public and 

private organisations. 

This year, 15 Irish and 3 Northern Irish applicants, including physicians,

nurses, research fellows, lecturers, and data analysts participated in

the summer programme. Information for next year will be available

by early spring 2003.

Dr. Douglas Weed, the coordinator of NCI’s Summer Curriculum in

Cancer Prevention, serves also as the leader of the Consortium’s

Prevention Working Group. For information on the working group,

see “Consortium Establishes Prevention Working Group”.

Future Scholar Exchange and Training

The Consortium is exploring other fellowship opportunities for 

radiologists, medical oncologists, molecular pathologists, and basic

scientists. For some of these fellowships, the Consortium is investigating

the potential for collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons

and the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin. NCI has numerous

basic science positions available in its laboratories at the Center for

Cancer Research in Bethesda, Maryland. Interested junior and senior

basic scientists from the island may pursue cancer research training

through this mechanism. In addition, the Nursing Working Group is

finalising the requirements for an international cancer nursing

research fellowship programme that would entail research at NCI

and at home on the island of Ireland. Fellowships will be advertised

in September and October 2002. Interested candidates should plan

to submit applications in January 2003 and be prepared to begin

their fellowships the following September.

Irish Hospitals Plan 

Implementation of TelesynergyTM

Belfast City Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital in Dublin are implementing

TelesynergyTM, a multimedia medical imaging workstation that combines

cameras, microscopes, audio equipment, and a variety of peripheral

devices. The system provides high-resolution display of images from

multiple medical modalities in both real-time and store-and-forward

modes. It enables scientists in multiple laboratories and in multiple

locations to interact simultaneously with one another.

The overarching goal of TelesynergyTM is to facilitate professional 

collaboration and educate medical experts and research professionals

about cancer research protocols and clinical care. Its installation on

the island of Ireland will be the first time the system has been used

outside of the United States. 

Both hospitals are expected to have their systems fully operational

this summer. The hospitals have formed a joint users’ group and in

fall 2002, members of the users’ group will meet with American

counterparts in the U.S. to learn more about TelesynergyTM and its

applications from those experienced in its operation.

For further information on TelesynergyTM, see Broadcast Quality

Teleconferencing for Oncology, authored by Dr. James J. A. McAleer,

Mr. Desmond O’Loan, and Dr. Donal P. Hollywood, in The Oncologist,

2001, Volume 6, pages 459–462. This article is available online 

at www.theoncologist.com.

Installing TelesynergyTM at Belfast City Hospital: Seated (left to right): Philip Leighton, Senior Systems

Specialist, Information Technology Department, Belfast City Hospital; Laurence Nolan, Biomedical

Service Manager, Belfast Link Laboratories. Standing: Kevin Brannigan, Medical Technical Officer,

Northern Ireland Medical Physics Agency.
Visit us on the Web at www.allirelandnci.org

Highlights

Consortium Members

Conduct Research Using

Registry Data

The incidence of oesophageal cancer is

increasing in Northern Ireland, and its 

etiology is poorly understood. Dr. Harry

Comber and Dr. Liam Murray are serving

as principal investigators on an all-Ireland

case-control study of oesophageal 

adenocarcinoma and Barrett’s 

oesophagus, a nonmalignant precursor.

The study, known as FINBAR (Factors

Influencing Barrett’s Adenocarcinoma

Relationships), will make use of 10

years of data housed at the Northern

Ireland Cancer Registry. The project is

funded by a cross-border grant of the

Health Research Board in Dublin and

the Research and Development Office

of the Department of Health, Social

Services and Public Safety in Belfast. 

It is anticipated that the study will shed

light on the apparent increase in

oesophageal adenocarcinoma and on

the determinants of progression 

to malignancy.

NCI Welcomes Irish

Colleagues for 

Prevention Training

NCI hosted an 18-member delegation

from Ireland and from Northern

Ireland at this summer’s cancer 

prevention training programme. Two

courses were offered on NCI’s campus:

Principles and Practice of Cancer

Prevention and Control and Molecular

Prevention. The principles and practise

course took place from 1 July to 

2 August 2002, and the molecular 

prevention course took place from 

5 August to 9 August 2002. For 

additional information on NCI’s annual 

summer prevention curriculum,

visit www.allirelandnci.org.

Interest Grows in

Palliative Care in 

Ireland and United States

Improving the delivery of palliative

and supportive care services to persons

with cancer is a priority for Northern

Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and

the United States. Indeed, all three 

jurisdictions recently published reports

on the subject. In Northern Ireland in

May 2000, the Department of Health,

Social Services and Public Safety issued

Partnerships in Caring: Standards for

Service, which reviewed the state of

palliative care services in Northern

Ireland and made recommendations

for future directions. In Ireland in

1999, the Minister for Health and

Children established the National

Advisory Committee on Palliative Care,

which in October 2001 released a

report entitled Report of the National

Advisory Committee on Palliative Care.

