MPs sent cigarette packs to highlight their deadly design

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Westminster MPs are being sent examples of widely available cigarette packets to show how the tobacco industry markets its products to children today (Tuesday).

Cancer Research UK is taking the bold step of sending one of a variety of widely sold packs to each MP highlighting the slick designs and colourful packaging that children and young women find appealing.

Raising awareness of the tobacco industry’s sophisticated marketing techniques comes as the government considers the future of tobacco marketing.

The public consultation on whether to remove all branding from tobacco packaging and put cigarettes in standardised packs of the same size, shape and colours closed in August 2012.

Around 80,000 Cancer Research UK supporters responded to the consultation in favour of plain, standardised packaging.

Sarah Woolnough, Cancer Research UK’s executive director of policy and information, said: “Our figures show that over 150,000 children start smoking every year in the UK. They don’t start randomly. They are enticed, lured and marketed to by the tobacco industry. It’s important to remember that these are lethal products that will kill half of all long term smokers and are the cause of at least 14 different types of cancer.

“Glitzy designs make packs look like music speakers or perfume bottles and reduce the impact of the health warnings. One of the best ways we have found to effectively demonstrate this is to show people real packs of cigarettes.”

Eight in 10 smokers start by the age of 19. 157,000 11 to 15 year olds start smoking in the UK every year. Smoking causes one in four deaths from cancer, with 100,000 deaths caused by tobacco each year in the UK.

Australia became the first country to implement standardised packaging in December 2012. Cancer Research UK is urging the government to follow Australia’s lead by ‘setting the standard’ in reducing the impact of tobacco in Europe and around the world.

Sarah added: “We know that the majority of MPs and the public, especially those who have never smoked or haven’t smoked for a while, might not realise that cigarette packs now look like this. People are often shocked by the glamorous and innovative pack designs and extent of the targeting at young women in particular. Putting all cigarettes in plain standardised packs, of uniform size, shape and design will help silence the role that packaging plays in attracting children. Sending these packs is about showcasing the evidence for standardised packaging and the reality of tobacco industry tactics for enticing new smokers, especially young people and women. Standardising packs won’t stop everyone from smoking, but it will give millions of children one less reason to start.”

For more information about Cancer Research UK’s “Setting the Standard” campaign to introduce plain standardised tobacco packaging visit www.cruk.org/standard-packs

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Late diagnosis and lack of treatment access may contribute to poor UK lung cancer survival

Monday 11 February 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

The UK’s one-year lung cancer survival lags behind Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden according to a new international study* published today (Monday).

One-year survival from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) – the most common form of the disease – ranged from 30 per cent in the UK to 46 per cent in Sweden. Survival was also relatively low in Denmark (34 per cent).

The research – carried out by the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) – included more than 57,000 lung cancer patients diagnosed in 2004-07 and looked at the proportion of them who lived for longer than one year and at their stage at diagnosis.

The stage of a cancer indicates how big it is and how far it has spread.

UK survival figures were amongst the lowest at all stages compared to the other countries. This suggests lung cancer patients in the UK may not be getting the best available treatment, whatever the stage of their disease at diagnosis.

The proportion of patients diagnosed at an early stage of disease was slightly lower in the UK and Denmark than in the other four countries, suggesting that delayed diagnosis is playing a role.

In Denmark and the UK only one in seven patients with NSCLC were diagnosed at the earliest stage of disease (Stage 1**), compared with one in five in Sweden and Canada. One-year survival for patients with the earliest stage disease in the UK was 72.5 per cent, 16 per cent lower than in Sweden.

For small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), which is less common but more aggressive than NSCLC, the UK also had lower survival overall, and at each stage of diagnosis - except those patients where stage was unknown - than the other countries.

The comparisons used routinely collected population-based data. This allows a more accurate picture of lung cancer survival than is gathered from clinical trials. But international comparisons are complex because countries differ in how they collect information on stage at diagnosis, how fit the patients are and which diagnostic tests and treatments are available. All of these things could be contributing to the differences in lung cancer survival.

Dr Sarah Walters, lead author from the Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “This is the first international population-based study of lung cancer survival by stage at diagnosis, and it includes nearly 60,000 patients. We’ve shown that wide international inequalities in lung cancer survival occur, even between patients who were diagnosed at the same stage of disease. This indicates that the quality of stage-specific treatment may differ even between these six wealthy countries with universal access to health care.

“It is clearly important to include stage at diagnosis in future international studies of cancer survival. Such comparisons would be easier if stage data were systematically recorded in the medical records, and coded in the cancer registries using international standard classifications.”

Sara Hiom, director of early diagnosis at Cancer Research UK, said: “This study and the ongoing work of the ICBP are hugely important. We’re learning more about the differences in cancer survival between countries and what might explain them. We need this information if we’re to help improve the outcome for cancer patients.

“This research should remind us that while great progress is being made in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the UK, we mustn’t be complacent. Around 35,000 people still die from lung cancer each year in the UK and that’s far too many.  We would like to see ongoing improvements in data collection and the use of uniform systems for data on stage, in order to improve the accuracy of global comparisons.”

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Early results show two drugs may be better than one to treat most deadly skin cancer

Monday 11 February 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Adding lung cancer drugs to targeted melanoma treatment could increase survival for certain patients, according to research published in Cancer Discovery today.

Scientists at Cancer Research UK’s Paterson Institute at The University of Manchester showed that lung cancer drugs such as gefitinib (Iressa) can override resistance to new targeted therapies for melanoma, called BRAF inhibitors.

The first BRAF inhibitor, vemurafenib (Zelboraf), was approved for patients on the NHS in 2012, and others are currently in development. They work by targeting a faulty version of the BRAF protein, found in more than half of all melanomas as well as some other types of cancer.

But patients often become resistant to BRAF inhibitors after a short time and their disease returns, leaving them without further treatment options.

Now scientists have found that treating BRAF inhibitor-resistant cancer cells or tumours with the drugs gefitinib or dasatinib, which block a different biological pathway, can halt their growth.

Lead author, Professor Richard Marais, director of Cancer Research UK’s Paterson Institute, said: “This exciting research shows that two drugs can be better than one in beating this deadly disease.

“If these findings are confirmed in larger studies, combining two drug types could provide an effective new treatment for skin cancer patients for whom the only existing targeted treatment available – vermurafenib – no longer works.  

“This is a vital step to understand how to treat the disease more effectively but there is still a lot to do. We hope that this work accelerates progress that will ultimately increase survival from skin cancer.”

Around 12,800 people in the UK are diagnosed with malignant melanoma each year and there are around 2,200 deaths from the disease.

Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information manager, said: “These new results builds on our work on the BRAF gene, which has led to the development of important new drugs for melanoma.  

“This fundamental research into the biology of cancer is leading directly to new treatments and we hope that this latest study will bring forward more effective approaches for treating melanoma, which we urgently need. This is the kind of work that the new Manchester Cancer Research Centre excels at - bringing together a wide range of expertise to revolutionise cancer treatment.”

Professor Marais’ team is part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC), which is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, The Christie and The University of Manchester. A new campaign, “More Tomorrows”, is fundraising to build a centre for MCRC scientists to work together on treatments for cancer.

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Friends and family say doctors should give lifestyle advice to cancer patients

Friday 8 February 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Over 80 per cent of cancer patients’ close friends and family think that doctors should give their cancer patients lifestyle advice on eating habits, weight-loss and exercise, according to a new study* published today (Friday) in the British Journal of Cancer.
 
Cancer Research UK scientists at University College London (UCL) asked over 1200 people** who knew someone close with cancer a number of questions to assess their attitudes towards giving cancer patients lifestyle advice.

There has been concern that such information could be seen as insensitive or implying ‘blame’, particularly at a time when the patient is trying to cope with the stress of diagnosis or treatment.

They found that around 90 per cent of those closest to cancer patients (their friends and relatives) saw lifestyle advice as ‘beneficial’ and over 80 per cent believed that doctors had a ‘duty’ to provide it. They also found that less than 20 per cent felt such advice was ‘unnecessary’, ‘interfering’, ‘insensitive’, or implied ‘blame’.

Kate Williams lead author from UCL, said: “Our new research suggests that the friends and family of cancer survivors are much more likely see advice on exercise and healthy eating as beneficial, rather than insensitive.

“The concern has always been that talking to someone diagnosed with cancer about changing their eating or exercise habits could be seen as upsetting and inappropriate by cancer patients or their friends and family members. But we’ve found that not only are they receptive to the information but most believe it is their doctor’s duty to advise them on ways to lead a healthier lifestyle.”

The study also examined the attitudes of a smaller number of cancer survivors (222) to being given lifestyle advice. It found that patients were similarly positive to receiving lifestyle advice with more than 80 per cent believing it would be ‘beneficial’, ‘helpful’, ‘encouraging’ and ‘the doctors duty’.

Research shows that cancer patients are at greater risk of developing conditions such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and second primary cancers, but this risk can be reduced by leading an active and healthy lifestyle.

Hayley Hardy, 33, from Poole said: “I think it’s very important for doctors to give cancer patients advice on leading a healthier lifestyle.

“My husband James was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2006, which was such a shock. It was a wake-up call to both of us to look after ourselves better generally – we realised we had to be here for the kids who will be turning 10 and 13 this year.

“Since then we’ve both thrown ourselves into a more outgoing lifestyle – we go to the gym regularly and are both training for a London to Brighton cycle challenge in July. I run a Weightwatchers class too, and took part in Race for Life to raise vital research money to help beat this disease.”

Sara Hiom, director of patient engagement at Cancer Research UK, said: “This study is encouraging as it suggests that not only patients, but also their friends and relatives, are open to receiving advice from the doctors about how to lead a healthier lifestyle.

“We know that along with being a non-smoker, keeping a healthy body weight, eating a balanced diet and keeping active are important factors to help us all reduce our risk of developing cancer. For cancer patients, clearly doctors are an important part of setting up a supportive environment where lifestyle changes can be made.”

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GPs refer eighty per cent of suspected cancers after two visits

Friday 8 February 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

More than 80 per cent of patients suspected of having cancer are being referred by their GP in the first two consultations, with more than half being sent to see a specialist at the first appointment, according to new research published in the British Journal of Cancer.

A group of researchers from the universities of Cambridge, Durham and Bangor looked at data from over 13,000 patients in order to measure the promptness of cancer diagnosis in primary care. They found that 82 per cent of people were referred after two visits, with over half of patients (58 per cent) referred to a specialist after the first visit.

The study has also revealed that some cancers are proving harder to spot in the first few consultations, such as lung cancer and myeloma. This may be because they often produce symptoms that are common and not unique to cancer, so can be mistaken for less serious conditions.

The findings show that, the more consultations a patient needs, the greater number of weeks between first presentation and referral. With most of the patients who have these harder-to-spot cancers, it takes longer before there is a suspicion of cancer and they are seen by hospital specialists.

Dr Georgios Lyratzopoulos, study author and National Institute for Health Research post-doctoral research fellow working at the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research, said: “These results show the progress we’re making in spotting cancer at the earliest opportunity. We now understand the typical symptoms of some cancers, like breast and melanoma, very well and that helps doctors to spot them quickly.

“Other cancers have less typical symptoms, making them more difficult to recognise straight away. Not suspecting cancer early enough can be stressful for patients and their relatives so understanding the symptoms of these cancers better is where we need to be making greater research efforts to help spot the disease earlier.”

Last year, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), in partnership with Cancer Research UK, launched a five-year programme to improve early diagnosis of cancer in general practice.

Professor Greg Rubin, the RCGP and Cancer Research UK clinical lead for cancer* and co-author of the research, said: “We’ve found that most patients who go to their GP with cancer symptoms are being promptly referred to a specialist. NICE referral guidelines have helped people with classic symptoms to be seen more quickly but, for patients with less typical symptoms, the decision to refer isn’t always as simple.

“Reducing the number of pre-referral consultations can result in a more timely diagnosis of cancer. We need to consider ways of making the process of primary care assessment even smarter, for instance by wider use of clinical decision support tools or more efficient investigation pathways.”

Sara Hiom, early diagnosis director at Cancer Research UK, said: “These findings are encouraging but there is still room for improvement. Progress is clearly being made but one in five people have to make more than two visits to their GP, although it’s not surprising that this is usually for those cancers that are harder to spot. And we know for some people, difficulty making an appointment can be a barrier to going to the GP in the first place.

“Cancer can be treated more effectively when diagnosed early, so we need to make every effort to support GPs in getting the disease consistently diagnosed more quickly and accurately. But it’s also important that we all act on any persistent health changes that concern us and have the confidence to go back to our GPs if problems don’t clear up after an initial visit.”

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Desire for a tan is making teenage girls ignore sunbed dangers

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Teenage girls desperate for a tan are determined to find ways of getting round the law banning under-18s from using sunbeds, according to a new study from Cancer Research UK published in the Journal of Public Health.

During focus groups,* 15-18 year old girls who regularly used sunbeds were asked questions that explored their motivation to use them, their attitudes towards supervision and their knowledge of the health risks. The study found that their desire to get a tan overcame any misgivings about the potential health risks.

Participants said that having a tan made them feel more confident, look healthier and was an important consideration for special events. And when it came to the health risks, most teenagers knew about the potential dangers but were happy to accept or ignore them.

Dr Jeffrey Lake, public health consultant and lead author of the study, said: “The research shows us that the desire for tanned skin in young people is blinding them to the potential long-term health risks associated with regularly using sunbeds.

“We’re finding that their worries are cosmetic when they should really be thinking about the unseen damage they’re inflicting on themselves.”

In 2010, a Cancer Research UK study revealed that a quarter of a million children in England between the ages of 11 and 17 were regularly using sunbeds.** In 2011, legislation in England and Wales made it illegal for under 18s to use sunbeds.

But the law in England risks falling short because it is difficult to ensure that tanning salons are supervised by trained staff who can stop teenagers from using potentially harmful equipment and warn customers about health risks.

Catherine Thomson, head of statistical information at Cancer Research UK and co-author of the study, said: “It’s worrying to see that, in some areas of the UK, half of all 15-17 year old girls are using sunbeds on a regular basis.

“Introducing the legislation banning sunbed use by under 18s was vital to protect younger people from the harmful effects of UV. But proper supervision in salons is essential to combat the determination of teenagers to get round laws that are there for their own protection.”

The findings are published just over a week before Cancer Research UK launches its R UV UGLY? campaign for a second time in England.  As part of the campaign, people will be offered free cosmetic skin scans at sk:n clinics across the country.  Specialist skin-scanning technology will be used to highlight the hidden cosmetic damage lurking beneath the skin’s surface, such as pigmentation and premature wrinkles, caused by overexposure to UV both from sunbeds and the sun.

Yinka Ebo, senior health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “This study shows that we need to persuade teenagers that damaging their health really isn’t justified by the promise of a tan.

“Sunbeds aren’t harmless and research has showed that using them for the first time before the age of 35 increases the risk of developing melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, by 59 per cent.”

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Cancer death rates over a third higher in men than women

Tuesday 29 January 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Men are over 35 per cent more likely to die from cancer than women in the UK, according to a new report1 released today .

The report showed that 202 men per 100,000 died from cancer compared to 147 per 100,000 women in 2010.

And this difference is even starker when breast cancer and sex-specific cancers such as prostate, testicular and ovarian cancers are removed from the analysis – men were then 67 per cent more likely to die from the disease.

The analysis also showed that men are almost twice as likely as women to die from liver cancer and almost three times as likely to die from oesophageal cancer.

This contrast in cancer death rates between the sexes may be down to more men being diagnosed with types of cancers that are harder to treat such as cancers of the bladder, liver and oesophagus.

The report – presented at the Men’s Health Forum conference in London and produced by Cancer Research UK, the Men’s Health Forum and the National Cancer Intelligence Network – also highlighted that men of a working age, under 65, were 58 per cent more likely to die from cancers that affect both men and women.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in men in the UK with around 82,500 men losing their life to the disease every year.

