A team of leading Bradford cancer researchers took time out to stand up and show support for a new Cancer Research UK fundraising campaign – Stand Up To Cancer.

Led by Dr Jim McCaul, consultant maxillofacial/head and neck surgeon at Bradford Royal Infirmary, his team of researchers held up orange and red arrows to represent the need for everyone to join together and take a stand against all forms of cancer.

Dr McCaul is the chief investigator for a Cancer Research UK-funded clinical trial called LIHNCS. It is looking at the effectiveness of surgeons using Lugol’s iodine as a dye to show any abnormal or precancerous cells. It is hoped this will improve the chances of complete removal of the tumour to minimise the risk of the cancer returning.

In the trial, which is taking place at 13 other UK hospitals as well as the BRI, more than 170 patients have already been recruited, with the aim of reaching around 300.

Patients are randomised to have either the normal gold standard treatment or to use Lugol’s iodine during surgery and both sets of patients are then followed up to see if any of the cancer returns.

Dr McCaul said: “To tell someone they have cancer is a very difficult thing for any doctor to do, but thanks to research we’re more often able to finish that sentence with some good news – that it can be treated and we think they’re going to be OK. As well as the cancer patients we see at the hospital, we all know people close to us who have been affected by this terrible disease.

“So we’re standing up to cancer by working as hard as we can to try and improve treatments for cancer, which affects one in three people in the UK at some stage in their lives and has devastating effects on them and their families.

“We are already seeing some very positive results in patients on our LIHNCS trial. Before, we would have expected to have 32 per cent of patients left with pre-cancerous cells. We are now seeing that down to four per cent. Hopefully, this could become a standard treatment in the future.

“Now we’re asking people across Bradford and the region to join in and stand shoulder to shoulder with us in the fight against cancer.”

Supporters can call into Cancer Research UK shops in Bradford, Shipley and Ilkley, or shop online at:standuptocancer.org.uk to support the campaign.