New Marie Keating Foundation ‘Talks Cancer’ Podcast explores Ireland’s most dangerous form of skin cancer in its first series

• The Marie Keating Foundation ‘Talks Cancer’ podcast in partnership with Novartis, launches with its first series of eight-episodes focussing on Melanoma Skin Cancer.
• Created for patients and anyone with a loved one recently diagnosed; the series explores various themes with experts giving their insights to create awareness of early stage and late stage melanoma and the impact it can have on people’s lives and those of their families.
• Shockingly, Irish men have the third highest melanoma mortality rate in Europe
• 1,197 men and women are diagnosed with Melanoma Skin Cancer each year in Ireland

To help bring greater awareness and understanding of Ireland’s most dangerous form of skin cancer, melanoma, the Marie Keating Foundation have launched the first series of its new ‘Talk’s Cancer’ Podcast, ‘Talking Melanoma’, kindly supported by Novartis.

Each year in Ireland, 1,197 men and women are diagnosed with melanoma, and sadly 154 people die from the disease each year . Shockingly, Ireland is ranked sixth in the EU for incidences of melanoma and Irish men are ranked third highest when it comes to incidences of melanoma mortality in Europe .

Hosted by the Foundation’s senior nurses Director of Nursing, Helen Forristal and Assistant Director of Nursing, Bernie Carter, the podcasts will cover important topics from risk reduction, diagnosis and treatment to looking at what it is like to navigate a life living with melanoma. Honest and straight-talking conversations with professionals working in the melanoma oncology space as well as powerful patient stories will be brought to life.

Each podcast will feature a special guest presenter Selene Daly, a Dermatology Nurse Specialist, and experts including Dermatologist Patrick Ormond, Medical Oncologist Professor Derek Power, Radiation Oncologist, Dr Osama Salib, Psycho-oncologist Yvonne O’Meara and Senior Medical Social Worker, Stacey Devanney and some very empowering patient voices.

Speaking about his involvement, Dr Patrick Ormond says “Rates of melanoma in Ireland are unfortunately on the rise , but the good news is that survival rates for the disease are also growing year on year. I was delighted to contribute to this podcast which is a great resource for anyone on a melanoma journey. I hope that it will help to demystify the journey and increase awareness of what melanoma is, the processes of diagnosing skin cancer, and how it can be treated.”

Skin cancer, which includes melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, is the most common cancer in Ireland with over 12,114 men and women diagnosed each year. Even more aggressive forms of skin cancer such as melanoma, when detected early, can be very treatable.

One of the aspects of melanoma that makes the disease so dangerous is the fact that many people in Ireland believe they are not at risk, or don’t understand the steps that they can take to help prevent melanoma.

“Irish people tend not to look after their skin as they don’t think we have enough sunshine to worry about skin damage, but this simply isn’t true” explains podcast co-host Marie Keating Foundation Director of Nursing, Helen Forristal. “This podcast is the perfect tool to get people engaged with and talking about melanoma in a setting that isn’t intimidating or pressurised. The beauty of this series is you are receiving important information about melanoma skin cancer, that you can digest at your own pace and in your own time.”

As well as providing expert insight into the facts of melanoma, this new podcast also explores the personal experience of what it is to live well with melanoma.

Melanoma patient Kay Curtin has been living with stage 4 melanoma for the last six years, and bravely shared her message with listeners, saying “I ticked all the boxes for bad sun behaviour when I was younger because we simply didn’t know any better. I did sunbathe and I did use sunbeds but its taken time to come to the realisation that this isn’t my fault. Nobody asks for cancer. Nobody deserves cancer, but it’s a part of my story now and there’s no getting away from that. If sharing my story helps just one person cope with a skin cancer diagnosis or reconsider their habits around skin cancer prevention and skin checks then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Available from May 24th, a new episode of the series will be released every two weeks and will be available to stream wherever you listen to your podcasts. For more information, visit www.mariekeating.ie/podcast and to listen to episode one Talking Melanoma: An Introduction To Melanoma click here

For more information about melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, and how you can help to reduce your risk of this preventable disease, visit www.mariekeating.ie/cancer-information/skincancer/