Prince Charles opens cancer unit

Prince Charles visited the new Cancer Breakthrough Unit

A pioneering �4.6m unit to improve treatments for women with breast cancer has been officially opened by the Prince of Wales.

The Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital treats patients the most appropriate way for their cancer type.

The centre is based at Edinburgh University's laboratories next to the hospital's existing breast unit.

The aim is to find better drugs to treat hormone-sensitive breast cancer.

Prince Charles, patron of the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity, spent an hour at the research unit and breast clinic, where he met staff involved in the project.

He was given a guided tour of the facility, accompanied by its director, Professor David Harrison, and clinical head Mike Dixon.

I do know that this particular research will lead to something really of benefit to certain patients Prince Charles

Unveiling an official plaque, Prince Charles, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, praised the dedication shown by staff and the "valuable" work they do.

He said: "This particular research unit clearly is going to make an enormous difference in terms of removing unnecessary treatment and making a real difference at the end of the day to so many patients who have to go through treatment, many of which, as you know, suffer from side-effects in one way or another.

"I do know that this particular research will lead to something really of benefit to certain patients."

He also said: "My problem always on these occasions is there's never enough time to be able to ask all the incredibly stupid questions I want to ask about the incredibly complex things the researchers are studying.

"But I was particularly interested in terms of the way that this unit here is complementing what is going on in London with Breakthrough's research unit there, which I remember opening some years ago."

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK, with more than 44,000 women and about 300 men being diagnosed every year.

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