And in June 2001, the U.S. Institute of

Medicine issued its report, Improving

Palliative Care for Cancer.

This summer, NIH sponsored a 

State-of-the-Science Conference on

Symptom Management in Cancer:

Pain, Depression, and Fatigue. The

Consortium recognised the opportunity

to explore initiatives related to palliative

care. As a result, a delegation from

Ireland and from Northern Ireland

attended the NIH conference and met

with representatives of NCI to discuss

tripartite palliative care activities. 

As a first step toward integrating 

palliative care into the purview of the

Consortium, the All Ireland Fatigue

Coalition (AIFC) was endorsed by the

Consortium in April 2002. AIFC is a 

multidisciplinary team of oncology 

professionals from Northern Ireland

and Ireland, and its mission is to 

promote the proactive management

of cancer-related fatigue.

Consortium Welcomes

New Members

Professor Robert Stout,

Director of Research and

Development for Northern

Ireland Health and Personal

Social Services, became a

member of the Consortium’s

Implementation Group in

September 2001. Prior to his appointment

as Director of Research and Development,

he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and

Health Sciences at Queen’s University from

1991 to 2001. Professor Stout was educated

at Campbell College and Queen’s University

Belfast, graduating in medicine with honours

in 1965. He then undertook clinical training

in general medicine in the Belfast teaching

hospitals and started his research career in

the Department of Medicine at Queen’s

University. In 1976, he was appointed to the

new Chair of Geriatric Medicine at Queen’s

University. He has developed undergraduate

and postgraduate training in geriatric 

medicine and established research 

programmes in aging and the care of elderly

people, covering such areas as atherosclerosis,

stroke, dementia, osteoporosis, and 

health care research.

Ms. Mary McCarthy joined

the Consortium as a member

of the Implementation Group

in October 2001 when she

was named Chief Nursing

Officer at the Department

of Health and Children. She

is a registered nurse and midwife with a

clinical background in intensive care. She

worked in nursing management for 12 years.

Prior to joining the Department of Health

and Children, she was Director of Nursing

at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, which

was created when three hospitals in Dublin’s

centre merged. She was responsible for

merging nursing services and for commissioning a number of key critical care and

medical services. 

The Consortium extends a warm welcome

to its new members.

Ms. Mary McCarthy

Professor Robert Stout

4
In December 2001, the Board of Directors agreed

to establish a new working group that would

focus on prevention. The mission of the group is

to enhance coordination and cooperation on 

primary, secondary, and tertiary cancer 

prevention research and practise activities on

an all-island basis. The group stays abreast of

prevention-related needs on the island and makes recommendations

that will advance the Consortium’s objectives. The prevention of

cancer has been an interest of the Consortium since its inception.

The group’s first meeting was held at the offices of the Health

Research Board in Dublin in May 2002. The chair of the new group

is Dr. Douglas Weed, Chief, Office of Preventive Oncology, Division

of Cancer Prevention, NCI. Membership includes 10 individuals 

representing public health institutions, health promotion agencies,

cancer registries, and NCI:

■ Dr. Kevin Balanda, Institute of Public Health in Ireland, Dublin

■ Dr. Ruth Barrington, Health Research Board, Dublin

■ Dr. Margaret Boyle, Department of Health, Social Services and

Public Safety, Belfast

■ Dr. Brian Gaffney, Health Promotion Agency, Belfast

■ Dr. Fenton Howell, North Eastern Health Board, Co. Meath

■ Dr. Scott Leischow, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda (U.S.A)

■ Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell, Department of Health, Social Services 

and Public Safety, Belfast

■ Dr. Liam Murray, Queen’s University Belfast

■ Dr. Patricia Riordan, Irish National Cancer Registry, Cork

■ Dr. Kathy Rowe, Queen’s University Belfast

At their May meeting, working group members discussed activities

in their respective jurisdictions and began to formulate initiatives

that could be undertaken by the Consortium. Members are 

planning a series of workshops that focus on the prevention of 

specific cancers. Initial workshops may, for example, address those

cancers that utilise the greatest amount of resources or that have

the highest rates of morbidity and mortality as described in the

Consortium-sponsored all-island registry report. Further, members

identified as a priority the establishment of a cancer prevention 

fellowship programme to train individuals from multiple health 

science disciplines as a means for achieving the Consortium’s goals.

