Pursuing our ambitions

Over 6,600 people work tirelessly towards our ultimate goal of beating cancer. Whether they're in the laboratory developing new treatments or out and about raising awareness of cancer, their work is helping to save thousands of lives each year.

Our work takes place all over the country. We fund around 2,850 world-class scientists, doctors and nurses in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland through our research grants. Many of our scientists are leaders in their fields, renowned for their specialist knowledge and their discoveries in all areas of cancer research.

As well as providing grant funding, we have around 3,800 members of staff – including scientists at our research institutes in London and Cambridge, fundraisers, cancer information specialists, and the people who ensure all our work happens smoothly and efficiently.

Saving and improving lives

During this year, our scientists have been involved in an impressive range of research projects and clinical trials.

Brand new cancer drugs
We are always looking for new ways to develop drugs to treat cancer. Five years ago, scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research made an exciting discovery – they unravelled the structure of a molecule called Hsp90.

Hsp90 helps certain molecules in the cell to do their jobs correctly. But these molecules are often overactive in cancer cells – helping cancers to grow. So blocking the activity of Hsp90 in these cancer cells may be a good way to treat the disease.

Based on what they know of Hsp90's structure, the scientists are now developing new drugs that will block its action. Novartis, a major pharmaceutical company, is planning to test these new treatments in clinical trials.

Improving treatment of bowel cancer
A team based at Queen's University in Belfast is carrying out cutting-edge research to understand how bowel cancer cells respond to chemotherapy drugs, and why some are resistant to treatment.

They have already found that a molecule called c-FLIP is key in causing some drug resistance. Now they are finding out whether blocking c-FLIP will make cells responsive to chemotherapy again. They are also analysing a large number of bowel cancer samples to find other molecules that may cause drug resistance.

In the future, this work will help doctors to predict which bowel cancer patients will benefit most from particular anticancer drugs.

90% of the population lives within 30 miles of a Cancer Research UK funded site.

Complementary therapies
People with cancer often use complementary therapies alongside their conventional treatment, but until recently there was virtually no scientific evidence of their benefit.

A recent large-scale trial has tested the effectiveness of aromatherapy massage in 228 people with breast cancer. The results showed that a weekly one-hour session of aromatherapy massage could help provide short-term relief for cancer patients with mild to moderate depression and anxiety.

Preventing breast cancer
Long-term results from our IBIS-1 trial have confirmed that tamoxifen can help to prevent breast cancer in healthy women. In fact, once women complete their treatment with tamoxifen, its side effects disappear, but the protective effect continues for at least another five years.

Our IBIS-2 trial follows on from this and will explore the prevention benefits of anastrozole, which blocks the production of oestrogen and may have fewer side-effects than tamoxifen.

Linking science and support

Our researchers' involvement in our work doesn't end in the laboratory. They also play a big part in motivating supporters and educating the public about cancer research, by working with fundraisers and hosting events.

We aim to forge even stronger links between our scientists and our supporters within local communities, helping to raise awareness of local research, improve understanding of cancer and increase involvement in fundraising.

Raising awareness

Beating cancer is about more than finding treatments or cures: it's also about preventing cancer from occurring and ensuring it is detected sooner rather than later.

We offer a range of cancer information leaflets that give advice on early detection and reducing your risk of cancer. These are free and can be downloaded or ordered online from our dedicated news and resources site. This site – and our campaign microsites – provide a wide range of information in a variety of formats. Our monthly podcast features latest news, topical issues and interviews.

In October 2006 Nicole Kidman launched Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which highlighted the risks and symptoms of breast cancer. This disease affects nearly 44,000 women a year in the UK alone.The campaign underlined the importance of regular breast cancer screening for women over 50. In May 2007, Nicole Kidman was made a Companion of the Order of Australia for her work in promoting awareness of breast cancer.

Watch our interview with Nicole Kidman
(or read the transcript of the interview)