Cancer

Loren (left) and Dinny (right), who both lost their voices during their cancer treatment Human beings face many of their worst demons by expressing their emotions and sharing their experiences with others. For most patients, speaking out about a cancer diagnosis and voicing worries, fears, highs and lows, is an important way of dealing with

What does a videogame designer have to do with cancer research? Well, until recently, our answer to that question may have been quite different. But since 2017, when Professor Greg Hannon and his team of international researchers were awarded £20m to develop a new way for scientists to study tumours, the worlds of cancer research

CRUK and UICC’s Tobacco Control Partnership in Kenya and Uganda is launched at the World Cancer Congress “Since the last World Cancer Congress in 2018, more than 25 million people have died from cancer. Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruptions to services to prevent cancer and detect and treat it early. We

NatWest Group Do good Feel good event Giving Tuesday is a chance to make a real difference, and we’re delighted that once again, our long-standing partner NatWest Group are supporting the campaign. The campaign champions giving in all its forms to good causes, including Cancer Research UK. Taking place on November 29, #GivingTuesday is a

Cancer Research UK, in partnership with London-based tech company Stitch, are going live with an app for patients to use whilst participating in a clinical trial. The Trialmap app, which was co-created with patients, is being piloted on a clinical trial run by Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development. It will allow participating patients

All of us are impacted by cancer in our lifetime, either facing a diagnosis ourselves or supporting a friend or loved one. However, a landmark report on deprivation and cancer launched at the Scottish Cancer Conference today shows that the burden of cancer is not felt equally across Scotland. People living in more deprived areas

If I asked you what causes lung cancer, you’d probably say smoking. And you’d be right, smoking tobacco is the biggest cause of lung cancer in the UK. Even light or occasional smoking increases the risk of lung cancer, and that includes breathing in other people’s cigarette smoke. But some people who get lung cancer

United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) In November 2021, Cancer Research UK Chief Clinician, Professor Charles Swanton, visited our longstanding corporate partner ScottishPower at their headquarters in Glasgow. He was there during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) to deliver the keynote speech at their ‘Air Pollution and Cancer’ event. This marked the start

CT scanners like this one are used for lung cancer screening. A targeted lung screening programme is the step-change in care that the NHS needs to catch lung cancer early. So, when the UK National Screening Committee gave the recommendation for it to go ahead, I was thrilled. It’s something that so many of us

We welcome two outstanding researchers – Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke and Simon Boulton – as they join our group of funding committee chairs. Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke is the new chair of our Research Careers Committee. Her research group investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying stromal contributions to tumour growth and therapy efficacy. Simon Boulton is Principal Group Leader of

“It’s a huge achievement by lots and lots of people. It’s nice to think that this next generation will probably never really have to worry about cervical cancer in this country.” Last year, a monumental moment on a cold November day saw the publication of a long-awaited study. The results of that study, published in

Today, the whole country looked on as new Chancellor – and former Health Secretary – Jeremy Hunt made his first ‘fiscal statement’ to a packed House of Commons. The statement sets out the Government’s economic direction of travel for the coming years, and arrives in a period of tough economic challenges, with the UK now

When diagnosed with cancer, deciding how and when to tell people can leave a patient feeling anxious and alone. For some it feels right to tell people individually, but sometimes social media can be a powerful platform. It can help people reach out to a wide and varied audience, garner support and receive positive feedback.

This week’s Autumn Statement is projecting a £55 billion black hole in the UK’s finances. All departments across government will be tested to their limits. One thing is clear. Cutting spending across the board, without a clear rationale for doing it, will unleash cycles of sluggish growth. The government must be careful not to cut

A breast cancer cell seen through an electron microscope. Credit: Leicester Royal Infirmary EM Department The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the use of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) as an option for some people with early triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in England and Wales. The NHS has also

In a new series focussing on research integrity, two of our experts will dig into the issues and challenges of this incredibly important aspect of research. In this first instalment, Dr Catherine Winchester explores the importance of the pre-submission review…     We all appreciate that peer review is an invaluable process for evaluating the quality,

What is extrachromosomal DNA? How have we come to think of its role in cancer? And what has all this got to do with a flagship lung cancer study? Here, Dr Chris Bailey tell us how ecDNA challenges traditional models of tumour evolution and drug resistance and why TRACERx has been pivotal in pushing forward

Immunotherapy works by helping the body’s immune system recognise and attack cancer cells. There are several different types of immunotherapies, including monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and, in this case, checkpoint inhibitors. Checkpoint inhibitors block specific proteins on the surface of immune cells called T cells. Blocking these proteins help T cells to recognise cancer cells as

We’ve all seen the headlines. Whether it’s ‘Waiting lists for cancer treatment soar’ in the Express, the Mail talking about ‘Record NHS waiting lists’ or the Guardian reporting ‘Waiting times for cancer care in England longest on record’, the pressure on NHS cancer services is hard to miss. But why are cancer waiting times so

Today, Cancer Research UK has announced TRACERx EVO, a new programme that builds on the discoveries made in the world’s largest long-term lung study, TRACERx. Started in 2014, TRACERx was our flagship investment in lung cancer research. The largest and most detailed genetic study of its kind in lung cancer, TRACERx was awarded over £10m

Professor Carolyn Bertozzi (right) with graduate student Mireille Kamariza Professor Carolyn Bertozzi won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for a technique she developed to look at tiny strands of sugar on the surface of our cells. Well, that’s one way of putting it. You could also say she took the kind of complex chemistry

Building a diverse and inclusive health data research workforce is important to ensure we beat cancer sooner, for everyone. Earlier this year we were pleased to host some incredibly talented Black data science interns. Here we find out how they got on…   Data science is becoming an incredibly important tool in cancer research. Data

The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, US “Brain tumours are amongst the most difficult-to-treat cancers,” explains Professor Steve Clifford, Chair of Molecular Paediatric Oncology at the University of Newcastle. “It’s especially heartbreaking when they affect children.” Medulloblastoma is a children’s brain cancer that develops in the back of the brain, in an area called the

Overall, cancer survival is improving in the UK and has doubled in the last 40 years. However, survival varies between cancer types, ranging from 98% for testicular cancer to just 1% for pancreatic cancer. But it isn’t only between cancer types that survival varies. There are also differences between countries in survival for several types

Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK; every year around 48,500 people are diagnosed with the disease and unfortunately only 1 in 10 patients in England will survive their disease for 10 years or more. Those diagnoses are often late, as early symptoms can be easily mistaken for other, less serious,

Black in Cancer co-founders Dr Henry Henderson and Sigourney Bonner. (Photo by John Nicholson) Dr Faith Uwadiae spent 10 years studying science at some of London’s top universities and research institutes before she had the chance to attend a lecture by another Black woman. That lecture wasn’t actually about science, though. It took another year

At the recent Black in Cancer conference, we heard inspiring tales of community support and encouragement for Black researchers. This is something enshrined in the mentorship programme set-up by Black in Cancer to match students with a mentor scientist. We hear from mentor-mentee paring Melville and Jamie about the importance of representation, retention and hope…   

When a cancer spreads from a primary tumour, the place where it first started to grow, to another area of the body, this is referred to as metastasis. To spread, some cells from a primary tumour need to break away and travel to another place in the body via the bloodstream. These cells then form