PLANETS Cancer Charity

PLANETS helps patients with pancreatic, liver, colorectal, oesophageal, stomach and neuroendocrine cancer by funding patient support groups, innovative treatments and research.  Since 2011 we have raised over £840,000!

Our Key Achievements have been:

• Establishing a network of patient support groups across the Wessex region.
• Funding the introduction of intra operative radiotherapy (IORT) with the UK’s first mobile electron beam radiotherapy machine, able to deliver radiotherapy to advanced cancers during surgery.
• Funding a full-time pancreatic and neuroendocrine tumour researcher to work with the clinician scientists in Southampton’s world leading cancer immunology research department.

PLANETS Cancer Charity is dedicated to serving the needs of our regional population which extends from Lyme Regis to Bognor Regis and provides specialist cancer services to the 4 million people who live across Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, the Isle of Wight, the Channel Islands and West Sussex.

PLANETS Ethos

PLANETS ethos is based around two fundamental principles: Firstly, supporting our patients and their families by working together as a “whole team” with the doctors, nurses and other medical staff using the motivation of fundraising alongside our patients to help them fight cancer through the positive energy that this camaraderie creates. Secondly, we use the money that has been raised to provide the “icing on the cake“ by funding things that the NHS otherwise could not afford and stimulating innovation in cancer care through research and the introduction of new treatments.

Taking Action to Save Lives

PLANETS is more than just another local cancer charity, it is a motivating and unifying force that is changing the way that we approach the fight against cancer across the central south coast of England. Our aim is not just to save lives but also to enrich them in the process by helping the “whole team” to focus together on our shared goals.

In the current, cost cutting NHS environment, research and innovation are in danger of being sidelined. The PLANETS team aim to ensure that the patients in our region still have access to the best available care, judged by international standards. The cutting edge new treatments, such as IORT, that we are introducing will have many applications for other cancers; including breast, bowel, lung and gynaecological tumours. We are also now working with the clinicians from these specialties to help them realise the benefits of the “whole team” approach to cancer care.

The Facts…

• PLANETS need to raise a total of another £100,000 over the next 12 months to fund IORT.
• In order to secure the future of this IORT machine through to the end of its working life (2030) we would need to raise an additional £500,000.
• Our ongoing commitment to patient support requires £50,000 over the next five years.
• We intend to fund the introduction of Nano-knife and HiPeC treatments for advanced cancers during 2018. Set up costs for these total £100,000.
• We aim to raise another £250,000 over the next five years towards research into the immunology and tumour micro environment of pancreatic and neuroendocrine cancers.

In total we need to raise another £1 million over the next five years to achieve these vital goals.  In the current, cost cutting NHS environment, research and innovation are in danger of being sidelined. The PLANETS team aim to ensure that the patients in our region still have access to the best available care, judged by international standards. The cutting edge new treatments, such as IORT, that we are introducing will have many applications for other cancers; including breast, bowel, lung and gynaecological tumours. We are also now working with the clinicians from these specialties to help them realise the benefits of the “whole team” approach to cancer care.

Help us to raise money to make a difference!
There are many ways to get involved in fundraising for PLANETS either individually with friends or colleagues or as a larger group! We would love to hear from you!