Private School News

Philip Black, the Director of Legacies at the Institute of Cancer Research, visited Oswestry School on Monday 28th April. He spoke at the school assembly before taking part in a Sixth Form science lesson.

Introducing the work of the Institute of Cancer Research, which celebrates its centenary next year, Mr Black explained that 1 in 3 people will experience cancer during their lifetime, either in themselves, their family or friends. There is one cancer related death every three minutes in the UK, with 270,000 new cases each year. The most common forms are breast (in women) and prostate cancer (in men) but there are over 200 different forms of human cancer.

Cancer is caused by malfunctioning genes. The Institute is the world leader in research into cancer genetics and was the first organisation in the world to highlight the fact that cancer has a genetic cause and is not the result of protein damage. Working in conjunction with its sister hospital, the Royal Marsden, the Institute also leads the world in radiotherapy treatment and in cancer epidemiology. Underlining the clear link between smoking and lung cancer, Mr Black strongly encouraged students not to smoke.

Stressing that 95% of the money raised by the Institute is spent on research, with only 5% being used for administration, Mr Black encouraged students to take part in The Big Stride, the sponsored 15 mile walk in which Oswestry School students will participate on July 1st, raising money for cancer research and for the LEAP School in South Africa.