Professor Alan White, chairman of the Men’s Health Forum and co-author of the report based at Leeds Metropolitan University, said: “The impact cancer has on younger men is often overlooked, but these are men whose life is cut too short by the disease. Our report highlights just how big a problem cancer is and highlights the need to understand the reasons why men are more likely to die of cancer. It’s crucial that the NHS leads the way in taking a more proactive approach to prevent men both getting and dying from cancer prematurely.

“The Men’s Health Forum is campaigning for a better explanation for these differences and more male-focused cancer prevention work so that fewer men are struck down by cancer.”

Research has previously shown that more than 40 per cent of cancers in men could be prevented by changes to lifestyle. A second report, also released today at the conference by Cancer Research UK, highlights the impact various lifestyle factors have on a man’s risk of developing cancer. It shows that smoking remains the largest preventable cause of cancer, responsible for 36,500 cancers in men every year.

After smoking, being overweight, drinking alcohol and poor diets are the most important causes of cancer in men.

Catherine Thomson, Cancer Research UK’s head of statistics and co-author of the reports, said: “Our work highlights the cancer toll for men across the UK. This needs action and Cancer Research UK is supporting a range of research into men’s cancers. We’re one of the UK’s largest funders of research into prostate and testicular cancers and this work is leading to new and better treatments.

“Men can help stack the odds of avoiding cancer in their favour by quitting smoking, cutting down on alcohol and eating plenty of fruit and vegetables.”

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Docetaxel significantly increases survival for incurable gastric cancers

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Survival for advanced stomach and oesophagael cancer patients increases by 40 per cent when treated with the chemotherapy drug, Docetaxel* – providing evidence to prescribe it as a second-line treatment, according to the results of a Cancer Research UK trial presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Gastrointestinal cancers symposium today (Wednesday)**.

Patients with the advanced disease who do not respond to the initial standard treatment of platinum and fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy have very low survival – around four months. And in all patients with advanced disease and most of those with early disease (70 per cent) their cancer will eventually progress further after chemotherapy.

But these new results show that patients taking Docetaxel lived, on average, more than 40 per cent longer – 5.2 months compared with 3.6 months. The drug improved symptoms, without affecting quality of life.

Docetaxel is a chemotherapy drug usually given to treat breast, prostate and non-small cell lung cancer.

The trial, called COUGAR-02 was coordinated by the Cambridge Cancer Trials Centre at Addenbrooke’s hospital.

It recruited 168 patients from 31 UK hospitals with incurable oesophageal or stomach cancer after initial therapy.

They were then randomly assigned either chemotherapy for up to 18 weeks with Docetaxel, or symptom-control treatment with no chemotherapy.

Chief investigator Dr Hugo Ford, Cancer Research UK-funded clinician at Cambridge University Hospitals, said: “This is important progress for stomach and oesophageal cancer patients. At the moment there aren’t any options for gastric cancer patients whose first round of treatments haven’t worked and there’s an urgent need for new drugs.

“But for the first time we’ve shown that giving further chemotherapy can not only improve survival but also maintain quality of life and reduce pain.

“It’s incredibly hard as a clinician telling a patient with advanced disease that there are no treatments that will work for them. So it’s fantastic that these results will provide new hope and valuable extra time for people and their families who otherwise would have no option other than pain management drugs.”

Each year more than 12,000 people die from oesophagus or stomach cancer in the UK. Stomach cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide.

Kate Law, Cancer Research UK’s director of clinical research, said: “These exciting results from our trial provide the evidence that Docetaxel is effective when patient’s initial treatment for advanced stomach cancer wasn’t effective.  

“Our scientists were among the first to show that the major cause of stomach cancer is a common infection of the stomach lining by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). This work has underpinned current research aimed at preventing stomach cancer. And we’re delighted that this latest study will provide new, long overdue treatment options for these patients.

“We hope that Docetaxel can be made available on the NHS as soon as possible to treat the disease.”

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Prostate cancer lifetime risk trebles in 25 years

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Boys born in 2015 will have almost three times the risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their lives than those born in 1990.

Latest figures* from Cancer Research UK show that the lifetime risk of prostate cancer will rise from five per cent (1 in 20) for boys born in 1990 to just over 14 per cent (1 in 7) for boys born in 2015.

This is largely due to increased use of the Prostate Specific Antigen Test (PSA). This test detects a wide variety of prostate cancers, including those which will never be life-threatening, as well as aggressive forms of the disease, but unfortunately, it does not distinguish between the two.

PSA testing has rapidly boosted the number of men being diagnosed with the disease. Today, around 41,000 men per year are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK – up from around 15,000 men per year 25 years ago.

But the rise in prostate cancer diagnoses isn’t just because of increased testing. Higher numbers of prostate cancer cases are also due to more men living to an older age, when the disease is most likely to develop.  

The good news is that death rates from prostate cancer in the UK are 18 per cent lower than they were 20 years ago**. This is likely to be because of improved treatments and PSA tests which can help diagnose cancers earlier, when the chances of survival are greater. Today, around 10,700 men die each year from prostate cancer in the UK.

Research has lead to more widespread and earlier use of hormone treatments prescribed since the early 1990s. More recently, a range of new hormone treatments have been developed to prolong life – such as abiraterone which was approved by NICE in May 2012 to treat patients with advanced disease, and which is a drug which Cancer Research UK scientists helped to develop.

Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK’s prostate cancer expert, said: “We’re detecting more cases of prostate cancer than ever before. And we’re carrying out an intensive amount of research to find better methods than PSA to distinguish between the minority of cases that are life threatening and do need treatment – the vipers – from the majority of cases that don’t – the grass snakes. But there is much more to be done.

“Targeting the tests at men who have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer might be a better approach than screening all men. Research has already saved lives from prostate cancer. But there is uncertainty over the best approach to treating some forms of the disease. Surgery and radiotherapy - with their potential side effects – is one option, to be balanced against the option of careful monitoring with regular checkups."

Cancer Research UK’s scientists have carried out research that suggests a protein called MSMB (Beta-microseminoprotein) may be better at identifying men at higher risk of developing the disease. But more work is needed to prove if this test could be useful.

Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “Thanks to people’s generosity, our world-class scientists are leading the way to understand why some cancers are aggressive and others aren’t. We need to build on the great progress already made and develop more targeted treatments for those men whose disease is life-threatening. We also need to develop better tests that will help us to know when to leave harmless forms of the disease alone.”

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Israeli researchers developing BRCA 'radiation' test

Tuesday 22 January 2013

A new blood test that measures cells’ response to radiation could detect inherited faults in a person’s BRCA genes, according to Israeli researchers.

Rather than directly analysing an individual’s DNA, the scientists propose the new test could identify at-risk people with mutations that current methods find hard to spot.

But others cautioned that the method, while promising, would need significant development and testing before it could replace existing methods, which rely on DNA sequencing.

Discovered in the 1980s, the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are found in all human cells, and normally make proteins that are involved in cell division and DNA repair - two processes that go wrong in cancer.

As a result, people who inherit faulty copies of either gene have a significantly increased risk of breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, and these cancers often run in their families. About five in every hundred breast cancers are thought to be caused by an inherited BRCA gene.

At the moment, DNA samples from members of affected families can be tested, and carriers offered extra monitoring or treatment.

But the test relies on being able to predict whether a fault is likely to be harmful, by comparing the DNA analysis against previously known mutations.

This has disadvantages, says study author Dr Asher Salmon, from the the Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem.

"The current tool for mutation detection is gene sequencing, which is expensive, time-consuming and, in many cases, lacking clear and decisive clinical decision making information," he said.

"In many cases, [it] identifies a mutation, but we do not know if the mutation is neutral or harmful."

Since they are unable to repair damaged DNA, cells that contain faulty BRCA genes are more sensitive to radiation. So Salmon's team tested whether this response could be used as a marker for faulty BRCA genes.

Initially analysing blood samples from nine healthy women with a mutated BRCA1 gene and eight healthy women with a mutated BRCA2 gene, they developed a 'signature' of the cells' response to radiation, made up of a number of genes that were switched on or off in response to radiation.

They then confirmed this signature's presence in radiation-treated blood samples from an independent group of 40 women who were carriers of mutated BRCA1 and/or BRCA2, but absent from 17 non-carrier women.

The test correctly identified 95 percent of BRCA carriers, and 88 percent of non-carriers.

According to Salmon, the test can show whether an individual carries a cancer-linked fault, regardless of the specific mutation they carry. In addition, it could be extremely useful across the developing world, where expensive gene-sequencing equipment may not be accessible.

However, Cancer Research UK’s Dr Julie Sharp urged caution.

"This is a very preliminary finding. The current test - DNA sequencing - is easy to standardise across different labs, whereas this new method would require substantial expertise and training to make sure its results were as consistent between labs.

"And we don't currently know whether there are indeed significant numbers of families out there who are unidentified carriers of BRCA mutations, who would not be picked up by existing methods."  

"That said, if further development goes as planned, this could be a useful technique to spot BRCA mutation carriers under certain circumstances."

The research is published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research

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Alliance of translational research centres established to accelerate global drug development

Monday 21 January 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Alliance of translational research centres established to accelerate global drug development
Six of the world’s top translational health research centres today announced that they have come together to form a new Global Alliance of Leading Drug Discovery and Development Centres. The aim of this alliance is to strengthen the international academic and/or not-for-profit drug development and commercialisation network to ultimately improve the rate at which academic research is translated into new medicines.

The founding organisations are:

• Cancer Research Technology, United Kingdom
• The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), Canada
• Lead Discovery Center (LDC), Germany
• The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Florida, United States
• The Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3), KU Leuven R&D, Belgium
• Medical Research Council Technology, United Kingdom

All member organisations are fully-integrated translational centres capable of professionally advancing drug discovery projects along the value chain from idea to drug candidate with proof-of-concept.  Together, they represent close to 400 experienced drug developers collaborating with tens of thousands of academic scientists around the globe on over 165 highly innovative therapeutic projects targeting significant unmet medical needs. For the biopharmaceutical industry, they represent a major source of innovation. Numerous alliances with many of the industry’s leading global companies have been established to develop resulting drug candidates further and ultimately make them available to patients.

Through this Alliance, member organisations will collaborate on mutually-beneficial projects, share best practices, expertise and resources, and develop common standards and performance measurements – ultimately working together to improve the conversion of global early-stage technology into much needed therapies.

Karimah Es Sabar, President and CEO of CDRD commented, “We see a multitude of translational research initiatives around the world, but until now, these have for the most part, worked in isolation of one another. This Alliance will be a powerful vehicle in bringing such organizations together, leveraging one another’s strengths, and ultimately making for a much more effective global translational research environment.”  

Dr Keith Blundy, chief executive officer, Cancer Research Technology, said: “Cancer Research Technology has historically worked to advance drug discovery opportunities from diverse academic sources including those in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. This alliance of leading centres fits perfectly with our aim to grow this activity, to share our knowledge and to learn from others with the ultimate goal of providing more and better drugs for cancer patients.”

For additional information visit www.drugdevelopmentalliance.org on the Global Alliance of Leading Drug Discovery and Development Centres.

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Cancer Research UK takes investigational multi-cancer drug from laboratory into unique trial

Friday 18 January 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office (DDO), in partnership with AstraZeneca, has opened a unique three-armed study of a new investigational drug called AZD0424 that is being tested for the treatment of a range of cancers.

This first-ever phase I trial of the AstraZeneca-owned drug is led from the Oxford Cancer Research UK Cancer Centre based at the Churchill Hospital. 

It will recruit up to 30 patients, initially across all solid tumour types. Later the design of the trial will be adapted, enabling the study to separate into three separate ‘personalised’ arms. 

Each of these future arms will test AZD0424 in different combinations alongside standard or other experimental treatments in specific patient populations. The Edinburgh and Belfast Cancer Research UK Centres are also involved as clinical sites, carrying out research to guide the drugs to be used in combination with AZD0424 and the specific patient groups involved in the trial.

This is the first time the DDO has undertaken an adaptive design trial of this type - one where the planned combination treatment to be given to patients is modified as the trial progresses.

Study leader, Professor Adrian Harris, Cancer Research UK clinician at the University of Oxford, said: “This unique study design means that for the first time, we’re able to monitor the data we receive in the first phase of the trial and feed this back into the study to adapt it as it’s happening – rather than having to wait until it ends – which could be several years.

This exciting approach will hopefully accelerate development to give us a better chance of identifying the most effective ways to use the drug either alone or in combination in specific patient groups.”   

AZD0424 works by blocking two proteins called Src and ABL1 – found in high levels in cancer cells. The proteins have an important role in cell growth and blood vessel development. Laboratory studies have shown that AZD0424 blocks these proteins, preventing delivery of nutrients via blood vessels to cancer cells – stopping their growth.

Cancer Research UK has carried out the preclinical development work of AZD0424 through the charity’s Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) scheme. CDP is a joint initiative between the DDO and the charity’s commercial arm, Cancer Research Technology, to put drugs that otherwise would not be developed by pharmaceutical companies through early phase clinical trials. 

The scheme lets companies keep the background rights to their programmes while enabling Cancer Research UK to take on early development work, to see if there is a benefit to cancer patients.

Graham Richmond, AZD0424 project leader at AstraZeneca, said: “Collaborations such as this between AstraZeneca and Cancer Research UK are critical in the fight against cancer. By joining forces and combining our assets with external expertise, it means we can bring forward a wider range of experimental compounds than we could do simply using our own resources and - as a result - patients get access to a trial of a potential new cancer treatment earlier.

“AstraZeneca was the first pharmaceutical company to have a strategic alliance with Cancer Research UK focused on developing novel combinations of experimental cancer drugs through early phase clinical trials.”

The trial is also supported by the National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, and the Cancer Research UK and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Network.

Dr Vicky John, head of clinical partnerships, at Cancer Research UK’s DDO, said: “We’re delighted that our unique CDP scheme has made it possible to launch the first trial of this promising drug.

“We’re enormously proud of our successes so far from the initiative, which allows us to work alongside industry to take on and develop deprioritised potential cancer treatments – which otherwise may not have reached patients for many years.

“There are now eight drugs in our CDP portfolio – including a multipeptide vaccine, a monoclonal antibody and other molecularly targeted drugs. Four treatments have already successfully entered trials** with others scheduled to open early 2013. This demonstrates how our strong collaborations with international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have provided new experimental drugs for patients on trials, for whom existing drugs no longer work.  

“We intend to continue to seek future partnerships, to develop more potential drugs and ultimately achieve our goal to save more lives from cancer.”

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Sunbed skin cancer risk double that of mediterranean midday summer sun

Thursday 17 January 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

The average skin cancer risk from sunbeds is more than double that of spending the same length of time in the Mediterranean midday summer sun – according to new research1 from the University of Dundee and published today in the British Journal of Dermatology.

The study tested levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from 400 sunbeds in England and found that nine in ten of the sunbeds tested emitted UV radiation at levels above British and EU standards. The average strength of radiation was approaching twice the recommended limit.

The Cancer Research UK study also compared the skin cancer risk from using these sunbeds with the risk from the Mediterranean midday summer sun. The average skin cancer risk from the sunbeds tested was more than twice that of spending the same length of time in the Mediterranean midday summer sun, with one of the sunbeds producing a skin cancer risk six times higher than the sun.

Professor Harry Moseley, consultant medical physicist at University of Dundee and lead author, said: “The development of high-power sunlamps, along with clear failures of the sunbed industry to regulate themselves effectively, is putting young people at an even greater risk of skin cancer than we previously thought.

“We hope that these findings will make people think twice before using sunbeds as you can’t be sure how much radiation you’re exposing yourself to when you try to top-up a tan. People need to be encouraged to take better care of their skin, otherwise the cases of malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, will continue to increase in England.”

Yinka Ebo, senior health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s worrying to see that so many sunbeds in England are not meeting the safety standards. This strengthens our advice that using a sunbed just isn’t worth it.

“Research has already shown that using sunbeds for the first time before the age of 35 increases the risk of malignant melanoma by 87 per cent. They’re not going to do you any good – the best case scenario is that they’ll age and damage your skin; the worst case scenario is a cancer diagnosis and potentially death.”

The strength of UV from sunbeds was found to be no different in those areas where the licensing of sunbeds is required compared to unlicensed areas.

