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PCR Impact & Financial Report 2020-21 | pcr.org.uk
Investing in world class science CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT
The 12 months from March 2020 to March 2021 is a period that none of us will forget. The Covid-19 pandemic has deeply affected each of us, but prostate cancer patients have suffered more than most. A cancer diagnosis is devastating at any time, but during the last year this has been compounded by delays to treatment and a feeling of vulnerability due to the side effects of certain treatments. Worse still, studies show that diagnosis of prostate cancer has reduced by up to 75% since the start of the pandemic as visits to the GP were postponed. Early detection can significantly improve outcomes for men and one of the lasting side effects of the pandemic will be an increase in later stage diagnosis of prostate cancer. For all these reasons we are more determined than ever to succeed in our work. As an organisation, we have experienced our own challenges and suffered deep cuts to our fundraising income. But our challenges pale in comparison to many other charities that have been on the front-line tackling hunger, isolation and homelessness - we applaud their efforts to mitigate the immediate effects of the pandemic and help those in need. Many charities have had to close their doors and we are grateful to come through this crisis with our financial reserves intact and without needing to reduce research funding as some other medical research charities have. The team has shown incredible resilience during this period, maintaining our research activities and beginning several new initiatives which I shall describe later in this letter. The pandemic has also demonstrated the amazing power of world-class science. Long-standing academic research into mRNA vaccines and adenovirus vectors was quickly mobilised into vaccine candidates for clinical trials.
Academia, start-ups, big pharma and government all worked together to expedite these vaccines through clinical trials, contributing knowledge, expertise and resources. Health authorities have distributed life-saving treatments and vaccines to large populations at unprecedented speed. As a science-driven organisation, we believe this rapid progress demonstrates the potential of our research to transform the lives of prostate cancer patients in a similar way, and provides a strong case to support charities such as Prostate Cancer Research. As a society we face a choice as to how we want to tackle prostate cancer (and cancer more generally). We can choose to continue to underinvest in research into prostate cancer, not fund new treatments when they are shown to be effective and watch as another healthcare crisis unfolds in slow motion. Or we can choose to increase our investment in world-class science at all stages of the research pipeline to deliver new treatments and diagnostics for the benefit of patients, making the most of the expertise at research institutions around the UK and beyond. At Prostate Cancer Research, we will be doing everything we can to ensure the latter path is followed. The value of the UK life sciences sector is well recognised by the Government, and so to is the unique role of expert medical research charities within it. If we can rally all stakeholders in the ecosystem to work together, supported by public funds, to apply their expertise to prostate cancer with the same intensity that we tackled the Covid-19 pandemic, we will see more new treatments and diagnostics enter the clinic transforming outcomes for prostate cancer patients. I hope that the achievements that I summarise in this letter will encourage you to join us on this journey.
