RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Nationwide Building Society Speak Easy Cards Nationwide branches now have a set of Speakeasy Communication Cards in their counters. They can be used by customers who have speech problems to assist communication with the cashier. Though they won’t cover all situations, it is a very thoughtful addition to their service. Nationwide deserve congratulations for this […]
Novel Head and Neck Cancer Trial Using a Vaccine
Head and neck cancer patients are being recruited to a clinical trial AHEAD-MERIT which makes use of BNT113 , a cancer vaccine. The trial will compare the use of BNT113 and pembrolizumab to using pembrolizumab alone. It is aimed at patients whose cancer has come back or metastasised and is linked to the human papilloma […]
Immunotherapy For Head and Neck Patients
Since 2020, Pembrolizumab has been approved by NICE as an option for untreated metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in adults whose tumours express PD‑L1 with a combined positive score (CPS) of 1 or more. Now, evidence has emerged from a large international clinical trial about the effectiveness of this immunotherapy when […]
The Future of NALC
I regret to report that NALC is struggling to continue its work. With charities it is usually a lack of funding that poses the greatest threat but, in our case, it is a lack of personnel. Key members have passed away, others have had to step down because of health issues or other reasons. […]
In Memoriam Bert Culling MBE
All of us at NALC were sorry to hear of the passing of Bert Culling, a past-President of NALC. Bert typified what every charity needs, he was dedicated to improving the care and recovery of laryngectomees and worked tirelessly to achieve this. NALC made tremendous strides under his leadership and I would pick out two […]
Using an Electrolarynx in an Online Meeting
Zoom and Microsoft Teams are the most common platforms for organising an online meeting. Both try to improve the user experience by for example improving the sound quality by ignoring background sounds. Laryngectomees, especially electrolarynx users, are aware of the limitations of voice recognition systems. Using online “assistants” like Alexa or responding over the telephone […]
AI and Larynx Cancer
Every year around 2400 people are diagnosed with cancer of the larynx. Fortunately, on a small fraction of these patients will need to have their larynx surgically removed with a laryngectomy. Treatment decisions after diagnosis have a crucial effect on progression of the disease. Mr Amar Rajgor is a Registrar at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital and […]
The HPV Vaccination Reduces The Incidence of Cancer
The connection between HPV infection and cervical cancer has been known for many years. In 2008 a vaccination programme for girls was introduced to try to reduce infection and subsequent development of cancer. However HPV causes other types of cancer, not least head and neck cancers, which have seen a large increase in incidence in […]
Bob Wingrove, Oxford Club
NALC was very sorry to learn that Bob Wingrove, Secretary of the Oxford Club, passed away early in January. The club shared this tribute It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of our Secretary, Robert Wingrove, known to all as “Bob”. Bob was so much more to the club than just […]
NALC and Research
NALC has a long history of supporting and getting involved in research studies. When the National Cancer Research Insititute set up a head and neck cancer group. Ethel Culling and John Bramhall were the two consumer members, to be followed by our President, Malcolm Babb, until 2016. They were involved as patient representatives or steering […]