HOME ABOUT US APPLY FOR A GRANT CEO’s BLOG NEWS/GRANT UPDATES NEWSLETTERS SUPPORT US CONTACT US Blog Hospital Saturday Fund / Charity News / Heartburn Cancer UK update Heartburn Cancer UK update 16TH JUNE 2021 CHARITY NEWS, GRANT UPDATE From left to right, Dr James Morrow, Liz Chipchase, Mimi McCord and Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald. We had a lovely update from Heartburn Cancer UK (HCUK) this week regarding the new mobile unit offering the Heartburn Sponge Test. Inside the unit, patients can have a quick but potentially lifesaving test that checks for signs of oesophageal cancer. The mobile unit has been funded and equipped jointly by Heartburn Cancer UK, the charity that promotes awareness of oesophageal cancer, and Project DELTA, funded by Innovate UK. The Hospital Saturday Fund was delighted to grant £2,000 towards the project in January 2021. About the mobile unit Initially, the mobile unit is being made available to patients in Cambridge who belong to Granta Practices and who suffer from heartburn. The first patients were received at the mobile unit, Shelford GP surgery, on Friday 11 June 2021. Following its stay in Cambridge, the mobile Heartburn Sponge Test unit will move on to Essex and then Suffolk as the pilot aims at proving a wider benefit to the NHS. Mimi McCord Heartburn Cancer UK (HCUK) Mimi McCord (pictured) is chairman of Heartburn Cancer UK (HCUK). She set up the charity when her husband died from cancer of the oesophagus after inadvertently ignoring early warning signs of persistent heartburn. “Early diagnosis is vital”, she says. “By funding the mobile test unit and bringing the test to the doorsteps of GPs, we can help more people be seen sooner, and do it in a much less intimidating and more convenient way. “If we pick up more cases of Barrett’s oesophagus or early signs of cancer, we are much closer to preventing people from dying unnecessarily. “This is so often a preventable disease but we just have to be clever about how we do it. The mobile unit and the Heartburn Sponge Test, using the Cytosponge, is a clever way. We hope to raise more money to widen the reach of this initiative as far as we possibly can, and we thank everyone who has supported us so far.” New test has the potential to both cut waiting lists and save more lives Cytosponge The ‘heartburn sponge’ (or Cytosponge and special lab test) was developed by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald (pictured above in main picture), a Heartburn Cancer UK trustee, and her University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital teams. The ‘sponge’ is initially the size of a large vitamin tablet. It is swallowed with some water, which allows the capsule to dissolve in the stomach, releasing a small sponge. The sponge is then retrieved using a string, catching cells on the way back up. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes and is much easier, cheaper and less invasive than an endoscopy performed in a hospital, which is the normal way the NHS checks for these issues. It is hoped this could one day become a test used by GP surgeries throughout the country to identify potential issues for people who are on long-term heartburn medication, or when someone has had heartburn or indigestion for three weeks or more. Results so far Liz Chipchase During recent trials of the Cytosponge, early cancer was identified in some patients. One of these was Liz Chipchase, 71, from Cambridge. She’d been treated for acid reflux/heartburn for 40 years but didn’t expect any issues to show up. The results of the sponge test revealed she, in fact, had oesophageal cancer. Fortunately – she feels ‘completely well thanks’ to the sponge test trial – it was found at an early stage and was treatable. Liz was one of the lucky ones. Oesophageal cancer is often found late and is more usually fatal. Only 17% of people diagnosed with it live for a further five years or more after diagnosis. Looking ahead Dr James Morrow features in our main picture above. He is GP and Managing Partner at Granta Medical Practices. As far as he is concerned, “Early diagnosis is key to survival for oesophageal cancer. The Heartburn Sponge Test, using the Cytosponge and lab test, is a game-changer when it comes to picking up early cell changes, which could be cancer or the pre-cancerous condition, called Barrett’s oesophagus,” He added, ”At present, we have to send people we’re concerned about to hospital for an endoscopy. But the Heartburn Sponge Test is a quicker, cheaper, easier and a less invasive way to look for and monitor people who could be at risk of this dangerous, but often preventable, cancer. The test at the mobile unit will – at the very least – bring peace of mind to some of our patients and could – for others – catch serious conditions much earlier than they would through other processes.” To find out more about Heartburn Cancer UK (HCUK), please visit their website heartburncanceruk.org Featured Posts Categories CEO's Blog Charity News Grant Update All Posts The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2021 3rd December 2021 Pancreatic Cancer UK 30th September 2021 Disabled Sailors Association 30th September 2021 University of Plymouth – Antibiotics Accelerator 30th September 2021 Stella Hancock Driving Group 9th August 2021 June 2021 ‘pupdate’ from Uhtred 4th August 2021 Visit to The Scuba Trust – June 2021 24th June 2021 A “pupdate” from Uhtred 6th April 2021 Irish Dogs for the Disabled grant 16th March 2021 Young Epilepsy grant 16th March 2021 Leicestershire Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre grant 9th March 2021 Diabetes Ireland grant 9th March 2021 Highland and Island Blood Bikes – update 12th February 2021 DRCC grant – Moving Forward from Sexual Violence project 9th February 2021 Leonard Cheshire Isle of Man 9th February 2021 Martha Trust- mobile care personal monitoring software 2nd February 2021 KARE grant – art therapy for service users 2nd February 2021 Merchants Quay Ireland Grant Update – showers for people sleeping rough 15th January 2021 Wigan & Leigh Hospice update – syringe drivers 10th December 2020 Congratulations to NISIG and ABII 24th November 2020 USING OUR SITE Privacy Policy Website Terms and Conditions Cookie Policy (UK) SOCIAL ACCOUNTS Contact Information The Hospital Saturday Fund, 24 Upper Ground, London. SE1 9PD. 020 7202 1365 charity@hsf.eu.com CHARITY DETAILS The Hospital Saturday Fund Registered Charity in the UK No 1123381 and in Ireland No 20104528 Registered Office: 24 Upper Ground, London SE1 9PD President: The Lord Mayor of London Chief Executive: Paul W Jackson MSc BA(Hons) DChA Annual Reports Annual Reports © 2020 The Hospital Saturday Fund We use cookies to optimise our website and our service. Cookie Policy Accept all Dismiss Preferences