Cancer

Of all the tricky-to-fix research integrity issues researchers contend with, making your research accessible to those with colour blindness is actually quite an easy fix. Not only that, says Dr Andrew Porter, it shows care and respect to all readers of your work, and that can only be a good thing… It’s a classic kid’s

©Shutterstock Vaccinations (vaccines) have been a game changer in the medical world and human health. They’ve helped protect us from measles and mumps, polio, and most recently COVID-19. They’ve even eradicated smallpox, one of the deadliest diseases in human history. Can they do something similar for cancer? Many vaccines are made from weakened or harmless

Cancer cells divide faster than healthy cells. Every time that happens, ecDNA can push them to evolve. ©Shutterstock/Christoph Burgstedt We’re working out how cancers evolve. And we’re evolving our research to stop them. We’ve known why cancers evolve for a long time: it’s the way they grow, survive and resist treatment. It’s a big part

Gliomas are a type of brain tumour that originate in cells called glial cells. As with most brain tumours, surgery is the most common treatment option for gliomas. But brain surgery is understandably invasive, and can’t always remove the whole tumour, meaning it often has to be followed up with other treatments. If we can

Treating brain tumours means finding ways to kill mutated cells like these without harming healthy ones. ©2011 Michael Bonert. CC BY-SA 3.0. Temozolomide, a chemotherapy drug discovered and developed by our scientists, changed brain tumour treatment forever. That’s not overselling it. Temozolomide was the first drug to improve survival for people with the most common

Photographer: John Nicholson Why don’t we have more female scientists in leadership roles? Late last year, this question was brought into sharp focus again for me when we celebrated Cancer Grand Challenges’ Professor Carolyn Bertozzi receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was a momentous achievement that we are hugely proud of but Carolyn, being

Dr Jacqui Marshall reports back from the Eureka international course on translational medicine in Sicily. Insight from industry experts, the importance of patient advocates and even a spot of well-earned gelato – Jacqui gives us a real flavour of this incredible opportunity… not to mention the ice cream. Winding streets, a historical palace and patchy

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘virus’? If I had to guess, I would say you’re thinking about something negative. Most likely an illness of some kind. And, of course, that’s a reasonable answer. But what if I told you we can use viruses as a treatment for

Kizi Kamasho Every year around 55,500 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer. But as intensive care nurse Kizi Kamasho discovered, the disease also affects approximately 380 men. Kizi and his wife Emma share the challenges they faced when he was diagnosed with a cancer that predominantly affects the opposite sex: a whirlwind

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK Saturday was World Cancer Day, for which the theme was ‘closing the gap in cancer care’ – a topic that is sadly, only too relevant to the UK. The 2022 parliamentary inquiry into cancer care has shown that England

Everyone in the UK is likely to feel the impact of cancer in their lifetime. That could be through facing a diagnosis themselves, or because a loved one or friend is affected. And ahead of World Cancer Day 2023, we’ve published a new report that shows that the impact of cancer for people in the

Since 2018, Tesco, Cancer Research UK, Diabetes UK and the British Heart Foundation have been working together to change lives. We built our health charity partnership on a simple belief: when it comes to supporting good causes, every little helps. And now, from 20 February – 5 March, Tesco is making it even easier for

Starving cancer cells of specific nutrients can slow tumour growth and sharpen the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy – now, startup Faeth Therapeutics is creating precision diets which can enhance cancer treatments. We spoke with Professor Oliver Maddocks to find out how the startup came about, and how hacking cancer metabolism with diet could help

When cancer is diagnosed, doctors will carry out tests to determine how big the tumour is, and whether it has spread into any other tissues or parts of the body. Once they know that information, they can assign the cancer a stage. Typically, this ranges from stage 1, meaning the cancer is small and hasn’t

This article follows on from part one of the women in science pioneers series, in which we celebrate women who have contributed to impactful discoveries in the field of cancer research. In this second article, we’re celebrating some more pioneering women who have helped to improve outcomes for people with cancer and paved the way

Research integrity training is becoming ubiquitous – but how it’s delivered, and who to, varies incredibly. That is a problem, says Dr Catherine Winchester in the latest of our series focussing on research integrity. So, how can we embed training like this in a systematic way? Promoting and supporting research integrity at an organisational level

©Shutterstock/William Perugini We monitor cancer statistics to better understand the disease. They show us the progress we’ve made to help more people survive cancer, and they help us focus our work to keep that progress going. But progress isn’t always linear. Sometimes the statistics reveal unexpected challenges, like the rising number of cancer cases in

The beginning of 2023 has brought exciting news for the lymphedema community. The Lymphedema Treatment Act (LTA), first introduced as a bill in Congress in 2010, was finally passed into law on December 23, 2022. This landmark legislation will result in Medicare coverage for lymphedema compression supplies starting January 1, 2024. Why is the LTA

A slight change to the way doctors give chemotherapy could help thousands of people with colon cancer. ©Patrick Harrison 2019 “Timing is everything when it comes to treating colon cancer,” says Matthew Seymour, Professor of Gastrointestinal Cancer Research at the University of Leeds. He knows that’s much more than just a phrase. Seymour helped run

Historically, science has never been an easy place for women to work. Gender stereotypes, lack of role models and male dominated cultures have made it harder for women to succeed in the field, to give just a few examples. And those that do make it tend not to receive the recognition they deserve. While some

We’re investing £37.5 million over the next five years to fund seven UK clinical trials units (CTUs). From October 2023 the funding will enable clinical teams to deliver innovative and high impact research that improves the care and outcomes for people affected by cancer across the UK and globally. The units will be in the

As genetic screening becomes routine for cancer detection and treatment, we need to ensure this can be delivered at scale and quickly within a national health system. Here, Don White takes us through this challenge and looks at the success of CRUK’s Stratified Medicine Programme 2… It’s clear genomics will be at the heart of

Bob Riter I’d like to give myself a magic wand at this time of the year to grant wishes to those affected by cancer. This was a wish list I put together in 2015, yet it is still relevant. Maybe this will be the year my wishes come true! Here are my wishes for the

The UK government is almost a decade behind achieving its target for England to be smokefree by 2030, a new report published by Cancer Research UK reveals. The report warns that, if recent trends continue, the target will now not be met until 2039. This is despite repeated warnings from the charity that data up

On a recent journey home from school, my son’s usual updates on his least favourite teacher, the canteen food and the lunchtime football match were replaced. Instead, he asked me about smoking, after noticing some older, ‘cooler’ kids puffing on cigarettes outside the gates. Working for a cancer charity, my knee-jerk response has been to

This year we have seen three different Prime Ministers and UK governments. Amongst the political turbulence, we’ve accomplished a lot in cancer policy and campaigning in all four nations of the UK and globally. From research and prevention to diagnosis, we’ve been advocating for change to beat cancer. Here are some highlights. A group of

One of the best ways to help people survive cancer is to find it early. That’s why NHS England has a target of diagnosing 75% of cancer cases in stage 1 or 2 by 2028. Unfortunately – despite the tireless work of NHS staff, as well as a range of national strategies and initiatives –

Generations of scientists have dedicated their lives to understanding and treating cancer, often funded by us at Cancer Research UK, a charity that has spent more than a century driving progress for patients  Written by David Cox for Guardian Labs Mick Bulbrook, left, who pioneered the use of the breast cancer drug tamoxifen, at the Imperial