Cancer Research UK has been at the forefront of progress in cancer research for over a century. Our work has made a substantial impact on the survival and quality of life of cancer patients throughout the UK. We have also made great strides in preventing and diagnosing cancer.

Here are just some of our key achievements.

Drug development and new treatments

New drugs and treatments developed by Cancer Research UK, have benefited thousands of people with the disease.

• Cancer Research UK played a key role in developing the highly-effective anti-cancer drug cisplatin. In combination with other drugs, cisplatin has transformed the outlook for men with advanced testicular cancer. And overall, more than 97 per cent of testicular cancer cases are treated successfully.



• Our scientists discovered and developed Temozolomide (Temodal™) – a drug that has brought substantial benefits to patients with certain types of brain cancer.



• Cancer Research UK has been carrying out pioneering studies in radiotherapy for over 80 years. In the 1990s, we developed a new type of radiotherapy known as CHART, which aims to improve the treatment of lung cancer patients.

Changing medical practice

Our ground-breaking work has led to life-saving changes in the way cancer is diagnosed and treated.

• Breast cancer
  In the 1990s, our scientists found that giving the drug, tamoxifen to all breast cancer patients who need it, whatever their age, could save an extra 20,000 lives each year worldwide. This overturned accepted wisdom that the drug had no benefit for younger women.



• Pancreatic cancer
  As a result of the Cancer Research UK-funded ESPAC-1 trial, chemotherapy alongside surgery is now the standard treatment for patients with operable pancreatic cancer. This approach almost trebles the survival rates of patients with this disease.



• Early detection
  Our work has contributed to the development of national screening programmes for cancer, saving thousands of lives.
  
  • In the 1950s, we conducted the some of the earliest studies of cervical screening. This helped lead to the introduction of the UK's cervical screening programme.
  • In 1995, we played a key role in conducting research which showed that a new type of mammography detected more breast cancers. Two-view mammography, as it is known, is now used by all national screening centres.

New hope for childhood cancer

Dramatic improvements in curing childhood cancers have been made, in particular as a result of work we have funded through the UK Children's Cancer Study Group (UKCCSG).

• Around 85 per cent of children with a particular form of kidney cancer – known as Wilms' tumour – are successfully treated.



• Today nearly 90 per cent of children with B-cell lymphoma will survive.

Reducing the risk of cancer

Our pioneering research has already helped prevent thousands of cases of cancer and could save many more lives in the future.

• Cancer in families
  Cancer Research UK has led groundbreaking research into the genetic basis of inherited cancers.
  
  We have identified several cancer susceptibility genes. For example, in 1995, our scientists helped discover the breast cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA2. Faults in this gene are associated with an increased risk of of breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.
  
  This work could help to identify individuals at high risk and allow us to investigate ways of reducing their risk, through screening and other approaches.



• Smoking
  Just over fifty years ago, scientists first proved the link between smoking and lung cancer. Our scientists monitored the effects of smoking over the last five decades, and have shown that half of all regular smokers will eventually die of their habit.



• Diet
  Cancer Research UK is a key player in the largest study into diet and cancer ever known, called EPIC. Results from this study have shown links between an increased risk of bowel cancer and a diet high in red and processed meat and and low in fibre.



• HRT
  In 2003, the Million Women Study, co-funded by Cancer Research UK, demonstrated that current or recent use of hormone replacement therapy increases a woman's risk of breast cancer. This groundbreaking study is the largest of its kind ever undertaken.

Advances in patient care

Our work is helping to improve the quality of life of cancer patients right across the UK.

• We have funded important projects that have found new ways to help patients tackle insomnia and depression – two common side effects of cancer and its treatment.



• Our scientists have taken the lead on research into patient-doctor communication. They have developed a training course to improve the communication and counselling skills of cancer doctors and this is due to be rolled out across the NHS.