The British and European standard2 was introduced in 2003 and sets out a maximum level of UV radiation to be emitted by sunbeds used for cosmetic purposes. The findings suggest that there is much more work for local authorities to do to ensure that standards are being met by tanning businesses.

Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists explained: “Product safety standards are there to protect the public and the government needs to step up its regulation of the industry.

“England is sadly trailing behind the rest of the UK in this matter. We need proper regulation, covering issues like safety of equipment and health warnings for clients and enforceable through inspections of premises.”

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Launch of trial of ‘master switch’ drug to treat several cancer types

Thursday 17 January 2013

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Cancer Research UK and its commercial arm Cancer Research Technology (CRT) are launching a trial of an experimental drug shown to simultaneously block many enzymes that control cancer cell growth and death. 

The ‘master-switch’ experimental drug, owned by Astex Pharmaceuticals, could potentially treat a range of cancer types.

Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office (DDO) will fund, manage and sponsor this early-stage Phase I clinical trial of up to 40 patients at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and The Royal Marsden Hospital.

The drug, AT13148, is one of eight drugs to be developed through Cancer Research UK’s Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) programme- a joint initiative between the charity’s DDO and CRT. 

The programme develops promising cancer drugs that pharmaceutical companies do not have the resources to progress through early phase clinical trials to see if they can benefit cancer patients. Without this programme many promising drugs would be left on the shelves gathering dust.

AT13148 is a type of drug called a kinase inhibitor. Research in the laboratory has shown it can simultaneously block several different enzymes that control cell growth and cell death, and the drug killed a range of cancer cell types including sarcoma, breast and prostate. 

Many drugs block only a single enzyme and scientists hope that switching off cell signals at multiple points at the same time could increase the effectiveness of this drug.

Dr Udai Banerji, Cancer Research UK senior clinical lecturer at The Institute of Cancer Research and honorary consultant in medical oncology at The Royal Marsden, said: “There’s an urgent need to discover and develop new ways to beat cancers that do not respond to the treatments we have at the moment. By targeting cancer cells at a range of weak spots instead of just one, tumours will be less likely to develop resistance to this treatment. We’re very pleased that this multi-target drug has now reached patients in the clinical trial stage.

“It’s thanks to the generosity and time of patients that it’s possible to carry out clinical trials like this that could lead to new treatments for patients in the future.”

The novel agent came into the DDO requiring extensive preclinical development work.

Cancer Research UK scientists at the DDO and those funded at The Institute of Cancer Research demonstrated that the drug would be suitable for patients and, working together with specialist manufacturing organisations, developed a sophisticated method to make the drug in its most basic form. Finally, Cancer Research UK’s Formulation Unit at the University of Strathclyde manufactured the drug for the trial.

The molecule was originally discovered by scientists on the PKB drug discovery programme, a collaboration between Astex Pharmaceuticals, CRT and The Institute of Cancer Research, which ran from 2003 through to 2006.

Harren Jhoti, Astex Pharmaceuticals president and director, said: “We are very gratified with the progress that the collaboration has achieved and that this work has progressed into the clinic.”

Astex Pharmaceuticals can decide to develop the drug further based on the Phase I/IIa clinical trial data. If it chooses not to, Cancer Research Technology has the rights to secure an alternative partner and ensure the drug has every possible chance of reaching patients. The charity will receive a share of revenues generated by the drug to be channelled back into life-saving research.

Dr Victoria John, head of clinical partnerships at Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office, said: “We’re delighted to open the first clinical trial of this experimental drug to find out if it can benefit cancer patients in the future.

“This molecule was brought to us at a very early stage in its development and, with the preclinical work now completed, we’re extremely pleased it’s obtained regulatory approval to enter the clinic.

“We’ve developed this molecule through our Clinical Development Partnerships initiative that has allowed us to form strong links with industry to take this promising drug forward. Without the programme it may have remained undeveloped and the clinical trial simply would not have been possible.”

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Scientists use ‘virtual experiments’ to uncover missing cancer targets

Monday 31 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have identified 46 previously overlooked but potentially ‘druggable’ cancer targets, using a powerful new online approach that allows researchers to carry out ‘virtual experiments’ to quickly prioritise which are the best targets for drug discovery. The findings are published in the journal Nature Reviews Drug Discovery today.

The new approach  - created by researchers at Cancer Research UK’s Cancer Therapeutics Unit at The Institute of Cancer Research, London - combines the use of a unique online database called canSAR with a new tool that allows researchers to compare up to 500 potential drug targets at the same time in minutes.

This will enable scientists all over the world to systematically analyse unprecedented volumes and varieties of data, to uncover new or previously overlooked drug targets with the potential to lead to innovative cancer drugs.

The researchers demonstrated the power of their new strategy by analysing the Sanger Institute’s existing list of 479 cancer genes, revealing a total of 46 potentially druggable cancer proteins that have previously been overlooked for drug discovery, despite their known biological relevance to cancer.

Lead researcher Dr Bissan Al-Lazikani, said: “To find so many overlooked potential new targets for cancer treatments in one project is very surprising. These results show that, using this new approach, we can find targets for cancer drugs in a smarter and faster way than ever before.

“This new way of harnessing genomic data is a key step towards the discovery of the next generation of cancer treatments. It is a stepping stone between research into the fundamental causes of cancer and new drugs delivering benefits to patients.”

Study co-author Professor Paul Workman, director of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit and deputy chief executive at The Institute of Cancer Research, said:

“Our new approach will help researchers worldwide to address three major issues that we face today in developing new cancer drugs for personalised medicine. Firstly, it will empower scientists to select the very best targets that are most likely to lead to successful drugs, thereby increasing the success rate in the clinic. Secondly, it will allow researchers to discover the best new drugs much more quickly and at a lower cost. Thirdly, it will enhance innovation, by helping shift the focus away from the tried and tested drug targets while managing the inevitable risk associated with moving into new and exciting areas. Both patients and the pharmaceutical industry will benefit from these advances.”  

Dr Nigel Blackburn, director of drug development at Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office, said: “A key problem in cancer research at the moment is how to make sense of the wealth of information coming out of cancer genome studies. This exciting new resource provides a strategy by which scientists can combine this information with both structural and chemical data, to select the very best gene targets for future development. Not only will this save time and money, but it also paves the way for research into promising new drug targets that until recently may have been overlooked due to a lack of information.”

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Cancer Research UK Reveals 2012’S Greatest Legacies

Thursday 27 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

The Olympic and Paralympic Games combined are expected to leave the most significant legacy of 2012, according to a survey by Cancer Research UK.*

Almost three-fifths of people (58 per cent) put The Games at the top of their list (46 per cent chose The Olympic Games, and 12 per cent chose The Paralympic Games), whilst the national cheer of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations seems to have been overshadowed with just nine per cent thinking this would be most likely to leave a long-term effect on society.

People’s choices also weren’t entirely positive with one in six (16 per cent) saying that the Euro-zone crisis would leave the most significant legacy from 2012.

• 58 per cent of UK adults feel that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games combined will leave the most significant legacy of 2012 for the UK
• 60 per cent of UK adults think, overall, the significant UK events from 2012 will leave a positive legacy
• 41 per cent of UK adults feel optimistic about what their life will be like in 2013
• 66 per cent of people want to be remembered for their honesty and kindness, compared with only 8 per cent for being rich or successful and 5 per cent for being good looking

The online survey of 2,098 UK adults was carried out by YouGov for Cancer Research UK’s campaign to raise awareness about the importance of legacies or gifts in Wills, which fund over a third of the charity’s life-saving work.

Caroline Kent, director of Legacies at Cancer Research UK, said: “2012 has been a fantastic year with so many exciting events taking place, all of which have sparked a great debate about which will leave the most lasting legacy. We wanted to make the most of this opportunity while legacies are at the forefront of people’s minds to raise awareness of the huge impact leaving your own legacy to charity can make.

“Legacies left to us at Cancer Research UK have been crucial to achieving the progress we’ve made, with survival rates doubling over the last 40 years. We rely on people’s generosity, with gifts in Wills making a significant contribution to our work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer to help bring forward the day when all types of cancer are cured.”

When people were asked what they would most like to have done and be remembered for, winning gold at the Olympics came out on top with a quarter (26 per cent) of the vote. What’s more, the importance of scientific research resonated with the public with 16 per cent saying they would have liked to have been responsible for catching a first glimpse of the Higgs Boson particle – possibly one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time. However, very few wanted to be named in the history books for their daredevil antics. Only two per cent said they would have liked to make their name breaking the sound barrier without machine assistance as Felix Baumgartner did when he leapt from space in October.

The study also asked respondents how positive they felt about the events of 2012. Despite the banking crisis, phone hacking scandal and flooding devastating the homes of many across the UK, this survey suggests that the national pride inspired by the Olympic legacy has helped positivity prevail across the nation as the year draws to a close. Three in five (60 per cent) say they think that overall 2012 will leave a positive legacy and around four in 10 (41 per cent) feel optimistic about what their lives will be like in 2013.

When asked to choose from a list of traits to be remembered for, nearly two thirds of people (66 per cent) chose honesty and kindness, compared with just eight per cent for being successful or rich. Faithfulness and loyalty (45 per cent), and being a good parent (44 per cent) were also popular choices while people were less likely to want to be remembered for being clever (16 per cent) or good looking (five per cent).

There was a startling difference between how the older and younger generations would like to be remembered. Of those aged 18-24, more than four in 10 (43 per cent) wanted to be remembered for being clever compared to less than one in 10 (8 per cent) of the 55s and over. What’s more, 14 per cent of those aged 18-24 wanted to be remembered for being good looking whereas amongst the 55s and over this had dropped to only one per cent. Interestingly, the 55s and over were also much less likely to want to be remembered for making a difference to society (17 per cent) compared to those aged 18-24 (41 per cent).

Kent added: “It’s clear from the results of this survey that besides the differences shown between generations in how they would wish to be remembered, most people want to be remembered for being honest and kind.  We would like to encourage everyone to think about what their own legacy could be. A gift in your Will to help us beat cancer is one way of creating a lasting legacy today which will benefit millions in years to come. By remembering Cancer Research UK in your Will you can be part of the collective force leading pioneering research to save more lives by preventing, controlling and curing cancer."

Find out more information about leaving a legacy to Cancer Research UK at www.cruk.org/legacies.

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Bowel cancer gene discovery cracks mystery of families with a strong history of the disease

Sunday 23 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Cancer Research UK-funded scientists have discovered that two gene faults increase the risk of bowel cancer in families with a strong history of developing the disease, who, until now, had no explanation as to why their risk was greater. The research is published in Nature Genetics1.

To find the faults, the researchers from the University of Oxford and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, scanned the genes of 20 people2 from families with a strong history of bowel cancer. They found everyone who had a faulty POLE or POLD1 gene developed bowel cancer or had a precancerous growth in the bowel.

The two genes are so-called ‘dominant’ genes, where only one faulty copy needs to be inherited for someone to be at a high risk of developing bowel cancer.

To confirm their findings they then looked for the faults in almost 4,000 people with bowel cancer and 6,700 without the disease. Neither of the faults were found in people without bowel cancer, while 12 people with the POLE gene were found in the bowel cancer group and one person had a POLD1 gene fault.  

The POLD1 fault was also found to increase the risk of getting womb cancer and possibly brain tumours with seven people in the study being diagnosed with womb cancer and one developing two brain tumours.

Cancer Research UK’s Professor Ian Tomlinson, lead researcher based at the University of Oxford, said: “There are some families where large numbers of relatives develop bowel cancer but who don’t have any of the known gene faults that raise the risk of developing the disease.

“These two faults are rare, but if you inherit them your chance of bowel cancer is high. By testing people with a strong family history of the disease for these faults, we can identify those who are at high risk and try to prevent the disease by using colonoscopy and other methods.”

POLE and POLD1 are involved in scanning and repairing damage to DNA, removing incorrect sequences from the DNA chain. Without these genes, affected individuals build up damage in their DNA which can cause bowel cancer.

Study co-leader Professor Richard Houlston from The Institute of Cancer Research said: “Uncovering gene faults like these two is extremely important, as inherited susceptibility plays a role in the development of about a third of all cases of colorectal cancer.

“This is one of the most important discoveries in bowel cancer genetics in years. It should allow us to manage families affected by inherited bowel cancer much more effectively, and it offers new clues for the prevention or treatment of all forms of the disease.”

Joe Wiegand, a financial advisor from Hampshire, was diagnosed with bowel cancer seven and a half years ago at just 28 years old. Joe had most of his large bowel removed and six months of chemotherapy. His treatment was successful and he is now followed up once a year with a sigmoidoscopy. As many of Joe’s relatives had also had bowel cancer, during his treatment he was invited to take part in this study to investigate genetic faults that may be behind his cancer.

Joe said: “There’s a very strong history of bowel cancer in my family – my dad’s mother and sister both had it, my dad was diagnosed with it at 43 and a few cousins have had bowel cancers and brain tumours. It’s clear that something’s going on in our family. I hope that taking part in this study will spare my two children the uncertainty of not knowing if they have this gene fault by having a simple yes or no blood test.”

Dr Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “This research provides another piece of the puzzle for families who have a much greater risk of developing bowel cancer.

“Cancer Research UK scientists have played an important role in finding the gene faults that increase cancer risk. Their work means doctors can help families with a strong family history by preventing cancer from developing or diagnosing it earlier to help more people survive.”

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World-first tissue study could re-shape future of advanced prostate cancer treatment

Thursday 20 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

The first-ever comprehensive study of prostate cancer tissue has revealed a completely new gene network driving the disease in patients who have stopped responding to standard hormone treatment, according to Cancer Research UK research published today in Cancer Cell.

Surgeons at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, at the University of Cambridge studied tissue samples from men with prostate cancer. They discovered that a protein called the androgen receptor fuels advanced prostate cancer by switching on genes previously not linked with the disease. These findings reveal potential new drug targets and markers that could be used to monitor progression of the cancer.

Prostate cancer is mainly driven by androgens – the male sex hormones – which send messages through the androgen receptor into the cells and tissues. When these messages are faulty they can trigger cancer cell division.

Standard treatment for prostate cancer includes blocking these androgens. But some men become resistant to the drugs – developing what is known as castrate-resistant prostate cancer.

Previous cell studies have shown that the androgen receptor attaches to and ‘switches on’ specific genes to drive cancer.

But this tissue study reveals, for the first time, that when androgen is absent from the bloodstream, the androgen receptor continues to fuel the disease by switching on a completely different gene set. This includes genes associated with the production of glucose and fat.

Study author, Naomi Sharma, Urology Academic Registrar at Addenbrooke’s Hospital based at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, said: “This is the first comprehensive tissue study of its kind and shines a new light on the biology of prostate cancer.

“Our understanding so far comes from studies in cells grown in the laboratory. In this sophisticated study using samples directly from patients, we’ve uncovered a much more complex network of cell messages. These messages switch on a completely different set of genes that continue to drive the disease in men for whom standard hormone treatments have stopped working.

“These important findings provide fresh targets for the development of new drugs to treat advanced stages of prostate cancer, and new ‘flags’ to help doctors track the progression of the disease in patients.”

Up to 41,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year – the most common cancer in UK men – and around 10,700 men die from the disease each year.  

Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK’s prostate cancer expert, said: “This fascinating research reframes our understanding of how the androgen receptor works – painting a very different picture of how it drives cancer.

“I run clinical trials aiming to help men with prostate cancer so I’m keenly aware of the need to find new ways for us to deal with the disease.

“We helped to develop abiraterone – an important new drug for treating men with advanced disease. And it’s thanks to the generosity of our supporters, that we’re able to fund cutting-edge research like this, which is helping us work towards a day when cancer is cured.”

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Men's cancer risk to climb to one in two as research drives up survival

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

A man's lifetime risk of developing cancer is set to reach one in two by 2027 according to new Cancer Research UK figures released today (Wednesday).

This prediction means that within 15 years 50 men out of every 100 are likely to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime as opposed to 44 out of every 100 in 2010.

Women’s lifetime cancer risk is also increasing and is predicted to rise from 40 to 44 out of every 100 women by 2027.

