The Malta Cancer Foundation has to date given out about Lm20,000 worth of drugs not available from the health department to patients attending clinical research trials.
It could not, however, assist in the acquisition of certain drugs which doctors suggested to patients but which were not available on the national health service.
The head of the Oncology Department at Sir Paul Boffa Hospital, Stephen Brincat, said the foundation, which was the non-governmental arm of the department, provided flexibility and a chance to channel funds towards what the department felt was effective.
Its main aim was to improve the quality of life of cancer patients.
The foundation, Dr Brincat said, carried out research studies in coordination with Boffa Hospital.
It was currently carrying out an ongoing research programme on breast cancer prevention among post-menopausal women with an increased risk of breast cancer. All participants in the programme were volunteers. Although a number of women were already taking part, there were many more in the community who could be eligible.
The foundation was aiming to improve radio therapy services, by funding between 100-150 scans per year, which, in coordination with existing equipment, will be used to deliver more accurate treatment.
There was a big backlog of scans at St Luke's Hospital and Boffa Hospital needed to have a relationship with a single unit and radiologist who would understand the hospital's needs and get what was needed done quickly. A CT scan was done within 24 hours in the private sector, he said.
The scans would then be fed into a three-dimensional computerised planning system which has been at Boffa Hospital for a year.
Dr Brincat said that a less sophisticated method had been available but technology had now moved forward and the hospital needed to keep up with it.
There are 1,200 new cancer patients annually and between one in three and one in four people developed cancer in one form or another at some point in their lives. This did not mean, however, that a third of the population had cancer.
The most common form of cancer overall occurred in the colon. Breast was the commonest cancer in women and lung in men. There was also a rapidly increasing incidence of lung cancer in women. This, Dr Brincat said, was due to smoking.
On behalf of the Malta Cancer Foundation, Dr Brincat thanked all sponsors who helped finance the recent concert of Tango dance and music at the Manoel Theatre, particularly Maggie Borg and Jude Farrugia, who worked very hard to make it possible.
The foundation raised Lm9,000 from the event. The money would be spent on upgrading the radio therapy services at the hospital to ensure that standards would remain at par with other centres in Europe.
"With the continuing support of our helpers, sponsors and the public, the foundation looked forward to a year of increased activity and service to our patients," he said.
Activities planned for next year include a concert, a carnival ball and an Easter raffle.
A 2004 Maltese gardens calendar, depicting watercolours by John Martin Borg, Jeni Caruana, Anna Grima and Halina O'Callagham, can be bought from book and gardens shops for Lm2. The calendar is being sold in aid of the foundation.