The Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund provides information and support to sufferers and their families while raising vital funding for research into the disease. Mick was diagnosed aged 59, with mesothelioma, he had been exposed to deadly asbestos fibres during his time spent in the Royal Navy.. At the time there was no treatment or hope, Mick was given 6 months to live and we were told to
go and spend 'quality time together'. The Fund has gone on to raise over £1.5 m and helped fund four major research studies and a Mesothelioma Nurse Specialist in the North East and area badly affected by asbestos related disease. In 2012 MKMRF was the main funder of the first designated mesothelioma tissue and data base in the UK, the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma tissue and data base. www.mesobank.org
This new facility known as MESOBANK, supplies high quality tissue and blood samples and clinical data and brings together a national consortium of chest physicians, pathologists, thoracic surgeons, scientists and IT specialists. MESOBANK is the first initiative in Europe. It is only through high calibre research can we ever hope to improve diagnosis, treatment and and care for those with this devastating cancer. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 125 million people around the world are annually exposed to asbestos in the workplace, and about 100,000 workers die each year from an asbestos relate disease.