Set against this is the fact that cancer survival has doubled in the last 40 years thanks to research developing better techniques to detect the disease and improved treatments to increase survival. So while the risk of being diagnosed with cancer is rising, the overall chance of surviving it is improving.

Age is the biggest risk factor for cancer and the increase in risk is largely due to more people living longer.  As our lifespan increases more people will reach an age when they are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer.

These projections are released ahead of a new Cancer Research UK TV advertising campaign launching on Boxing Day that is designed to highlight that it is only through research that cancer will be beaten.

The cancers set to increase most in the next 15 years include prostate, bowel and melanoma.

Prostate cancer remains a continuing challenge. Cases of the disease are rising but it is not yet possible to distinguish which prostate cancers will be life-threatening and which won’t.

Professor Malcolm Mason, Cancer Research UK’s prostate cancer expert, said: “Prostate cancer needs research. We have many questions and research is key to providing answers about the disease. As our population ages, growing numbers of men will be diagnosed with the disease. Over the last 40 years prostate cancer incidence rates in Great Britain have tripled, and three-quarters of cases are diagnosed in men aged over 65 years.”

One example of where research may lead us is the earlier work from Cancer Research UK scientists that indicates a protein called MSMB may help identify men at greater risk of prostate cancer. The researchers showed that this protein seems more accurately linked to prostate cancer than the marker currently tested for – the prostate specific antigen (PSA).

Professor Mason added: “It’s men at higher risk of the disease who might benefit most from screening, and targeting screening to these men could be a better approach than screening all men. Further work is needed to prove if this test could be useful but it’s only through continued research that we’ll be able to offer improved tests to reduce the number of men who die from the disease.”

Research has also already led to an improvement in the way bowel cancer is diagnosed and prevented. A 16-year Cancer Research UK trial which showed how a one-off flexi-scope test* could reduce the number of deaths from bowel cancer by almost half (43 per cent), and the number of new cases by a third, in those who take up the screening test.

Professor Wendy Atkin, Cancer Research UK’s bowel cancer screening expert who led the research on flexi-scope screening, said: “Our research showed for the first time that we could dramatically reduce the incidence of bowel cancer, and the number of people dying from the disease, by using this one-off test.

“Our work is a fantastic example of the benefits that research can bring. There is no other way we would be able to develop new treatments, know whether a new treatment is better or worse and know who should receive it.”

Work by Cancer Research UK and others around the world has led to a number of promising new treatments for advanced melanoma that are bringing hope to patients. It is also critical to continue efforts to prevent the disease, as most cases are caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and sunbeds.

Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “These figures provide a glimpse into the future.   On the plus side our life expectancy is increasing but this also means more of us are likely to be diagnosed with cancer.

“It’s only through research that we will be able to beat cancer. We need to do more work to understand what drives cancer and how we can prevent it, as well as developing new treatments to reduce the number of people who will die from it.

“Understanding the biology of cancer is rather like completing a complex jigsaw puzzle. Many pieces have already fallen into place but we need more research before we can complete the picture.  And thanks to the generosity of the public, our world class scientists are playing a leading role in beating this devastating disease.”

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Study shows starving cancer cells of key nutrient slows tumour growth

Monday 17 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Depriving cancer cells of a key amino acid dramatically cuts their ability to grow and multiply, according to a new Cancer Research UK study published in Nature.

Scientists at Cancer Research UK’s Beatson Institute looked at how cancer cells are able to survive and continue growing when starved of the amino acid serine. Cells are normally able to make serine themselves, but the team at the Beatson found that tumours lacking the p53 protein – which is faulty in at least half of all cancers – could not adapt to this switch and so grew at a much slower rate.

The p53 protein was first discovered by Cancer Research UK scientists and is often referred to as the ‘guardian of the genome’ as it halts the growth of damaged cells, activates DNA repair or triggers cell death.

The findings suggest that by targeting the ways which cancer cells use to generate the energy and building blocks needed to grow, new approaches to treat cancers could be developed.

Dr Oliver Maddocks, lead researcher based at Cancer Research UK’s Beatson Institute, said: “We know that the p53 protein blocks the growth of cancer cells, but we are increasingly aware that p53 has a ‘split personality’. When cells are starved of key nutrients p53 helps them adapt, and could be helping cancer cells survive.  

“Gaining insights of this interplay between cell metabolism and p53 may help us to identify new ways to treat cancer. Reducing the availability of serine to cancer cells, particularly those lacking p53, is a promising new concept, but we’re still a long way from knowing whether this could work in patients.”

Cancer cells take up large amounts of serine and use it as a building block to quickly grow and generate new cells. This research builds on previous work at the Beatson Institute that found that levels of serine in cancer cells controls a key step in energy production.

Professor Nic Jones, Cancer Research UK’s chief scientist, said: “This work shows how we’re still learning more about the role p53 can play in cancer, 30 years on from its discovery by Cancer Research UK scientists.

"Understanding how cancer cells are able to generate the extra energy and molecular building blocks to grow rapidly is becoming an important area of research. Disrupting cell metabolism could lead to a whole new arsenal of drugs to treat cancer and Cancer Research UK scientists are at the forefront of this research.”  

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Thyroid cancer cases double in 20 years

Friday 14 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

The number of people diagnosed with thyroid cancer in England has doubled since the early 1990s, according to a new report published by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) today (Friday).

Between 1990 and 1994 around 900 people (1.7 per 100,000 people) were diagnosed with thyroid cancer every year in England. By 2006-10 this figure increased to 1,950 (3.4 per 100,000 people). But, thanks to effective treatments, survival rate have remained high, at around 90 per cent.

Researchers from the Oxford Cancer Intelligence Unit found that most of this increase has been seen in a particular type of thyroid cancer called papillary cancer. This form of the disease has the best prognosis.

The rise has been linked to increased diagnosis of the disease through better techniques such as ultrasound and fine needle biopsies that can pick up much smaller cancers and possibly a ‘real’ rise in the number of people developing thyroid cancer.

Mr David Chadwick, consultant endocrine surgeon at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Chair of the NCIN Thyroid Working Group, said: “The exact reason behind this steep rise in thyroid cancer cases remains unclear. We now have more sensitive diagnostic techniques so it could be that more cancers are being picked up when patients are being tested for other conditions. And, this could mean that we’re detecting and treating some cancers that would otherwise not have shown up during a person’s life.

“We may also be seeing a ‘real’ increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer, some of which may be due to improved long-term survival of other cancers previously treated with radiotherapy to the neck or chest. Sadly, older forms of radiotherapy had a side-effect that increased the risk of other cancers later in life.”

The report also showed that thyroid cancer is three times more common in women than in men1. For men and women one year survival rates had increased, by nine per cent for men to 88.3 per cent and by 15 per cent for women to 94.3 per cent.

Unlike most cancers, thyroid cancer is most often picked up in people aged between 20 and 59, particularly for the papillary form of the disease, with those aged 30 and 54 having the highest rates.

Treatment for thyroid cancer most commonly includes surgery to remove the thyroid and is often followed up with radioactive iodine. This acts as a ‘targeted treatment’ as the iodine is only taken up by thyroid cancer cells, ultimately killing them.

While this treatment approach has meant that most people with thyroid cancer are successfully treated, there are some forms of the disease that have a very poor prognosis.

Currently, it is difficult for doctors to predict the behaviour of thyroid cancer in an individual patient, which means that most patients will require thyroid surgery.

Chris Carrigan, head of the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN), said: “This increase in the number of people being diagnosed with thyroid cancer reflects a trend that we’re seeing in other countries. While thyroid cancer is generally a very treatable disease, there is a lot we don’t understand about it. We need to better understand the different forms of the disease so that doctors can predict which patients need more aggressive treatment and which don’t.”

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Improved treatments for chronic myeloid leukaemia have dramatically increased survival

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Survival for people diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) has risen by nearly half, with around 58 per cent of people surviving their disease for at least five years compared with only around 40 per cent in the late 1990s, according to a new report from the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN), published today.

The improvements are largely down to a family of drugs called Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) which have now become the standard treatment for the disease. The first of these was imatinib (Glivec), which was licensed in 2001.

The Northern and Yorkshire Cancer Registry and Information Service (NYCRIS), on behalf of the NCIN Haematology Site Specific Clinical Reference Group (SSCRG), looked at the rates of people in England getting, dying from and surviving a range of different blood cancers between 1995 and 2008. And it is the first national study in England to look at survival for different types of leukaemia.

For patients diagnosed with CML, researchers found that the chance of surviving the disease for at least five years after diagnosis rose from 41 per cent to 57 per cent in men and from 38 per cent to 59 per cent in women between the late 1990s and the early 2000s1.

CML is a relatively rare form of leukaemia2 that mostly affects older people, with around 700 cases diagnosed in the UK every year3.

Dr Robin Ireland, chair of the SSCRG at the NCIN, said: “It’s really exciting to see the enormous difference new drugs can make in treating cancer. And, as this new data shows, TKI’s can be considered a revolutionary treatment for Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia.  

“Basic research has given us a greater biological understanding of cancer tumours, which has led to the development of successful targeted cancer drugs that are now the first line treatment for CML. TKIs target cancer cells by blocking the molecules they make, which stops them from multiplying. These drugs have completely changed the outlook for patients with this disease and it’s the first example of our improved understanding of cell molecular biology leading to the design of a specific inhibitor of the disease.”

Dr Steven Oliver, Haematological Cancer Epidemiology Lead at NYCRIS and lead author of the report, said: “This report shows that, although the number of people developing Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia hasn’t changed much since 2001, survival from the disease has greatly improved.

“What’s even more promising is that, in the last four years, second and third generations of these drugs have been developed. We believe more and more CML patients have been receiving TKI’s and we’d predict that the improvements in survival should be even greater in the future.”

Chris Carrigan, head of the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN), said: “Being able to link data on the diagnosis, treatment and outcomes for cancer patients allows us to identify where improved cancer care is having an effect on peoples lives. The improvements in survival demonstrated here highlight the difference that effective treatments can make.”

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Inherited gene fault influences breast cancer survival

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Researchers have shown that an inherited gene fault influences the chances of some women surviving breast cancer. It also increases the risk of women developing a second breast cancer. The research is published in this week’s Journal of Clinical Oncology1.

The scientists, funded by Cancer Research UK, found that women with the fault, and who had the oestrogen-receptor-positive form of breast cancer, were more likely to die from the disease - 62 out of 100 women who carry the fault will be alive ten years after being diagnosed compared with 73 of 100 who do not carry the fault.

The research also found that women with the fault were more likely to develop a second cancer. In the study, 24 per cent of women with the fault developed a second breast cancer compared to seven per cent without the fault2.

The gene fault, called CHEK2*1100delC, creates a faulty protein that interrupts a cell’s ability to repair damaged DNA, so increasing the number of DNA mistakes that can lead to cancer.

The fault is carried by about one per cent of all women and it is already known that women with it are more likely to develop breast cancer.

Dr Paul Pharoah, lead researcher based at the University of Cambridge, said: “This is the first time we’ve shown how CHEK2 faults influence the long-term prognosis of breast cancer. We need further studies to see if we can find other similar faults that affect how the disease develops so that one day we can test and predict how each individual woman’s breast cancer will behave.”

The researchers also predict that women with this genetic mistake are more susceptible to other forms of cancer, contributing to the increased risk of early death after a breast cancer diagnosis.

Dr Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “We’ve made huge progress improving the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer - in the 1970s around five out of 10 women with breast cancer survived beyond five years but now it's more than eight out of 10. But, we still need better ways to predict how the cancer will behave to help doctors treat the disease more effectively.

“These results suggest that more widespread testing for the CHEK2 fault could help identify women with oestrogen-positive breast cancers who are at a greater risk of developing a second breast cancer. Further research needs to be done to see if these women would benefit from long-term treatment with anti-oestrogen drugs, such as tamoxifen, to try and reduce this risk.”

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High-risk women may need more frequent ovarian cancer screening

Friday 7 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Screening women at high risk of ovarian cancer once a year may not be effective enough to spot the disease in its earlier stages, and more frequent screening may be needed for this group of women, according to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The UK Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study (UKFOCSS) looked at the results of annual screening in over 3,500 women aged 35+ between 2002 and 2008. During this period, 26 women developed ovarian or fallopian tube cancers.

The research, funded by Cancer Research UK and The Eve Appeal, aimed to see how good a yearly screening programme (involving ultrasound and blood tests) would be at picking up ovarian and fallopian tube cancers in women who were thought to be at high risk of the disease*.

The study found that annual ovarian screening did pick up the majority of cancers, but by the time cancers had been diagnosed, most of them had already started to spread. Women who had been screened within the previous year were less likely to be diagnosed with the most advanced stages of ovarian cancer, compared to women who had not been screened for over a year.  But screening did not increase the proportion of women diagnosed with stage I cancers, leaving the question of whether even more frequent screening would be necessary to increase the number of cancers detected earlier.

The authors from UCL’s Institute for Women’s Health suggest that screening high-risk women more frequently, coupled with swift surgery where necessary, might improve the chances of finding these cancers at an earlier stage. They are now assessing the results of the second phase of the study, which will show the impact of screening high-risk women every four months, and the findings are to be presented next year.

Dr Adam Rosenthal, senior lecturer and consultant gynaecological oncologist at Barts Cancer Institute and lead author of the study, said: “These results support a possible role for screening women at high risk of ovarian cancer, but only if they have decided not to have surgery to remove their ovaries and fallopian tubes.

“The study shows that screening is picking up most cases of ovarian cancer before they reach the most advanced stages. But, by the time they are detected, the majority have still spread and the outlook for these patients is likely to be poorer than for women whose cancers have not spread. At this time, annual screening cannot be considered to be such a safe bet as risk-reducing surgery and it’s important that high-risk women know the options and outlooks available to them.”

Professor Ian Jacobs, principal investigator of UKFOCSS said “I am delighted that the results of this first phase are now published and that the findings are encouraging. We await further information from this trial and from the large study of screening in women without a family history, the UK Collaborative trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening, UKCTOCS, to establish whether or not screening with a blood test or ultrasound saves lives.”

Jessica Harris, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “Until we have the results from two other key studies into ovarian cancer screening, it’s too soon to know whether any type of screening could be effective for high-risk women. So women with a strong family history of ovarian or other cancers should talk to their doctors about the options and whether they could be referred for genetic testing.

“Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of research that has helped make women diagnosed with ovarian cancer now twice as likely to survive compared to back in the 1970s. When ovarian cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, treatment is more likely to be successful and many more women survive. So if you experience tummy pain, bloating or a lasting sense of feeling full that won’t go away, then you should visit your doctor.”

Robert Marsh, CEO of The Eve Appeal, said: “It’s encouraging to receive meaningful and helpful information for high-risk women from the first phase of this trial. While we await the results of phase II of this, and the larger UKCTOCS trial for women without a history of ovarian cancer, our message to all women is to be aware of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and to visit your GP if you have any concerns at all.”

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JLS take on new mission to help beat cancer

Friday 7 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

UNIQUE BOY-BAND PRIZE UP FOR GRABS

MOBO and Brit Award winning group JLS and world leading charity Cancer Research UK have joined forces to re-launch the JLS Foundation this December, to coincide with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The Foundation’s aim is to help fund Cancer Research UK’s vital research specifically into cancers that affect children, teenagers and young adults aged 0-24 within the UK, to help bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

The JLS Foundation is inviting people to help raise money by entering a special prize draw during December 2012, to win a unique boy-band experience for themselves or a loved one. The prize is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for one lucky winner and four of their friends to hang out with JLS in Spring 2013.  They will get to watch the sound check of one of JLS’ mystery boy-band mates’ concerts, enjoy a Nandos lunch with JLS, choose their favourite JLS song which the band will personally serenade them with, and watch the mystery boy-band’s concert at the O2 in their very own private box with JLS for company and finish the evening in style with an overnight stay at the Trafalgar hotel! In the spirit of Christmas, prize entrants will be given the option to choose which four Facebook friends they will bring with them if they win, and share the invitations via the social networking site. The lucky prize winner will be announced Christmas Eve.

