{"id":592621,"date":"2026-08-14T02:48:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/592621\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T02:48:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:48:28","slug":"im-an-oncologist-cancer-can-develop-in-anyone-even-a-healthy-person-doing-all-the-right-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/592621\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m an oncologist: Cancer can develop in anyone \u2014 even a healthy person doing all the right things"},"content":{"rendered":"

I grew up in Cork, the second eldest of four siblings. In the \u201880s and \u201890s, we were healthy<\/a> by default. There wasn\u2019t the same amount of processed food<\/a>, and we lived in the country, so we were outdoors a lot. I didn\u2019t enjoy field sports, but I loved swimming.<\/p>\n

After my Leaving Cert, I went to UCC to do an arts degree. When I was thinking about career options afterwards, \u2018I\u2019d really love to be a doctor\u2019 kept coming into my mind. At the time, there was no graduate-entry option, so after the arts degree, I repeated my Leaving Cert and got the points to go to the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin to study medicine.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d lived at home in Cork until then, so that was a huge change. But it\u2019s worked out well, and I ended up marrying a Dubliner.<\/p>\n

After my specialist training in Ireland in medical oncology, I went to Australia during the pandemic and worked at Monash Health in Melbourne, a huge hospital and research centre. I had an interest in cancer genetics, and at Monash I got to see how it can work in practice, with things like mainstreaming genetic testing, which is now part of my role in Vincent\u2019s with the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP).<\/p>\n

I chose oncology because I thought it was a fascinating area. It changes so quickly. You treat the whole person, the whole body. There are great research opportunities, and it\u2019s a chance to make a real difference in many cases.<\/p>\n

Medical oncology is the delivery of systemic anti-cancer therapies: Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and oral anti-cancer treatments. That\u2019s distinct from radiation oncology and surgical oncology, [but] we all work together.<\/p>\n

Being an oncologist has made me more aware of what is within my control and what\u2019s outside my control.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot that we can\u2019t control about cancer risk, for example, our genetics, our inherited DNA, but there are things we can control [such as eating] a healthy diet, regular exercise, moderate alcohol, not smoking, and safe sun exposure.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never smoked. I\u2019m very aware to eat healthily, and I make sure I get outside for a walk regularly. I\u2019m sun safe. I probably wasn\u2019t as good with sunscreen in my 20s, but now I\u2019m very consistent. Skin cancer is so common in Ireland.<\/p>\n

A healthy person who\u2019s doing all [the right things] can still develop cancer. One in two people in Ireland, during their lifetime, will have a cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n

If something is not normal for you, don\u2019t ignore it<\/p>\n

Ovarian cancer is the most common of the gynaecological cancers I treat.<\/p>\n

In Ireland, we probably have about 400 cases of ovarian cancer per year. Often, ovarian cancer is diagnosed at a later stage, because the symptoms can be nonspecific, such as abdominal bloating, feeling full, a bit of abdominal discomfort.<\/p>\n

You know your own body, so if you\u2019re having symptoms that are not normal for you, and they\u2019re persisting, talk to your GP. They will be able to order an ultrasound or a blood test, or refer you to a gynaecologist separately.<\/p>\n

The gynaecological cancer that\u2019s on the rise<\/p>\n

Uterine cancer or endometrial cancer is on the increase globally, and the reasons aren\u2019t entirely clear. A person will probably have about a 3% lifetime risk of developing it, unless they have a genetic predisposition.<\/p>\n

Lynch syndrome, [an inherited genetic condition] which is pretty common in Ireland, increases uterine cancer risk for a woman by up to 50%, depending on the variant. It\u2019s an area where there\u2019s a lot of clinical research, which is a real positive because, for many years, there hadn\u2019t been as much by way of clinical trials or new treatment opportunities for women. We\u2019re seeing a big change now and a lot of new drug options coming online.<\/p>\n

Ask about clinical trials<\/p>\n

What I\u2019d say to any woman who\u2019s diagnosed with cancer is, ask your oncologist, \u2018Is there a clinical trial appropriate for me at this stage?\u2019 There may or may not be, because trials open and close frequently enough.<\/p>\n

But at the next stage of your cancer journey, ask again, because there might be an opportunity at that point.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s not a trial at your centre, your oncologist will be able to find out if there is an opportunity somewhere else. Ireland is under the international and European averages for how many oncology patients have the opportunity to access clinical trials. We\u2019re running at around 3%, and should really be over 6%.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big focus for our hospital, and it\u2019s a great opportunity for patients to access the newest drugs in a very regulated and safe way.<\/p>\n

A new drug, Mirvetuximab soravtansine, was recently licensed for use in the NHS [for hard-to-treat ovarian cancer], and has shown excellent results in clinical trials. Ireland has an Early Access Programme open for it.<\/p>\n

The medical oncologist applies to the drug company for the drug for each individual patient. It\u2019s in a class of drugs called antibody-drug conjugates [designed to] deliver chemo directly to the cancer cells.<\/p>\n

Many ADCs are being developed for ovarian, endometrial and cervical cancers.<\/p>\n

Avail of screening<\/p>\n

For cervical cancer, everyone, once eligible and invited, should take up the national screening programme, and those in secondary school should get the HPV vaccine.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m seeing some younger cases; premenopausal women who present with irregular bleeding. Again, if something is not normal for you, it should prompt a visit to the GP for a referral to a gynaecologist.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to see people diagnosed earlier and, ultimately, see HPV-associated cervical cancer eradicated completely through the vaccine.<\/p>\n

Why genetics is changing cancer care<\/p>\n

A big part of my work is around genetic risk. About 12% of cancers have a known underlying DNA alteration which, over a lifetime, will increase cancer risk.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re the population I really want to identify in my clinic because they\u2019re women and men who may develop cancer under the age of the national screening programmes.<\/p>\n

They won\u2019t be picked up through screening in the majority of cases.<\/p>\n

I developed mainstream testing pathways in Vincent\u2019s. It\u2019s the first hospital in Ireland bringing genetic testing for high-risk patients to an earlier point of care across breast, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and GI cancers.<\/p>\n

Cancer treatment is better and has more options<\/p>\n

Cancer treatment has improved across the board, from the surgical techniques, to the chemotherapy and other therapeutic options available.<\/p>\n

I have far more treatments available that I can give to patients.<\/p>\n

If a chemotherapy works for a while and then maybe loses its effectiveness in an advanced cancer, there\u2019s often something else I can give, or there\u2019s a clinical trial opportunity.<\/p>\n

People are living longer with cancer. If it\u2019s not curable, it can still be treated.<\/p>\n

\n Top tip: Everyone who is eligible for the HPV vaccine should have it.<\/p>\n

In conversation with Gemma Fullam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I grew up in Cork, the second eldest of four siblings. In the \u201880s and \u201890s, we were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[33970,26054,103,61,60],"class_list":["post-592621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health-body","tag-health-life","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}