Cancer

This year, we’ve been celebrating our 20th anniversary. And as part of that, we’re looking back at the influence and involvement we’ve had in reducing cancer death rates. Since we were founded in February 2002, we’ve invested £5.4 billion into life-changing research. And that’s translated into some incredible results. Overall, cancer death rates have decreased

We often say people are born to do something, or born to be something, and Maria Lawal will tell you she was born to be an athlete. As a schoolgirl she played basketball and netball, and ran long jump and circuit, until one day she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, when

The path to policy change is rarely straightforward. The UK Government’s decision last week to further delay (until October 2025) implementing legislation to restrict junk food advertising on TV and online is just the most recent example. That doesn’t stop this particular setback hurting – as it slows down vital progress towards reducing the number

The Antibody Alliance Laboratory – a collaboration between Cancer Research UK and AstraZeneca – combines academic rigour with agile bioengineering to push forward antibody discovery projects. Here we explore how the partnership is enabling one researcher’s career long mission to better the lives of childhood brain cancer patients… The course of Richard Gilbertson’s career was

The holidays can be very stressful – particularly when you are already dealing with a cancer diagnosis or are the caregiver for someone with cancer.  Perhaps you know someone in such a situation. Whether they are a family member, good friend, or just the woman down the street you always pass when walking the dog,

Our 20th anniversary year has been about much more than looking back. 2022 has been full of research and advances that are worth celebrating in themselves.  Read on to find out what our scientists have been working on this year, and to learn more about the people that make their discoveries possible. A tumour model

Proton Beam Therapy Centre at The Christie The Taylor Family Foundation has donated £2.1m to support the Cancer Research UK PROTIS clinical trial, a study that will investigate the use of proton beam therapy at two state of the art NHS facilities, located at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester and University College Hospitals

Left to right: Emma Colliver, Dr William Hill and Dr Emilia Lim If you’ve been keeping up to date with our news over the last few years, you’ve probably heard of TRACERx. For those of you that haven’t, TRACERx is our flagship lung cancer study. The largest and most detailed genetic study of its kind

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK Flashback to February 4th, the start of Cancer Research UK’s 20th anniversary year. The then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Sajid Javid, declared a ‘War on Cancer’, committing to publish a 10-year plan, which promised to

This year we’ve been celebrating Cancer Research UK’s 20th year. And while it might be the charity’s 20th anniversary, many of us research nurses have been working in cancer research for longer. Research nurses work in clinical trials. We play a vital role in making sure patients are safe and cared for whilst also ensuring

The next in our series focussing on research integrity finds Dr Andrew Porter exploring the dangers of publishing with a limited methods section, asking how we can reverse this trend and, incredibly, taking a lesson from the Great British Bake Off… This may strike you as an odd way to start a column about research

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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,

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

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