To be in with the chance of winning this truly unique prize and help fund vital cancer research, enter at www.jlsfoundation.co.uk.  It costs just £1.00 to enter, and you can purchase multiple entries.  You can enter by credit, debit card, Paypal,  text or enter for free by post (details on the website). The promotion runs from 7 December to 21 December 2012. A donation from each entry will go directly to the JLS Foundation, supporting Cancer Research UK’s research into cancers affecting children, teenagers and young adults. (Terms and Conditions and age restrictions apply - see website for details and donation breakdown).

In addition to raising money for this much-needed research, the JLS Foundation is also providing healthy living advice for young people at www.jlsfoundation.co.uk.  Marvin, Aston, JB and Oritsé are creating a range of fun videos encouraging young people to ‘live healthy’ and enjoy life – including  showing off their skills in the kitchen making tasty and healthy juices, and working up a sweat in the dance studio in their usual cheeky manner.

The JLS Foundation will also have a dedicated helpline that goes directly through to Cancer Research UK's cancer nurses, for any of their fans to call to find out more information about cancer - 0844 892 0127. The JLS Foundation Helpline is open between 9am and 5pm during weekdays.

Every step Cancer Research UK makes towards beating cancer relies on every pound, every hour and every person.  As a collective force, the charity has helped double cancer survival rates in the UK in the last 40 years. That’s why the JLS Foundation has chosen to work with Cancer Research UK for the next two years to support its pioneering, life-saving research.

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Study confirms fewer, bigger doses of radiotherapy benefit breast cancer patients

Thursday 6 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

A lower total dose of radiotherapy, delivered in fewer, larger treatments, is as safe and effective at treating early breast cancer as the international standard dose, according to the 10-year follow-up results of a major Cancer Research UK trial presented at the 2012 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium today (Thursday).

Nearly 4,500 women across the UK have taken part in the START trials, which were co-ordinated by the Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and funded by Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council and the Department of Health.

The initial five-year results showed it was just as effective and safe to give women a lower total dose of radiotherapy in fewer, larger treatments than the 25-dose international standard. The new treatment routine also offered important benefits for women, including fewer trips to hospital, as well as cost savings for the health service.

As a result, the shorter treatment course of 15 treatments was adopted in the UK in 2008, but the longer course is still used in many other countries.

This latest 10-year follow-up, funded by Cancer Research UK, confirms these benefits and shows that very few women (around six per cent) experience a relapse of cancer within the same breast, regardless of whether or not they have a shorter course of radiotherapy after surgery.

Chief investigator Professor John Yarnold, professor of clinical oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and honorary consultant at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have shown conclusively that less can be more in breast cancer radiotherapy. Three weeks of radiotherapy is as good as five weeks – as well as being more convenient and less tiring for patients and cheaper for the health service.

“The risk of breast cancer recurring continues beyond five years, and side-effects of radiotherapy can often develop many years after treatment, so these long-term results provide a very important reassurance that the shorter treatment course is definitely the best option for patients. Some doctors may have been hesitant to change their practice on the basis of five-year results, but these long-term findings should convert those sceptics.”

The same team is now setting out to investigate whether even fewer doses of radiotherapy could be just as effective, as part of a new Phase III randomised controlled trial of 4,000 women called FAST-FORWARD. The trial will compare the new standard 15-dose course of radiotherapy treatment, delivered over three weeks, with an even shorter five-dose course, delivered over one week.

Jo Haviland, a senior statistician at the ICR, added: “The START trial has had a huge impact on changing the standard of care for women with breast cancer in the UK, and increasingly around the world. Recruitment is already underway for the new FAST-FORWARD trial we are co-ordinating, to see if we can further improve treatment and spare both women and the health system the burden of extra treatments.”

Kate Law, Cancer Research UK’s director of clinical research, said: “What’s really exciting is that, as a result of this trial, women are already benefiting from the added physical and emotional wellbeing of needing fewer hospital visits for their treatment. Minimising the long-term side effects of treatment is becoming increasingly important as cancer patients live longer. We hope that women around the world will now be able to benefit from this improved standard of care.”

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Trial reveals 10 years of tamoxifen halves later deaths from commonest kind of cancer

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Ten years of tamoxifen treatment can approximately halve the number of deaths from  the most common form of breast cancer during the second decade after diagnosis,  according to the results of the Cancer Research UK- funded ATLAS trial published in the Lancet today (Wednesday).

Around three-quarters of women with breast cancer in the UK are diagnosed with oestrogen-receptor positive (ER+) disease, which is driven by the female hormone, oestrogen.  After any surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy, many women receive some years of endocrine treatment with a drug like tamoxifen or with an aromatase inhibitor, to prevent any remaining cancer cells being ‘re-fuelled’ by oestrogen.

Tamoxifen taken daily for five years – the current standard duration of treatment – is already known to reduce death rates by around a third throughout the first 15 years after diagnosis, as the protective effects continue for at least a decade after the five years of treatment has ended.

The new trial investigated whether continuing to take tamoxifen for a total of 10 years would reduce the breast cancer death rate still further.

The international ATLAS study, also co-funded by the Medical Research Council, recruited nearly 7,000 women with ER+ breast cancer who were completing five years of tamoxifen treatment. They were randomly allocated, half to stop treatment immediately and half to continue for five more years.  All were followed for an average of another eight years.

Initially there was little difference in outcome from the two groups, because throughout the first decade both groups were protected by the first five years of treatment. But, after year 10 the additional benefits of longer treatment emerged in the group that continued taking tamoxifen. Among them, the risk of dying during the second decade from breast cancer was further reduced by about a quarter – on top of the substantial benefits due to the first five years of treatment.

Most of the extra protection from taking the drug for longer occurred after the end of the 10-year treatment period.

Dr Christina Davies, a Cancer Research UK scientist at Oxford University and leader of the ATLAS study, said: “Around three-quarters of all UK women with breast cancer have hormone sensitive disease, and ATLAS shows that 10 years of tamoxifen helps save lives not just during the decade women are taking the drug, but also during the second decade after diagnosis.”

In post-menopausal women tamoxifen increases the risk of endometrial – or womb – cancer. The ATLAS results showed that the extra risk of dying from this disease was two per thousand women who took tamoxifen for five years, and four per thousand women who took tamoxifen for 10 years. The reduction in the numbers of deaths from breast cancer after 10 years of tamoxifen was about 30 times as great as this increase in the numbers of endometrial cancer deaths.

Cancer Research UK is a major funder of breast cancer research in the UK. Our research has contributed to developing treatments that mean that eight out of 10 women now survive their breast cancer for more than five years, compared with five out of 10 women in the 1970s. And 64 per cent of women now survive their breast cancer for at least 20 years.

Martin Ledwick, Cancer Research UK’s head information nurse, said: “This important study adds further clarity to the question about the length of time women should take tamoxifen.  Although treatment for hormone receptor positive breast cancer has become more complex in recent years with some women receiving aromatese inhibitors, these results will help in deciding the length of treatment for women who are prescribed tamoxifen alone.”

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Britons want bowel cancer screening recommendation

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Britons want a recommendation from the NHS on whether to attend bowel cancer screening, along with all the information on benefits and risks, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer today.

The study involved interviews with nearly 2,000 UK adults aged 50-80, asking if they would prefer a recommendation to be screened for bowel cancer from the NHS or advised to make the decision themselves. They were also asked if they wanted to know about all the risks and benefits.

Eighty four per cent wanted an NHS recommendation to attend screening and more than three quarters of those asked wanted all the available information.

There was no difference in the preference for a recommendation between richer and poorer people or between older and younger. But men were more likely than women to want a recommendation.

By 2025, it is predicted that bowel screening will save over 2,000 lives from bowel cancer each year in the UK.  Like all screening tests, bowel cancer screening is not perfect. People sometimes get a ‘false positive’ result. This means they are sent for follow-up tests (which can be worrying and they have risks of their own) but nothing is found. People also sometimes get false negatives, meaning a cancer could be missed.

New technologies are being developed and introduced into the bowel cancer screening programme in England. In 2010, Cancer Research UK helped to fund a trial into the use of the Flexi-scope*.  This new one-off test for people in their mid-fifties can prevent bowel cancer from developing by finding and removing polyps that could otherwise turn into cancers. The government has promised to fund a national programme of Flexi-scope screening due to start early next year.

Professor Jane Wardle, lead author and director of Cancer Research UK’s Health Behaviour Research Centre at UCL, said: “We have seen that most people who wanted a screening recommendation also wanted all the available information. This suggests that advice from an expert is an important part of the decision-making process and not an alternative to it.

“The study also showed that most people in the UK have a high level of trust in the NHS, which may explain why so many people are so keen to have a clear recommendation from it.”

Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK, said: “This study gives a much clearer picture about what information people want when being invited to bowel screening. This is very timely and we hope it will help the development of new information for the public.

“The study’s importance goes beyond the information provided by the NHS – it will also help cancer charities like Cancer Research UK to develop the information we offer to the public about screening.

“Cancer Research UK funds research into new methods and technologies to prevent and detect bowel cancer earlier, as well as to improve the outcomes for people who are diagnosed with bowel cancer. But it’s essential that this work is coupled with accessible information for the general public.”

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Jessica Ennis voted as UK's top willpower hero

Monday 3 December 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Jessica Ennis has topped a list of 30 of the UK’s willpower heroes*, picking up more than 20 per cent of the public vote, in a survey released today to mark the launch of Cancer Research UK’s new fundraising campaign, Dryathlon™.  

Following her heptathlon success at the Olympics, Jessica topped the poll for demonstrating the highest willpower, closely followed by The Queen who took more than 10 per cent of the vote for her lifetime dedication to her country.  The survey of 2,000 people* also revealed that other popular willpower heroes were Victoria Pendleton (6 per cent), Nelson Mandela (6 per cent), Mo Farah (5 per cent), Bradley Wiggins (5 per cent) and Mohammad Ali (4 per cent).

The survey looking at willpower marks the launch of the charity’s latest fundraising campaign Dryathlon™, which is encouraging people across the UK to test their willpower and take the challenge of staying off alcohol for January, raising money for a good cause at the same time.

The survey also looked at the nation’s willpower, with some interesting results.

Men are thought to have less willpower than women once they set their mind to a challenge, taking 19 per cent of the vote compared with 31 per cent.

When it comes to giving things up for a month, one in five men (22 per cent) named sex one of the hardest things to give up, whilst only one in 10 women (9 per cent) agreed, with more than double the number saying they would find it harder to give up chocolate than sex**.

Alcohol, chocolate and sex were each voted the most difficult thing to forego by around 16 per cent of people, followed by caffeine and swearing, which both picked up around 10 per cent of the vote.

And when asked about how their willpower changed over the year, half of the UK admitted that the winter period – in particular Christmas and New Year – is when we are at our weakest.

Men are still thought of as being commitment-shy, with more than half (56 per cent) of the nation saying women are more committed to relationships compared to 5 per cent of men. Three fifths (59 per cent) also thought that women were more likely to be able to abstain from sex - whilst only 5 per cent thought men could.

Whilst people thought men are stronger willed in work and sport, almost a third (31 per cent) thought that women were more likely to be able to stick to a diet than men.

Robert West, Professor of Health Psychology at the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Research Centre explains, "When you take exposure to temptation and strength of desire out of the equation you are left with this thing called 'willpower': the force that our plans have in controlling our actions. Individuals with more willpower are probably more likely to achieve their objectives, whatever these might be.

"Some believe that willpower is like a muscle - it can get tired but it can also be strengthened with training. The idea is that getting people to practice doing something that requires self-control builds a general ability to do this. There are also studies showing that when people make their personal rules very clear with well-defined boundaries, they are more likely to stick to them."

Those who want to test their own willpower and take the Dryathlon™ challenge will be encouraged to raise money for the charity’s research via sponsorship from friends and family, and / or pledging money they have saved by going dry for the month. There will also be the opportunity to purchase a Golden Pass for a suggested donation of £15, which allows the owner to take 24 hours off – helpful for weddings, birthdays or those who just fancy a night off.

Ed Aspel, Head of Dryathlon™ at Cancer Research UK and already in training, explains:

“We wanted to explore the concept of willpower ahead of launching Dryathlon™ as we know getting the nation to go dry for January is going to be a challenge for some, and it will take an element of willpower to succeed.

“But have no fear!  We’ll be supporting our Dryathletes the whole way, by providing lots of motivational tips and content via our website and social media channels. It may be a difficult road ahead but we have faith in the British public and think they have what it takes to succeed.”

Those that think they’ve got the willpower to go dry for an entire month can sign up to become a Dryathlete via the website cruk.org/dryathlon.

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Government urged to pack it in to protect children from tobacco marketing

Friday 30 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Nearly two thirds (63%) of people in the UK back a move to get rid of colourful and slickly designed cigarette packets according to a survey of more than 2000 adults commissioned by Cancer Research UK.

The survey results* are published today (Friday) ahead of Australia’s historic step on Saturday when it becomes the first country in the world to put all tobacco products in standardised packs.

Removing all branding and making all packaging a uniform size, shape and design – leaving only pictures depicting tobacco-induced disease - is under consideration by the government. Health groups are backing the measure as a way to reduce the appeal of cigarettes to children.

Public support is overwhelming on the general issue of reducing the number of young people who start smoking, with 85 per cent of people backing government action to achieve this.

Parents of children aged four and younger were more likely than adults without children to support the government in taking this action – 93 per cent vs 81 per cent.

Every year around 157,000 children aged 11-15 start smoking – that’s enough to fill 5,200 classrooms or make up nearly 14,000 junior football teams. Preventing young people from being tempted to try smoking is vital as eight out of ten adult smokers start before they turn 19.

Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “These results highlight the huge level of public support for standardised packaging, along with the backing for efforts to bring down smoking rates.

“It’s important to remember the scale of harm caused by tobacco. It’s the single biggest preventable cause of death from cancer - causing more than a quarter of all cancer deaths and killing around six and a half million people in the UK over the last 50 years from cancer and other tobacco related diseases. With so many children starting to smoke each year, the Government must show strong leadership to reduce the deadly lure of cigarettes.

“Smoking causes at least 14 different cancers as well as a long list of other illnesses. So it’s vital the government introduces standardised packaging as soon as possible, giving millions of children one less reason to start smoking.”

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Scientific breakthroughs from one small island could change the world

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Game-changing medical advances are within our reach but this ‘one small island’ needs huge investment in science in order to make this a reality, author Bill Bryson will say tonight (Wednesday) at the first Create The Change* science lecture for Cancer Research UK.

Bill Bryson will be joined at the Wellcome Trust by Cancer Research UK’s Dr James Brenton and UCL’s Professor Robin Weiss for an entertaining evening of talks and discussion chaired by Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society and Director of the Francis Crick Institute.

The event is aimed at engaging the public, sharing details of the latest scientific research and examples of the work that will happen in the Francis Crick Institute. The Institute will be the largest bio-medical research laboratory in Europe when it opens in 2015.

Bill Bryson, said: “Science explains everything about us. And there isn’t a single part of science that isn’t incredible. There’s so much potential with science and this is why the Francis Crick Institute could revolutionise medical advances. By bringing together scientists who work on different diseases we can speed up the pace at which discoveries are made. But we need investment in order to make this happen.”

Dr James Brenton, a Cancer Research UK ovarian cancer expert, said: “As a clinician treating cancer patients, I am hugely excited by the potential the Crick offers. We’ve come a long way in the past few decades – there are better drugs, more sophisticated treatments, cancers are diagnosed earlier – but there’s still so much to do. And it’s because the challenge is so complex that we increasingly need to combine forces with scientists from other fields to help continue this progress and speed up breakthroughs.

“It may sound like an unlikely collaboration, but tonight I’ll be illustrating how working with astronomers has brought about new ways of analysing pathology slides to identify cancer biomarkers. But there are surprising similarities between pinpointing a cancer cell hidden in amongst normal tissue and isolating a single star within a crowded galaxy – both require scientists to pick out indistinct object from amongst large data sets. This is just one example of how uniting the scientific community can bring about often unparalleled progress in cancer.”

Sir Paul Nurse, chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute and President of the Royal Society, said: “Science can improve our health and our quality of life and the UK is a real world leader in biological science.  If we want to maintain that position we need to invest.  We need to have the best people working in the best facilities and that is what the Francis Crick Institute will deliver.”

