CANCER RESEARCH UK NEWS
This page will have the latest news from CRUK, to give you a general idea of what's going on surrounding cancer research. Come back here each month for the latest updates.
NOVEMBER 2018
Does Phillip Morris really want people to stop smoking?
Smoking increases the risk of at least 15 different cancers including lung, oesophageal, pancreatic and kidney. In the UK, it causes more than 1 in 4 deaths from cancer.
The world’s largest tobacco company recently launched a campaign which supposedly aims to encourage UK smokers to quit tobacco. But do they really have public health in mind or do they have vested interests?
Government commitment to early diagnosis
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Last month, as part of the build-up to publication of the Government’s NHS 10-year plans, Theresa May announced a commitment to diagnosing more cancers earlier.
This is important because an earlier stage diagnosis means patients are more likely to get treatment with the best chance of curing them.
Want to cut down on alcohol? Here’s one of our top tips!
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Alcohol awareness week is 19th- 25th November. Drinking too much alcohol can cause 7 different types of cancer, including breast, mouth and bowel. But the more you cut down, the more you could cut your cancer risk.
Why not try one of our health hacks during alcohol awareness week to help reduce the amount you drink.
News digest – Height and cancer risk, robots, and a ‘no-deal’ Brexit
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From robots that can analyse skin to whether height can affect your cancer risk, and the impact of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit on treatment, find out how cancer has been making the news recently.
"My fiancée is gone but she’s still helping others fight cancer"
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One of our colleagues reflects on the contribution his late fiancée, Zarah, and many other cancer patients, are making to research into bladder cancer.
OCTOBER 2018
Obesity could become the top preventable cause of cancer
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Smoking has topped the list of preventable causes of cancer for decades, but while smoking rates have been falling, the proportion of the UK population who are overweight or obese has risen.
If these trends continue, obesity looks set to overtake smoking as the biggest preventable cause of cancer.
NHS England to fund personalised blood cancer immunotherapy
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NHS England announced last month that a new cancer immunotherapy will now be offered to some children and young adults with leukaemia in England.
The decision to approve the treatment has come as a new wave of personalised cancer therapies have been tested in trials, with similar treatments being licensed for use in Europe.
What is radiotherapy?
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Radiation has been used in medicine since x-rays were first discovered in 1895. Nowadays, radiotherapy plays a crucial part in treating lots of different cancers and new technology is making it more precise and reducing side effects.
Watch our video to find out how radiotherapy actually fights cancer cells.
Tiny metal beads could make blood cancer chemo more effective
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Current treatments for brain tumours aren't good enough. They can have lifelong side effects and only around 1 in 7 people will survive their disease for a decade or longer.
But our scientists are on the case and have come up with an innovative idea using the precious metal palladium, which could be a game changer. We visited the team in Edinburgh to find out more.
European cancer research gets £30 million
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As the UK and EU work to form a new relationship after Brexit, we are continuing to collaborate to drive research forward by partnering with two of Europe’s leading cancer research charities to fund six international projects.
These projects, funded for 5 years and worth around £30 million, are part of the Accelerator Awards which aim to accelerate progress in translational research.
SEPTEMBER 2018
How much sun do you need?
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This summer’s good weather has made getting out for your daily dose of vitamin D much easier. But our researchers have been looking into how different skin types respond in the sun, and the time you need outside to generate enough vitamin D is less than you might think!
Growing ‘mini brains’ to study brain tumours
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Brain cancer survival is improving but not fast enough, with only 3 in 20 people surviving for at least 10 years. Growing ‘mini brains’ in dishes is just one of the innovative ways our scientists are studying brain tumours in the lab to speed up the search for new treatments.
Thanks to you, we’re finding better treatments
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Meet Jasper, 6, who finished treatment for a type of brain tumour called medulloblastoma but struggled with the side effects. Thanks to supporters like you, we’re finding new and better treatments for children’s cancers.
Leafy greens, elephants’ genes and e-cigarettes
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From an experimental molecule that could make brain tumour cells self-destruct, to elephants’ ‘zombie’ gene and vegetables that may protect against bowel cancer, find out how cancer has been making the news recently.
THE iKNIFE
The intelligent knife: a potential 'game-changer' for cancer surgery
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For over a century, cancer surgeons have been using handheld electrical devices to break tissue apart and remove patients’ tumours. But they have no way of knowing that they’ve removed every last cancer cell, first time. That means that some people have to go back and have another operation, resulting in extended hospital stays, more time off work and delays to further treatment.
Now all this could change, thanks to an experimental surgical device - the intelligent knife, or iKnife, which we're following the progress of in the videos below.
As the iKnife burns through tissue, molecules are released in a puff of smoke. This smoke is sucked into a tube that feeds into a very accurate molecular weighing scale, called a mass spectrometer. This analyses the molecules that make up different tissues and tells scientists what type of tissue has been cut.
iKnife: the surgical device that sniffs out cancer
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iKnife: the first human trial
AUGUST 2018
Boys to get the HPV jab
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Almost 10 years ago, the HPV vaccine was introduced to help protect girls against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer.
But protecting against HPV can prevent 7 different cancer types, affecting both men and women. Now, the Government has said that boys should receive the vaccine too.
By offering the vaccine to everyone aged 11-13, the number of cases of HPV, and the cancers they cause, could be dramatically reduced in the future.
Brain tumour chemo now available to more patients
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Thanks to a trial we supported, NHS patients with a type of brain tumour now have a new treatment option called temozolomide.
This is a chemotherapy drug that our scientists began developing over 30 years ago.
Complementary therapy could affect survival
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Patients have the right to make their own decisions about treatment, but that should come with clear information on what the impact of that decision might be.
We look at a new study which explores the impact that mixing complementary therapy with conventional cancer treatment might have on survival.
‘Will cancer ever be eradicated?’
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We’ve written in the past about whether all cancers will ever be curable, but wiping out cancer completely is a different matter altogether.
So, in this instalment of our science surgery, we tackle the question ‘Will cancer ever be eradicated?’.
6 tips to spot cancer ‘fake news’
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Cancer is a popular topic for the media, but how can you tell if there’s more to the latest cancer news than meets the eye?
Here are 6 things to look out for to help you judge a story for yourself.
JULY 2018
New NHS funding must be spent wisely
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Last month we launched a campaign highlighting how staff shortages are making it harder for the NHS to treat and diagnose cancer earlier. The Government has since made a promising announcement. They’re committing an extra £20bn NHS funding in England* per year by 2023.
But with an ageing population, we expect that by 2035 an extra 150,000 people per year will be diagnosed with cancer in the UK, so is this enough and how will it be spent?
We believe the focus should be on staff shortages to make a difference in cancer diagnosis and care.
We test a new vaccine to treat lung cancer
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Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the UK and survival has not shown much improvement in the last 40 years. We want to change this.
Now, we’re testing a first of its kind vaccine in an early stage trial that could improve treatment for some people with lung cancer.
Government aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030
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60 cancers a day are diagnosed in adults due to excess weight. And, as overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults, cutting childhood obesity could have a big impact on future cancer rates.
So we’re happy to see the Government launch a strong updated plan to achieve its new ambition, but now it needs urgent implementation.
New drug halves hearing loss in children post chemo
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Our new trials results show that a drug can reduce hearing loss in children treated with the chemo drug cisplatin, which we helped develop.
We talk to the lead researcher, Dr Penelope Brock, about the study.
ASCO highlights: ‘blood tests’ and immunotherapy
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We were in Chicago last month among 40,000 other cancer experts at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting to share a glimpse of the latest in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
