How your support helps 2020/21

Alim was first diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2001. Alim said: "I always wanted to be a father – I knew that. And it was scary when I was diagnosed with cancer. Worrying about whether I would be able to have children was definitely a thought that came to me immediately."

His treatment has included surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. As part of his chemotherapy he took a drug called Cisplatin, which Cancer Research UK played a vital role in developing. Now, 20 years after his diagnosis, he’s cancer-free and a father of two.
 

Dr Caroline Young from the University of Leeds is a member of the Cancer Grand Challenges OPTIMISTICC team. They are investigating the relationships between cancer and the trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi inside our bodies.

They tested poo samples from the UK, US, India, Chile, Argentina and Vietnam, and found a pattern of gut bacteria that indicates a higher risk of bowel cancer.

Caroline said: "It’s very interesting because it suggests that the work we’re doing could be translated to a low-cost, low resource bowel cancer screening programme in other parts of the world."

Sue Vipond, an ex-nurse who lives in Peebles in Scotland, has volunteered at her local Cancer Research UK shop since 1993.

“My grandad died of cancer, then in 2008, my son had cancer of the parotid gland. I remember saying ‘I wish I could go through this for you’, then in 2009, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer – thankfully it was caught early. It just makes me more keen to continue volunteering.

We can all play our part, however small – by donating, buying, or volunteering.”

Kalyan was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2017. When a scan revealed the cancer had spread to his brain, Kalyan was referred to join the MARIETTA trial. The results of this trial were hugely promising. 46% of participants lived for two years without their cancer growing and this increased to 83% for patients who went on to receive the stem-cell transplant – an incredible achievement.

Kalyan said: “The doctor warned me it would be a slow recovery and the following six months were tough. I found it difficult to eat and my immune system is still not fully recovered.”

He adds: “I’m very glad to have been on the trial. The treatment saved my life. It’s been four years now and I’m so happy to be here with my family.”

After years of campaigning, the UK Government launched its new obesity strategy. The strategy cited our research as part of the rationale for a ban on junk food adverts before 9pm. The Government has also now committed to a ban on paid-for advertising of junk food online too.

We joined with the US National Cancer Institute to launch Cancer Grand Challenges. As a global research community, we'll tackle cancer’s toughest challenges. 

Cytosponge is a pill on a string that once swallowed expands to collect cells from a person's throat. A new study found it was ten times better at detecting Barrett's oesophagus, a condition that can lead to oesophageal cancer, than normal care. This quick, easy-to-use method could revolutionise the detection of Barrett's oesophagus, and in doing so make it easy to diagnose oesophageal cancer.

Our scientists in London, working alongside researchers in the US, have recently discovered that a new drug called fadraciclib, which has had promising results in adults, could be effective at treating children with neuroblastoma, a type of nerve tumour. This targeted therapy will be made available for children with high-risk neuroblastoma in the UK through our eSMART trial.

We continue to develop the intelligent knife (iKnife) a surgical device with the ability to tell the difference between healthy and cancerous tissue. It can detect the type of tissue it’s cutting, while it’s cutting. With more testing, surgeons hope to use this device to remove every last cancer cell.

The TRACERx study has continued to make progress to beat lung cancer. This year the team has discovered more about how the immune system becomes worn out by attacking cancer cells. This could lead to cutting edge-treatments that use the patient’s own immune cells to target the cancer.