Dr Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “The Francis Crick Institute is unique – it’s an opportunity for people around the world to invest in one of the most exciting catalysts of scientific innovation we’ll see in this generation. The Institute will be game-changing for medical research. Millions of people – including cancer patients, but also those suffering from a range of diseases such as heart and neurodegenerative disease – will benefit from this pioneering approach to medical research."

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Cancer Research UK and Lorus to co-develop first-of-kind drug, IL-17E, to treat solid tumours

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office; Cancer Research Technology, the charity's commercial arm; and biopharmaceutical company, Lorus Therapeutics Inc. (Lorus) (TSX:LOR), have partnered to take a new therapy with the potential to treat solid tumours, into its first clinical trial.

The treatment, IL-17E, is a type of protein called a pro-inflammatory cytokine which, according to research done at Lorus, is thought to elicit an immune response which attacks cancer cells, and determining exactly how it does this will form part of the work being done. 

It incorporates technology owned by both Lorus and Genentech. Lorus scientists were the first to discover the anticancer properties of IL-17E against a range of solid tumours.

Cancer Research UK’s Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) is a joint initiative between Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office (DDO) and Cancer Research Technology, to develop promising anticancer agents that may not otherwise be developed, and take them through preclinical development and early clinical trials.

With the CDP scheme, companies retain the background rights to their programmes while enabling Cancer Research UK to take on early development work to evaluate the benefit to cancer patients. Three drugs are now in clinical trialswith others scheduled to open early 2013.

Cancer Research UK’s DDO will fund and undertake extensive preclinical work led by Professor Christian Ottensmeier at the University of Southampton, England, to further investigate  the mechanism by which the protein destroys cancer cells and to further develop the drug for use in treating cancer patients.

The DDO will then fund, manage and sponsor the first Phase I clinical trial led by Professor Chris Twelves and Dr Christy Ralph at the Cancer Research UK/NIHR Leeds Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, based at the University of Leeds, England. Lorus will manufacture and supply IL-17E for the non-clinical toxicology and Phase I clinical studies.

Professor Christian Ottensmeier, Cancer Research UK scientist at the University of Southampton, said: “This important partnership means we’ll be able to better understand how this molecule destroys cancer cells. We will investigate if it somehow supercharges the immune system to hunt down and attack cancer cells, or if it is able to trigger a ‘suicide’ signal in these cells so they self-destruct, or both, as suggested by research already done at Lorus.

“This will give us the evidence we need to take this drug further into clinical trials to investigate potential benefit to patients.”

After the Phase I trial, Lorus will have the exclusive option to license the Phase I clinical trial data and resume further clinical development. If it does not exercise this option, the rights to the programme would be transferred to Cancer Research Technology to secure an alternative partner, with the aim to make the treatment available for cancer patients while Lorus would retain certain economic interests.

Dr Aiping Young, President and CEO of Lorus, said: “At Lorus our primary focus is to discover and develop novel therapies to treat some of the most important and hard-to-treat cancers.  IL-17E fits all the criteria to potentially qualify as a truly unique, first-in-class cytokine-based approach to treating a range of solid tumours.

“Cancer Research UK is world renowned for its cancer research and has done similar partnership deals through its CDP initiative with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.  We believe this partnership with Cancer Research UK is not only a validation of our IL-17E technology, but it also offers Lorus an innovative avenue to develop this programme, and affords us the opportunity to progress as many of our programmes as possible into the clinic.

"We are excited about collaborating with Cancer Research UK and its important network of academic and clinical collaborators in the immunotherapy field and look forward to the outcome of some key studies in the next 24 months."

Dr Victoria John, head of clinical partnerships, at Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office, said: “Without our unique CDP initiative, it might not have been possible to develop this promising treatment, stalling progress to provide potential new options for patients for whom existing treatments no longer work.

"We’re delighted to be working with our Canadian partner Lorus Therapeutics right from the start - collaborating closely in the preclinical research right through to manufacture and the first ever trial with patients.  

"IL-17E is the third biological treatment we have brought into the CDP portfolio, building on our existing partnerships with international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop a multipeptide vaccine, a monoclonal antibody as well as five other molecularly targeted drugs.

"This latest partnership further demonstrates the breadth of molecules we can develop. And we will continue to seek future partnerships, so that by working alongside industry to combine skills and expertise we can reach our goal to license new treatments, and save more lives from cancer.”

IL-17E was selected following a rigorous peer-review process conducted by Cancer Research UK’s New Agents Committee (NAC).  Assessment of IL-17E by the NAC was based on several criteria, including scientific rationale, quality of the anticancer data in relevant tumour models, novelty, and clinical need.  IL-17E is the eighth treatment to enter Cancer Research UK’s Clinical Development Partnerships (CDP) scheme.

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Friendly nudge prompts 40 per cent to visit GP

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

More than a third (40 per cent) of people say talking to a friend or relative about a change to their body that was playing on their mind encouraged them to make an appointment with a GP, according to a new survey from Cancer Research UK.*

Of these, men were most likely to be given a push by their other halves with nearly three quarters (72 per cent) saying their partner urged them to go whereas just over half (58 per cent) of women said the same.

Mums also play a pivotal role with nearly a third (29 per cent) of those asked saying it was their mothers who prompted them to make an appointment.

The online survey of more than 4,200 adults was carried out by YouGov for Cancer Research UK and Tesco who have just launched a new online video campaign to raise awareness about the importance of talking to your GP about any unusual or persistent changes to your body.

The light-hearted two minute film uses humour to increase awareness of the huge improvements in cancer survival rates since the 1970s. Today, in the UK, you are twice as likely to survive cancer compared to 40 years ago.

Dr Chris Steele from ITV’s This Morning is backing the campaign and said: “As a cancer survivor myself I know how daunting it can feel to take that first step and visit a GP when there’s something that’s been playing on your mind. Often talking to someone close to you about it first can give you a much needed prompt to take action.

“It’s really important that we all get to know our bodies and get any unusual or persistent changes checked out. The chances are it won’t be cancer, but if it is, getting it diagnosed and treated at an early stage can make a real difference.”

As well as running an in store awareness campaign making Cancer Research UK leaflets about spotting cancer early accessible to millions of customers, Tesco aims to raise £10million this year to fund 32 early diagnosis research projects across the UK.

Dr Claire Knight, health information manager at Cancer Research UK said: “Sometimes we need a bit of a nudge to make an appointment with a GP about any unusual or persistent changes to our bodies. And as our survey shows men in particular tend to speak to their other halves first before seeing their doctor.

“Cancer is most common in the over 50s, but men and women of all ages who notice a change that’s hung around for a few weeks should get it checked out by a doctor. More than likely it won’t be anything to worry about but if it is cancer, spotting it in its earlier stages often makes treatment more successful, meaning the chances of recovering are much better.”

Ashley Sheppard, 51, from Worcestershire was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2002 after his wife Alison, 38, encouraged him to go to the doctor. He successfully underwent radiotherapy and surgery and is back at work.

He said: "Before I was diagnosed, I’d seen my doctor as I had some bloating, diarrhoea and constipation and, after a thorough examination, he concluded I had IBS.

"Some months later the symptoms returned, worse than before and I had some bleeding when I went to the toilet.

“I discussed this with my wife Alison who is a nurse and she suggested I go back to the doctor. I was reluctant but after seeing an article in a magazine she was reading about bowel cancer, which listed the symptoms, I decided to take her advice.

“Following tests, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. I was fortunate that radiotherapy and surgery were successful and in my case they had caught the cancer early.

“Incredibly despite being told the radiotherapy would make me infertile we have gone on to have two more daughters.”

To watch the video and find out why you are more likely to survive cancer if it’s found at an early stage, visit: www.cruk.org/spotcancerearly

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Tobacco industry claims on cigarette packaging are nonsense

Friday 23 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Claims that replacing alluring designs on cigarette packs with a plain standardised look will increase illegal tobacco production are baseless - according to a new report published today (Friday) by an international expert.

Evidence in the report – already acknowledged in recent tobacco industry documents – demolishes arguments against the introduction of plain packs and shows that counterfeit producers find all existing packs easy to forge. Plain, standardised packs are unlikely to cause a rush of new counterfeiters making more packs.

The report by Luk Joossens - who has advised the World Bank, the European Commission and World Health Organization on illicit tobacco trade - was commissioned by Cancer Research UK as the government weighs up the pros and cons of plain packaging after a public consultation.

It shows that counterfeit packs are so cheap to make they can hardly become much cheaper and plain packaging will not significantly affect their final price.

The overall cost of manufacturing a 20-pack of counterfeit cigarettes is around 10 to 15 pence – of which up to a third is estimated to be on packaging. They are typically sold in the UK for around £3.

The report also shows that it is effective government action that has been successful in cutting the illicit trade.

UK taxes have not been paid on nine percent of cigarettes smoked in this country. This has fallen from 21 per cent in 2000/01 but for those focussed on health it needs to fall further.

Luk Joossens, report author and international expert on illicit tobacco trade, said: “The tobacco industry claims that plain packs would be easier to counterfeit.  The reality is that all packs are easy to counterfeit and that counterfeiters are able to provide top quality packaging at low prices in a short time. Plain packaging will not make any difference to the counterfeit business.”

Australia is due to be the first country in the world to put all tobacco products in plain standardised packs. Other countries are likely to follow with New Zealand strongly indicating it may be next.

Jean King, Cancer Research UK’s director of tobacco control, said: “The tobacco industry has a track record of facilitating smuggling and often says policies that cut smoking will increase smuggling, even though smuggling has been falling for a decade. Claims that plain packaging will cause a rush of illegal tobacco into the UK are ridiculous.

“The tobacco industry is making these claims while fighting the idea of plain packs – the new policy it most fears. Putting all tobacco products in standardised packs will reduce their appeal to children and help lead to fewer young people becoming addicted to cigarettes.

“The tobacco industry has no credibility and should remain at arm’s length from any health initiatives that are designed to reduce smoking rates.  We urge the UK government to respond to the consultation as soon as possible. The answer is plain - standardised packaging won’t stop everyone from smoking but it will give millions of young people one less reason to start.”

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Death rates from ovarian cancer have fallen by 20 per cent over last decade

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

The rates of women dying from ovarian cancer in England have fallen from 11.2 women in every 100,000 (3,820 cases) in 2001 to 8.8 per 100,000 (3,453 cases) in 2010 – a drop of around 20 per cent, according to a new report by the National Cancer Intelligence Network published today.

And the most notable drop in deaths over the last 10 years has been among women aged 40-69 years old.

The report also showed that survival for ovarian cancer has increased since the mid-1980s – women surviving their disease for at least a year has risen from 57 to 73 per cent and five year survival has increased from 33 to 44 per cent.

But the report found the chance of surviving the disease varies widely between ages, becoming increasingly worse with age, even after adjusting for the higher background mortality in the older population generally. For women aged 15-39 diagnosed with ovarian cancer, 84 per cent survived their disease for at least five years compared with just 14 per cent of those aged over 85 years at diagnosis.

In 2009 almost half of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer were in their 60s or 70s – and over 80 per cent of deaths were in women aged 60 or over.

Dr Andy Nordin, gynaecological oncologist at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust and study author, said: “Our new report is very encouraging and shows a fall in the rates of women dying from ovarian cancer – a type of cancer that has always been notoriously hard to treat. This is because ovarian cancer is a group of different disease types, which is difficult to diagnose and commonly presents as advanced disease. This drop in deaths may reflect improvements in detecting and treating the disease, such as improvements in scanning, surgery and chemotherapy treatments.  Additionally, over the past decade, ovarian cancer patients throughout the UK have experienced better management due to organisation of ovarian cancer care in specialist gynaecological cancer centres, planning of care by teams of cancer experts and specialist surgery by specially trained and accredited gynaecological oncologists.”

The report also highlights that the incidence rates for developing the disease have remained fairly stable since the late 1980s although they have dropped slightly in the last few years.

Dr Nordin, added: “We know the risk of developing some types of ovarian cancer may be related to the number of times a women ovulates during her lifetime. And anytime that she stops ovulating such as during pregnancy and breast feeding, early menopause and taking the contraceptive pill all help to protect against the disease developing.  The fall in incidence could therefore partially reflect the widespread use of hormonal contraceptives since the ‘60s.”

Chris Carrigan, head of the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN), said: “As  ovarian cancer can be very hard to diagnose and treat this report was important to help us learn as much as we can about the numbers of women who develop the disease, how many survive and how many die.”

Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women in the UK with around 7,000 cases diagnosed each year.

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More than 33,000 childhood cancer survivors living in the UK

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

An estimated 33,000 long-term survivors of childhood cancer - the vast majority of whom are cured - will be living in the UK by the end of 20121, according to new figures from Cancer Research UK.

The news underlines the tremendous progress that has been made in the fight against children’s cancer over the past 50 years.

In the late 1960s fewer than three in 10 children survived their disease for at least five years. Today that figure has risen to almost eight in 102. But, there is still a need for better treatments to help more of the 1,600 children diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK survive the disease.

The assessment comes as Cancer Research UK launches its annual Little Stars Awards, in partnership with brands-for-less retailer TK Maxx, to recognise the bravery of children who have undergone cancer treatment.

Some types of childhood cancer have seen huge improvements thanks to research into new treatments.

For leukaemia, the most commonly diagnosed cancer in children, clinical trials have been at the heart of this progress. In the 1960s, there were very few treatments available for the disease but, since the 1970s, trials have tested the use of chemotherapy and other treatments. This has led to more than 80 per cent of children surviving their disease for five years or more.

The most common childhood liver cancer – hepatoblastoma - has also seen five year survival rates quadruple from around 20 per cent in the late 1970s to around 80 per cent today. Early trials focused on offering children new combinations of chemotherapy to treat the disease and, more recently, trials have looked at maintaining these improvements in survival rates while reducing the side-effects.

Professor Josef Vormoor, a Cancer Research UK childhood leukaemia expert in Newcastle, said: “What we’ve achieved for some childhood cancers, such as leukaemia, over the last 30 years has been fantastic. This has been thanks to researchers and doctors working together to trial new and improved treatments that offer children and their family’s new hope of beating the disease.

“But, we urgently need better treatments for those children we can’t cure yet, particularly for those with cancers such as neuroblastoma and some types of brain tumours. And, for cancers where treatments are successful we need more targeted drugs so that the children we treat can live full lives without any long term side effects.”

To help more children survive cancer in the future Cancer Research UK is funding a range of trials and research projects.

In neuroblastoma, where 64 per cent of children survive their disease for five years or more, a pioneering therapy called immunotherapy is now being offered to children. This treatment uses the body’s immune system to attack the cancer and recently a new trial was opened to offer this treatment to children with neuroblastoma that has returned who currently have few treatments available.

For a type of bone tumour called Ewing’s sarcoma, where 64 per cent of children survive their disease for five years or more, Cancer Research UK is funding a trial that will test a combination of chemotherapy drugs to see if they are more effective and have fewer side effects than the standard treatments currently used.   

Cancer Research UK’s Little Star Awards, in partnership with TK Maxx, recognise the bravery and courage of children who confront cancer. Every child nominated receives the accolade in the form of a trophy and certificate signed by celebrities.

TK Maxx has supported Little Stars since 2008. To date they have raised a staggering £9 million to help beat children’s cancers.

Eight-year old Amarvir Chatha, from Ilford, Essex, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in September 2010 and was so ill at one point it was touch and go whether he would survive.

Amarvir’s mother Nikki, pictured below, said: “We couldn’t believe it when we first heard Amarvir had leukaemia – those first 24 hours were the longest of our lives. But, thankfully he slowly responded well to the treatment and pulled through.”

Amarvir has now finished his intensive treatment and is on maintenance treatment until January 2014. Earlier this year Amarvir received a Little Star Award.

Nikki added: “We came so close to losing Amarvir and we’ll never forget that, we never take life for granted anymore.  We owe his survival to the incredible advances that have been made in children’s cancer research.”