Dr. Douglas Weed

Participants in the first meeting of the new Prevention Working Group: Back row, left to right: 

Dr. Kevin Balanda, Institute of Public Health in Ireland; Dr. Fenton Howell, North Eastern Health

Board, Ireland; Dr. Douglas Weed, National Cancer Institute, U.S.; Dr. Liam Murray, Department of

Epidemiology, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland; Dr. Brian Gaffney, Health Promotion

Agency, Northern Ireland. Front row, left to right: Dr. Teresa Maguire, Health Research Board,

Ireland; Dr. Patricia Riordan, National Cancer Registry, Ireland; Dr. Kathy Rowe, Queen’s University

Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Dr. Ruth Barrington, Health Research Board, Ireland.

Consortium Establishes

Prevention Working Group What’s Next?

■ Expansion of the scholar exchange programme

■ Further development of cancer clinical trials centres 

on the island

■ Integration of TelesynergyTM into practice at hospitals 

in the North and South

■ Publication of the Consortium’s 2001–2002 annual report

■ Participation in the Cancer Care Ireland conference in

Belfast in October 2002

■ Sponsorship of a TelesynergyTM summit in November 2002

■ Planning for the Consortium’s second NCI All-Ireland

Cancer Conference to be held in Cork, Ireland, 

on 20, 21, and 22 October 2003

Announcements

■ The 2001–2002 annual report is due for release in fall 2002 and

will be available online. The Consortium published its first annual

report for the years 2000–2001 in September 2001. The report

details the origins of the Consortium, funding for Consortium

initiatives, how the Consortium operates, health services on the

island of Ireland, Consortium programmes, and participants. 

■ In 2001, two articles related to the Consortium were published.

The first, “The NCI-Ireland Consortium: A Unique International

Partnership in Cancer Care,” was authored by Dr. Patrick G. Johnston

and Dr. Peter A. Daly. The second, “Broadcast Quality Teleconferencing

for Oncology,” was authored by Dr. James J. A. McAleer, 

Mr. Desmond O’Loan, and Dr. Donal P. Hollywood. Both articles

appeared in Volume 6 of The Oncologist and are available 

online at www.theoncologist.com.

5

Visit us on the Web at www.allirelandnci.org
Consortium CANCER

IRELAND-NORTHERN

IRELAND-NATIONAL

CANCER INSTITUTE

A PERIODIC UPDATE 

OF PROGRESS 

AND EVENTS

This newsletter is 

published periodically by the IrelandNorthern Ireland-National Cancer

Institute Cancer Consortium and 

distributed in Ireland, 

Northern Ireland, and the 

United States. The Consortium 

welcomes your comments 

and suggestions.

Please direct all communications 

to the Consortium at:

E-MAIL

consortium@cancer.gov

TELEPHONE

(from Ireland/Northern Ireland)

001-301-984-7191 ext. 606

ADDRESS

Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI 

Cancer Consortium 

c/o MMG

6101 Executive Boulevard

Suite 300

Rockville, Maryland 20852

U.S.A.

WEB SITE

www.allirelandnci.org

Members of the Implementation Group

Ireland

Dr. Ruth Barrington, Chief Executive, Health Research Board, Dublin

Dr. David Fennelly, Oncologist, Consultants Private Clinic, Dublin

Dr. Mary Hynes, Regional Manager Acute Services, Western Health 

Board, Galway

Dr. Donal Hollywood, Marie Curie Professor of Clinical Oncology, 

Trinity College, Dublin, St. Luke’s and St. James’s Hospitals, Dublin

Ms. Mary McCarthy, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health 

and Children, Dublin

Northern Ireland

Professor Robert Stout, Director of Research and Development for Health

and Social Services, Belfast

Professor Patrick Johnston, Director, Cancer Research Centre, 

Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast City Hospital

Dr. Anna Gavin, Director, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Belfast

Mr. Raymond McMillen, Project Manager, The Campbell Commissioning

Project, Belfast

Ms. Judith Hill, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health, Social Services

and Public Safety, Belfast

U.S. National Cancer Institute

Dr. Joe Harford, Associate Director, NCI

Dr. Gregory Curt, Clinical Director, Center for Cancer Research, NCI

Dr. Richard S. Kaplan, Chief, Clinical Investigations Branch, NCI

Dr. Douglas Weed, Chief, Office of Preventive Oncology, NCI

Working Group Areas: Chairpersons

Cancer Registries

Dr. Anna Gavin, Director, Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Belfast

Information Technology

Dr. Donal Hollywood, Marie Curie Professor of Clinical Oncology, 

Trinity College, Dublin, St. Luke’s and St. James’s Hospitals, Dublin

Clinical Trials

Dr. Ruth Barrington, Chief Executive, Health Research Board, Dublin

Scholar Exchange

Professor Patrick Johnston, Director, Cancer Research Centre, 

Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast City Hospital

Nursing

Ms. Judith Hill, Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health, 

Social Services and Public Safety, Belfast

Prevention

Dr. Douglas Weed, Chief, Office of Preventive Oncology, NCI