The Irish operation of survey technology group Qualtrics is looking to raise €500,000 to fund a three-year tumour immunology programme with Breakthrough Cancer Research, which targets cancers with a poor prognosis, such as ovarian, malignant melanoma, pancreatic and oesophageal cancer.

The company’s campaign Five for the Fight is seeking €5 donations, which will be matched by the company. The commitment to research is a personal one for the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa operation, whose managing director, Dermot Costello, is fighting cancer.

“The worst day for a patient and their family isn’t the day they are diagnosed with cancer,” said Orla Dolan, chief executive of Breakthrough. “It is the day when they are told there’s nothing left to try; that the treatments available won’t work. That’s the day we want to take away.”