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, said: “Despite improvements in treatment, around 250 children still lose their lives to the disease each year in the UK. As a major funder of research into childhood cancers in the UK, Cancer Research UK is working towards a future where all children are cured of cancer. We’re funding a range of trials to develop new treatments for cancers where we currently have few treatment options, such as aggressive neuroblastoma, and we hope these efforts will mean there are even more childhood cancer survivors in the UK in the years to come.”

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Smart drug improves survival in older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia

Saturday 10 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) patients given a new type of ‘smart drug’ in addition to chemotherapy treatment are 22 per cent less likely to relapse and around 13 per cent less likely to die from their disease, results from a major phase III Cancer Research UK-funded trial led by Cardiff University show today (Saturday).

Out of the 1,115 patients who took part in the trial, 68 per cent relapsed on the new treatment within three years, compared with 76 per cent of those who had the standard treatment. And 25 per cent were still alive after three years, compared with 20 per cent of those who had the standard treatment.

The drug – called Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin (GO)* – is part of a new class of ‘antibody conjugate’ drugs, which involve attaching chemotherapy molecules to antibodies specifically designed to recognise proteins on the surface of cancer cells, thereby targeting the cancer while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

The results of the trial show that adding GO to treatment could improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy without excessively increasing side effects, providing a potential lifeline for older AML patients who are often too frail to tolerate more intensive chemotherapy regimes.

The results are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Chief investigator Professor Alan Burnett, from Cardiff University’s School of Medicine, said: “These promising results demonstrate how targeting a protein present in more than 90 per cent of AML patients can boost treatment without excessively increasing side effects.

“Although there has been some controversy around the use of GO following its withdrawal in the US two years ago, these results appear extremely promising and suggest no such cause for concern if the appropriate dose is given. Crucially, this represents some of the first progress in treating AML patients of this age group for at least 20 years.”

Trial participants were recruited at 149 hospitals around the UK and Denmark. All patients had been recently diagnosed with either AML or high risk myelodysplastic syndrome, which can develop into AML, and the majority were aged over 60. Each patient was randomly assigned to receive one of two standard chemotherapy regimes, either with or without GO.

Kate Law, Cancer Research UK’s director of clinical research, said: “In general the outlook for leukaemia patients has improved dramatically in recent decades. But when leukaemia is diagnosed in older people it’s much harder to treat and there is a real need for effective treatments that are suitable for this age group.

“Importantly this new trial shows that GO may have particular benefits for patients over 60, who may be unsuitable for other more intensive treatments. This is good news and we are now looking to see if these results can be replicated in younger patients.”

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Lung cancer UK price tag eclipses the cost of any other cancer

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

THE COST of lung cancer to the UK economy is £2.4 billion* each year, far higher than the cost of any other cancer. This highlights the urgent need to continue to reduce the number of young people who become addicted to tobacco – as smoking causes more than eight in 10 lung cancers in the UK. The research is presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool today (Wednesday).

The same Oxford University study found that the total annual cost of all cancers to the UK economy is £15.8bn. Half (£7.6bn) of the total economic cost of cancer to the UK is due to premature deaths and time off work, followed by healthcare costs (35 per cent, £5.6bn) and unpaid care to cancer patients by friends and family (16 per cent, £2.6bn). Health care spending represents a cost of £90 per person in the UK population.

Each lung cancer patient costs the UK healthcare system £9,071 annually.** This compares with £2,756 for bowel cancer, £1,584 for prostate cancer and £1,076 for breast cancer survivors. The average healthcare*** spend on each cancer patient in the UK is £2,776.

Research author, Dr Jose Leal, at the Health Economics Research Centre, University of Oxford, said: “Lung cancer costs more than any other cancer – mainly because of potential wage losses due to premature deaths from people in employment - about 60 per cent of the total economic costs – and high health care costs. The death rate from the disease remains high at 56 deaths per 100,000 people in the UK population annually, and almost a quarter of these occur before retirement.

“Our research shows that cancers impact the economy as a whole - and not just the health service. Premature deaths, time off work and unpaid care by friends and family account for 64 per cent of all cancer costs (£10.2bn) in the UK in 2009. These wider costs should be taken into account when deciding research priorities. Cancers with the highest economic cost could offer the highest expected returns from investment in research.”

Each year in the UK in the UK 41,500 people are diagnosed with lung cancer and almost 35,000 people die from the disease. Around 157,000 children aged 11-15 start smoking in the UK each year, enough to fill over 5,000 classrooms.

Dr Jane Cope, director of the NCRI, said: "These figures remind us that cancer has a cost, not just in professional healthcare but also in loss of earnings for patients, and for loved ones who give up work to look after them. Since 86 per cent of lung cancer deaths are linked to smoking, we can reduce these financial and societal costs by helping people to stop smoking."

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Three-in-one 'supermolecule' could detect cancer early, help destroy tumours and monitor treatment

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

The same protein could potentially be targeted to detect precancerous breast cells; deliver radiotherapy to destroy tumours; and monitor the effectiveness of treatment, according to a Cancer Research UK study presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool today (Tuesday).
 
Oxford University scientists at the Cancer Research UK/MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology showed in the laboratory that a technique monitoring high levels of a protein called Gamma H2AX, found in many pre-cancerous cell types including breast, lung and skin cancer, could be used to detect cancer early.

The team took microscopic images of fluorescent ‘flag’ molecules attached to an antibody which ‘homes in’ on and attaches to Gamma H2AX, to identify areas of DNA damage*. The fluorescent ‘snap shots’ of Gamma H2AX revealed the location of pre-cancerous breast cancer cells at a very early stage.

Professor Katherine Vallis, who led the study at the Cancer Research UK/MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology at Oxford University, said: “This early research reveals that tracking this important molecule could allow us to detect DNA damage throughout the body. If larger studies confirm this, the protein could provide a new route to detect cancer at its very earliest stage – when it is easier to treat successfully.”

Previously the team modified an antibody to target Gamma H2AX and deliver radiotherapy to breast cancer cells which contained high levels of the protein. This form of radiotherapy works by boosting DNA damage until cells can no longer repair mistakes – and die.

The results confirmed that the radioactive antibody killed breast cancer cells and slowed tumour growth.

Prof Vallis added: “We need to confirm these findings in larger studies before we know if this approach could benefit patients. But these initial results show that it may be possible to track down cells with high levels of DNA damage, and destroy them before they became cancerous.

“One day we may be able to scan the body to map out the radioactive antibodies that have attached to the Gamma H2AX molecule. This could also allow doctors to paint a useful picture of how effective a treatment is.”

Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information manager, said: “This important study reveals that targeting this  key molecule could provide an exciting route for new ways to detect cancer at an earlier stage – and help to deliver radiotherapy and monitor its effect on tumours.

“Thousands of cancer patients in the UK, and millions worldwide, benefit from radiotherapy every year. Cancer Research UK has invested heavily in research such as this to explore new ways to improve this vital treatment.”

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Smokers leave a history of their addiction in DNA

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Smokers are leaving a history of addiction in their DNA that may help to measure their risk of cancer, according to research presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference today.

Researchers at Imperial College London and the Human Genetics Foundation (HuGeF) in Italy have identified a number of sites in the DNA of blood that have been chemically tagged as a result of smoking. These tags are also detectable in lung tissue and could be used to measure the increased risk of certain cancers such as breast and bowel, as well as lung.

Smoking leaves a footprint on the surface of the DNA but the sequence of genetic code remains the same. This is known as an “epigenetic” modification. Once you give up smoking, these tags start to disappear although they never quite match the unmarked DNA of a non-smoker.

In this initial study, measuring DNA tagging in blood samples from smokers and non-smokers allowed the researchers to investigate the link between smoking and these tags. The study also looked at the risk of developing breast and bowel cancer in relation to these DNA tags, with plans to expand the work into other areas such as lung cancer*.

While smoking is associated with bowel cancer risk, a link between smoking and breast cancer has not been proven but the researchers believe that previous studies haven’t had the same genetic or epigenetic measures of smoke exposure available. This research will make that information available to scientists so they can spot any DNA tags that might be attributable to any risk that might exist.

Dr James Flanagan, Breast Cancer Campaign scientific fellow at Imperial College London and co-author of the research, said: “This research may help to build a test that will be able to look at a person’s epigenetic information at the molecular level and measure in great detail the added risk of cancer from exposures such as smoking.

“Previous research into smoking has often asked people to fill out questionnaires, which have their obvious drawbacks and inaccuracies. Using this approach, we will be able to read the fingerprint on a person’s DNA to tell us a story of how their habit may have changed over the course of their life.”

Professor Paolo Vineis, chair in environmental epidemiology at Imperial College London’s School of Public Health and head of the HuGeF laboratory in Italy, said: “This research will help us to build a molecular profile of cancer risk, where we can screen people and quantify the exposure they’ve had to a number of risk factors over their lifetime, just by examining a blood sample.

“We hope that smoking is just the start – further work will look into other factors like alcohol and start to measure the risk an individual has built up over a lifetime of exposure to these contributors to cancer.”

Dr Jane Cope, director of the NCRI, said: “This is a very interesting piece of research that applies basic biology to everyday life to reveal just how much damage smoking can do to the fundamental biology of a person. If these early results hold true in more detailed studies, this finding could play an important role in understanding smokers’ cancer risk in the future.”

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Personalised prostate cancer screening may save thousands from unnecessary treatment

Monday 5 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Targeting prostate cancer screening based on a man’s age and genes could potentially save thousands of men from unnecessary treatment and save the NHS millions of pounds. The research is presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool today (Monday).

The researchers, funded by Cancer Research UK, developed a theoretical model to compare the effectiveness and cost of two different approaches to prostate cancer screening.

The model showed that a personalised approach – based on a man’s age and looking for the common genes that increase the risk of prostate cancer – would result in fewer deaths from the disease and cost tens of millions less for the NHS to roll out compared to screening all men aged 55 to 79 every four years with the PSA test.

The model also showed 50 per cent fewer men would need to be screened and 18 per cent fewer men would be diagnosed with the disease – possibly reducing the problem of over-diagnosis and saving men from unnecessary treatment that can lead to side effects like impotence and incontinence.

Men in the UK are not screened for prostate cancer as part of a national screening programme. This is because the only available test, the PSA test, is not an accurate indicator of whether a man does have cancer and cannot reliably tell if a cancer is aggressive and so needs treatment.

Instead, men who ask for a PSA test are given information by their GP to help them understand the pros and cons before they decide whether they want to go ahead with the test.

Study author Dr Nora Pashayan, a Cancer Research UK clinician scientist at University College London, said: “We don’t have a screening programme for prostate cancer because the benefits are outweighed by the harms. Identifying men who are more likely to develop prostate cancer and targeting them for screening could potentially save thousands of men from overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment. We’re now refining our model to develop more definite predictions which will then need to be tested in trials to see if this approach will have the effect we predict.”

Each year over 40,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UK, with over 10,500 men dying from the disease.

Professor Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, said: “There is great uncertainty about the usefulness of screening for prostate cancer using the PSA test, with many men finding it difficult to weigh up the pros and cons. This research suggests an important way to select men for whom testing may be more worthwhile, which points us in the right direction for the future. Cancer Research UK is already funding research that is looking at targeting screening to men at a higher risk of developing the disease.”

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First figures help set the standard for gynaecological cancer surgery

Monday 5 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

The first UK multicentre figures showing that one in five women having major gynaecological cancer surgery have some sort of complication will help set standards in the NHS, according to research presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference today.

The initial findings of the UK Gynaecological Oncology Surgical Outcomes and Complications (UKGOSOC) audit also reveal that one in 30 women experience a serious complication, which may need another operation or procedure.

The detailed and verified figures come from an interim analysis of more than 1,600 operations carried out across 10 centres in the UK between April 2010 and July 2011. The final results from the full audit, covering the outcomes of around 3,000 operations, will be released later this year.

Surgeons entered details about each patient’s general health, the complexity of their operation and any complications encountered into online computer records. This meant that information about complications could be entered directly from the operating theatre or from the wards if they occurred after surgery. The UKGOSOC audit also sent patients a follow up card 6-8 weeks after surgery.

Understanding the complication rates will help set NHS benchmarking standards, allowing nationwide performance in this area of cancer treatment to be better understood. It will also help doctors to better advise patients on the full risks involved in their treatment decisions.

Professor Usha Menon, head of the Gynaecological Cancer Research Centre at UCL and lead author of the audit, said: “In contrast to the wealth of data regarding complication rates following chemotherapy and radiotherapy, there have been no multicentre figures on complication rates following surgery for gynaecological cancers. This has meant that we have been unable to properly counsel our patients in preparation for surgery.

“It’s hugely satisfying that we now have robust figures and, while complication rates of one in five may seem high, it’s similar to the only other comparable figure available from an Australian study. These numbers also need to be evaluated alongside the survival rates, which should be available in the near future.”

Dr Andy Nordin, a consultant gynaecological oncologist and co-author of the audit, said: “This work is giving us a complete picture of each patient’s treatment, from the operating theatre to eight weeks after they’ve been discharged. In addition to the complication rates, it provides other key information, including details of patients' medical history along with the complexity of their operation.

“We hope to see this electronic data collection process brought into routine practice to improve the information collected by the NHS and to help us to continue to improve surgical outcomes in the UK. The findings, along with the hard work involved in data collection, may well prove useful in other countries too.”

Dr Jane Cope, director of the NCRI, said: “All surgery carries risks and it’s important that patients know that there may be complications during and after their operations. Setting nationwide benchmarks will be an important step in helping doctors and patients better understand the effectiveness of current treatment. Doctors and surgeons can then go on to develop improvements, which will give better outcomes for the patients of the future.”

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Bowel screening helps to detect early cancers before they have the power to kill

Sunday 4 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Bowel screening is detecting more cancers when they are less mature and have less aggressive biological characteristics according to new research presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool this week.

The research shows that screening is not only able to pick up more early stage bowel cancer but also that more patients whose cancer is picked up via screening were found to have fewer of the characteristics which make it more likely to have spread. This includes when the tumour grows into blood vessels in the patients tissue surrounding the tumour, making it more likely to go on to spread.

Doctors from the University of Glasgow examined 394 bowel cancer patients in Scotland, 288 whose cancer was diagnosed through screening compared with 106 whose cancer was not detected through screening.

They found that patients diagnosed through screening were more likely to be younger, have earlier stage disease, were less likely to be anaemic and were less likely to have the biological characteristics that give tumours the power to spread.

In particular, patients were also less likely to have high levels of inflammation in their blood (modified Glasgow Prognostic Score). A raised modified Glasgow Prognostic Score is a feature that has recently been shown to predict poorer outcome following a diagnosis of bowel cancer.

Dr David Mansouri, study author and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, said: “Our new study tells us that as well as the bowel cancers being picked up through screening being less likely to have spread by the time they are diagnosed, there were also more patients with features that may increase the chances of survival. It adds to what we already know about the benefits of bowel screening and shows there may well be other advantages to screening. The next step will be to repeat our work with a larger number of patients.”

Dr Jane Cope, director of the NCRI, said: “Deaths from bowel cancer are still very high in the UK – more than 16,000 a year – and only around half of patients survive their disease for more than ten years. But we also know that when bowel cancer is found at the earliest stage, there is an excellent chance of survival and more than 90 per cent of people survive at least five years. So early diagnosis is crucial, and it’s important we find out as much we can about the disease so that more lives can be saved.”

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer with more than 41,000 people diagnosed with the disease each year.

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HPV test for oral cancers may improve patient outcomes and treatments

Saturday 3 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

A new test designed to classify tonsil and throat cancers into one of two groups should help deliver the right treatment to the right patients, according to research being presented at the NCRI Cancer Conference in Liverpool next week.

The RNAscope* test can be carried out in hospitals and looks for the presence of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) in oropharyngeal cancers**. Doctors will be able to use the results to classify these cancers as HPV positive or negative and offer treatment accordingly.

Researchers at Liverpool and Newcastle universities analysed 79 oropharyngeal tumour samples for HPV using different techniques. They found that the accuracy of classification in the RNAscope test was similar to that of more complex laboratory results.

Previous research has found the risk of death from HPV positive oropharyngeal cancer to be between 50-80 per cent lower than HPV negative tumours but patients are usually younger so may face a lifetime of treatment-related side effects. The researchers hope that, by classifying the HPV status of the cancer, clinicians can offer eligible patients less intensive treatment with reduced side-effects.

They also believe that it will make it easier to recruit patients for clinical trials as they can specifically screen patients for HPV positive or negative cancers. The HPV testing used in clinical trials is not always accurate and no uniform testing standard exists within the NHS. This research has the potential to solve the problem for NHS practice and clinical trials.

Oropharyngeal cancers linked to HPV are on the rise and previous research has shown HPV-related cancers to be biologically different from other head and neck cancers, leading to new avenues of treatment.

Andrew Schache, study author based at the University of Liverpool, said: “Testing the HPV status of cancers will allow us to pick the most appropriate patients for clinical trials and hopefully help to develop new medicines based on a better understanding of these cancers.

“We’ve shown that the new test, which can easily be carried out in an NHS Pathology laboratory, has the same accuracy and reliability as more complex research laboratory testing. It has the potential to benefit NHS patients because it will help to ensure that they get the most appropriate treatment for their cancer.”

Mr Schache, whose research was funded by the Wellcome Trust and Royal College of Surgeons, has been awarded a Richard Hambro prize*** for this work.

Dr Jane Cope, director of the NCRI, said: “The study was carried out on only a small number of patients so it’s important for further work to be done to ensure the reliability of such a test. Until further research confirms these results, the risk would be that the wrong treatment was offered to a patient based on the outcome of the test.

“But the accuracy so far is proving to be very promising and this work will help us to target patients in the most effective way possible, which is essential if we are to improve survival and reduce side effects in treatment.”

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Experimental combination therapy trial for breast cancer patients no longer responding to treatment

Friday 2 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office (DDO) has joined forces with academia and industry to trial an experimental drug from AstraZeneca called AZD4547 in combination with existing therapies, to treat post-menopausal women whose breast cancer has spread and is no longer responding to standard treatment.

The Phase IIa clinical trial will be run through the Cancer Research UK and NIHR Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) in conjunction with the Imperial Clinical Trials Unit Section on cancer (ICTU-Ca), Imperial College London. It will recruit post-menopausal women with oestrogen positive breast cancer* who are no longer responding to either anastrozole or letrozole – standard treatments for this patient group.

The trial will be divided into two groups. In one group, patients will receive AstraZeneca’s experimental treatment AZD4547 alongside either anastrozole or letrozole. In the second group, patients will be treated with exemestane alone. The trial will evaluate whether the combination of this experimental drug with an existing therapy that has begun to fail may halt the progression of the disease, and make the tumour respond again to the original therapy.

AstraZeneca is the first pharmaceutical industry partner to join the ECMC Combinations Alliance, which launched in 2011. The alliance aims to increase patient access to trials of potential new cancer treatments by combining molecularly-targeted experimental drugs developed and owned by the company – with standard chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other new drugs.

This study is the third launched by the Alliance, and AstraZeneca is providing both supply of AZD4547 and additional funding, with Cancer Research UK’s DDO also providing support.  Imperial College London is sponsoring the trial.

Chief investigator, Professor Michael Seckl, at Imperial College London, said: “The opening of this trial is great news. It’s an incredibly tough part of my job telling breast cancer patients that they are no longer responding to the drugs they are taking. We hope that this trial will be a step forward in finding new and better ways to treat advanced breast cancer, to increase survival from this disease.

“More women are surviving breast cancer than ever before. But while we’re making great progress in developing new targeted treatments there’s still an urgent need for medicine that will treat the disease once it has spread.”

Andrew Foxley, clinical programme director for AZD4547 at AstraZeneca, said: “AstraZeneca has a long-standing commitment to cancer research and has developed medicines that are making a meaningful difference for people with breast cancer. We believe that collaboration is crucial to finding solutions in the fight against cancer and are pleased to partner with others in the UK who share our dedication to bringing new medicines to patients.”

Dr Ian Walker, head of alliance management at Cancer Research UK’s DDO, said: “This is the third trial we’ve launched through collaboration with AstraZeneca – with others in the pipeline. This unique alliance is powering UK research to bring together combinations of new and existing drugs in early clinical trials to find better ways to treat patients and increase survival from a range of cancers.

“Without this important alliance these trials might not be possible. We want to build on the foundations established with AstraZeneca to add additional partners to collaborate with us in the future. Our aim is to set up cross-company agreements to provide access to a larger number of potential treatment combinations.”

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Bowel cancer 'chemo swap' shrinks tumours, making surgery safer and easier

Thursday 1 November 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

GIVING some bowel cancer patients six weeks of chemotherapy before surgery can significantly shrink their tumour, making it easier to remove and potentially reducing the chances of the cancer coming back, according to results from a major Cancer Research UK-funded pilot study published this month in Lancet Oncology1.

Giving chemotherapy before surgery is already standard practice for several other cancers of the digestive system – including oesophageal, stomach and rectal cancers. This may be more effective at killing off any cancer cells that have broken away and spread elsewhere in the body, than if chemotherapy is delayed until after surgery.

But until now doctors had deemed it too risky to use this approach for colon cancers (part of the bowel) because, if tumours fail to respond to this treatment they continue growing, risking a potentially fatal blockage in the colon that requires emergency surgery. Another challenge was to pick out which patients needed chemotherapy before surgery.

These results - from the pilot of the ‘FOxTROT’ trial - show that, using the latest CT imaging techniques, it is possible to safely and accurately select colon cancer patients who could benefit from having chemotherapy before surgery.

A total of 150 patients took part in the study from 35 hospitals around the UK. They were each randomly assigned to receive either six weeks of the oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy before surgery, followed by 18 weeks afterwards, or the standard treatment of 24 weeks of the same chemotherapy after surgery. All patients had ‘locally advanced’ tumours, that had grown through the colon wall or into nearby body organs but not spread to other part of the body.

Among those given six weeks of chemotherapy prior to surgery - followed by 18 weeks afterwards - 31 per cent (29 out of 94) of patients’ tumours shrank significantly, with two patients’ tumours reported as completely disappearing.

Chief Investigator Professor Dion Morton, from the University of Birmingham, said: “These feasibility results show that pre-operative chemotherapy can be delivered safely and efficiently, paving the way for a larger phase III study which, if successful, could completely change the way we treat colon cancer within five years.

“Shrinking the tumours beforehand makes them easier to remove, reducing the chances of any of the tumour being left behind. Importantly, all of the patients we treated in this way were well enough to proceed with their surgery and they were no more likely to have complications that extended their hospital stay afterwards.”

The trial also looked at adding a new targeted drug called panitumumab to some patients’ treatment. Previous research has shown that this drug can help people with colon cancer that has spread, although this is the first time it has been used in patients prior to surgery.

But panitumumab only works in tumours that don’t have faults in a gene called K-RAS. So first the researchers wanted to find out if it might be possible to carry out K-RAS testing on patients’ tumours quickly enough to use panitumumab before surgery.

Professor Morton added: “We were able to show that genetic testing of patients’ tumours could be carried out within an eight day timeframe – quickly enough to allow patients to potentially benefit from the latest targeted treatments without delay to their surgery or chemotherapy. This has never before been attempted in this group of patients and represents a major step forwards that could see more patients benefitting from such treatments in the future.”

Alan Sugden, 64, from Kidderminster, was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2009, after initially going to his GP with suspected haemorrhoids and later being referred for a colonoscopy.

He was told by his doctors that he had probably had the cancer for about two years and when he found out he was eligible to join the FOxTROT trial, he jumped at the chance.

Alan said: “The trial definitely helped me. Having the chemotherapy before my operation helped shrink my tumour which made it easier for the surgeon. I think it’s essential that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push forward the research. My cancer was treatable and that’s thanks to the work of organisations like Cancer Research UK who keep investing in these areas.

“I have since become a granddad for the first time and am enjoying spending time with my beautiful new baby granddaughter. I continue to travel and have just come back from another lovely holiday to Portugal. Life goes on and you have to make the most of things and keep on going.”

Alan will continue to be monitored on the FOxTROT trial until 2014.

Liz Woolf, head of Cancer Research UK’s patient information website, CancerHelp UK, said: “Although we will need to wait for the results of the phase III trial before we know if this treatment can help prevent colon cancer coming back and improve survival, these initial results are hugely encouraging. Around 1,000 patients from around the world are needed to take part in this larger study. If successful, this could potentially change the course of treatment for thousands of colon cancer patients in the future.”

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Cancer Research UK's response to the breast screening review

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Dr Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “The independent review shows screening saves lives.

“Screening remains one of the best ways to spot the very early signs of breast cancer, at a stage when treatment is most likely to be successful.

“Yet, as the review shows, some cancers will be diagnosed and treated that would never have caused any harm. Clearly, everyone wants to minimise this.

“But because we can’t yet tell which cancers are harmful and which are not, we cannot predict what will happen in an individual woman’s case.
 

“We think it’s vitally important for women to have access to clear information about breast screening, the balance of benefits and harms and the fact that they could be diagnosed with and treated for a cancer that might not cause them harm.

“So, on balance, taking all the evidence into account, Cancer Research UK recommends that women go for breast screening when invited.
“Research is advancing at pace and we hope that in the future there will be a number of new techniques that we can use alongside the screening programme to make it more sophisticated and reduce the numbers of women having unnecessary treatment.

“Until this is possible, we’d recommend women who have had something unusual picked up through screening to seek full advice and discuss all possible options with their breast cancer specialist team.

“We urge the screening programme to update the breast screening information leaflet in the light of the findings of the independent review.”

More information:

• A press release from the Independent Breast Screening Review panel (PDF) 
• More information about the Independent Breast Screening Review and its findings
• A Q&A for women considering breast screening
• A detailed infographic summarising the findings
• Blog post: How can we improve breast screening?

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Strategic Drug Discovery Alliance signed by CRT, Astex Pharmaceuticals and Newcastle University

Monday 29 October 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Astex Pharmaceuticals,  Inc. (Nasdaq: ASTX), a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics, Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT) and Newcastle University  have signed a major five-year strategic drug discovery alliance. The partners will discover and develop new cancer drugs in collaboration with researchers at the Cancer Research UK Drug Discovery Program at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research (NICR, Newcastle University).

During the five-year alliance, Astex will provide £1M funding annually to Newcastle University to support research across biology, chemistry, pharmacology and imaging at the NICR to identify and develop new cancer drugs and associated biomarkers to develop tests to determine which patients to treat and if new drugs are working.

Harren Jhoti, PhD, director  and president of Astex Pharmaceuticals, said: “We are delighted to enter into this broad strategic drug discovery alliance with one of Cancer Research UK’s leading drug discovery centers as it allows Astex to access world-leading translational research in oncology.

“This new alliance builds on a previous collaboration between Astex, Newcastle and CRT on FGFr, a key cancer target, which led to the development of a clinical candidate that our partners at Janssen have recently taken into a Phase I clinical trial, and we look forward to discovering more new potential therapies for cancer patients.”

Astex will retain an option to an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize pharmaceutical products from each alliance project.  CRT and Newcastle are eligible to receive development and regulatory milestone payments on exercise of the options, and on products that Astex takes into development (and royalties on sales of products).  Financial terms of the milestone payments and royalties were not disclosed.

Professor Herbie Newell, co-director of the Cancer Research UK Drug Discovery Program at the NICR, Newcastle University, said: “This exciting alliance represents an innovative route to the development of more effective cancer drugs by combining the partners’ expertise and experience.

“The research will bring together pre-clinical drug and biomarker discovery approaches using molecular, genetic and clinical data to identify new targets in cancer cells that can be treated with drugs, and ultimately medicines to take into clinical trials that will provide new ways to treat the disease and increase survival.”

Dr Keith Blundy, Cancer Research Technology’s chief executive, said: “This major collaboration, which builds on the successes and impressive track record of all partners, will further develop Cancer Research UK’s world-class research into cancer treatments.

“Risk-sharing partnerships like this enable us to maximise the development of our basic research portfolio into new treatments for patients.

“The success of our existing network of partnerships is seen in our drug development pipeline which is the largest and most diverse of any academic partner worldwide with more than 30 cancer therapies in clinical development, and a further 175 discovery/pre-clinical projects in our portfolio, of which 55 are partnered with industry.”

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Scientists discover potential new ‘roots’ of breast cancer

Friday 26 October 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Scientists have discovered new types of early cells in mammary glands, uncovering clues to the origins of different breast cancers - and potential new drug targets, according to findings published in Breast Cancer Research.

The team at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute identified at least two types of early cells, called progenitor cells. Unlike stem cells, which can develop into any type of cell and keep on dividing, progenitor cells can only divide a limited number of times. Previously scientists only knew of one type of progenitor cells in mammary glands.

Cancer is thought to begin in cells that can produce many daughter cells, which form the tumour mass. So different progenitor cells may explain why there are different types of breast cancer.

The team discovered that one group of progenitor cells, called oestrogen positive progenitors, had oestrogen receptors. This protein receives signals from the sex hormone, oestrogen. The other group - oestrogen negative cells - lacked this receptor.

Oestrogen positive progenitor cells survive better in a low oestrogen and progesterone environment - similar to the breast tissue of post-menopausal women. This suggests that tumours in post-menopausal women may develop from these cells, but further experiments are needed to confirm this.

The oestrogen negative progenitor cells have a genetic fingerprint resembling an aggressive type of breast cancer called basal-like breast cancer, more likely to affect younger women. This suggests the disease may develop from the oestrogen negative progenitors.

Study author, Dr John Stingl, at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute, said: “This exciting discovery reveals that mammary glands are much more complicated than scientists initially thought. Uncovering new types of ‘mother’ cells may explain why there are different types of breast cancer, and why young and older women tend to get different types. It could also provide new starting points for ways to diagnose and treat the disease in the future.”

Dr Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information manager, said: “This research takes us right to the root of how breast cells develop. This fresh understanding could reveal new ways to block the development of cancer and tell us more about what happens when tumours become resistant to treatment.

“Cancer Research UK is a major funder of breast cancer research in the UK. Our research has contributed to progress that means eight out of 10 women now survive breast cancer for more than five years, compared with five out of 10 women in the 1970s. But there’s much more to do. Research like this will build on our understanding of breast cancer to bring forward the day when we can beat this disease.”
 

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Combining imaging and gene analysis could transform breast cancer diagnosis

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Cancer Research UK Press Release

COMBINING two approaches - one that digitally scans images of tumour samples and another that analyses genetic information - gives a more accurate prediction of how breast cancer will behave. The research is published today in Science Translational Medicine1.

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute have built a computer system that automatically analyses microscopy images of hundreds of breast cancer samples. The new approach looks at the makeup of the cells within a tumour, normally undertaken by a pathologist looking down a microscope, and combines these images with the key genetic changes that are crucial for the development of breast cancer.

Compared to carrying out these tests individually, the new system was more accurate and could give researchers more detailed information about a woman’s breast cancer.

Survival from a type of breast cancer called oestrogen receptor negative can be predicted by the number of white blood immune cells that have entered the tumour. The new test increased the accuracy of predictions based on this from 67 to 86 per cent.

The researchers also found a new way to predict survival based on the arrangement of supporting cells within the cancer. Known as the stroma, these cells play a role in encouraging the growth of breast cancers and are not detected in current tests.

Dr Florian Markowetz, the lead researcher at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute, said: “Cancers are a mix of different cells – not just cancer cells – they also include those from the immune system and others that support the structure of the tumour. These cells play an important role in how cancers behave, but this information is not currently detected in tests that focus on the genetic makeup of the cancer.

“By bridging the gap between the ‘two cultures’ of pathology and genomics our research has a huge potential for better understanding breast cancer.”

Professor Carlos Caldas, also based at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute, said: “This research complements our study earlier this year that found breast cancer was in fact at least ten different diseases. This now takes us a step closer to being able to use this knowledge in the clinic and directly benefit women with breast cancer.”

Dr Julie Sharp, senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “Combining the visual information from a breast tumour with knowledge of its genetic makeup using computer systems could have a profound impact on how cancer clinics of the future work, enabling doctors to offer women treatments that are tailored to their individual breast cancer.”

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