News digest – prostate ‘barcode’ test, magnetic antibodies, skin scanners and more

Its time for our weekly news digest

• A blood test that reads genetic changes in blood cells like a barcode can predict how severe a man’s prostate cancer is likely to be, according to research published this week. The Daily Mail and the BBC covered the story, and our own news story explains why the work, which we helped fund, could be important.
• A cancer-killing antibody that can be activated by a magnetic field has been developed by scientists in Korea. It’s early-stage lab work, but interesting stuff. Read more in our news story, and here’s the Daily Mail’s take.
• A new £15 million fund could provide more cancer patients with access to an advanced radiotherapy technique that results in fewer side effects. Prime Minister David Cameron announced the new Cancer Radiotherapy Innovation Fund this week. There’s more detail in our news story, while our blog post explains why this announcement is so important.
• A skin scanner that aims to show young shoppers the damaging and ageing effects of sunbed use is set to tour Scotland as part of a new campaign. The BBC and Daily Mail both had stories about the scanner. The machine is part of a campaign called ‘R UV UGLY?’, which is being launched by Cancer Research UK in partnership with the Scottish Government.
• Sticking with Scotland, a legal challenge by the tobacco industry to a ban on cigarette sales from vending machines was rejected by senior judges in Scotland this week. The BBC covered the story, and there’s more detail on our website.
• A new report published this week confirmed that women living in England’s more deprived areas have a higher chance of developing cervical cancer and of dying from the disease. These stats highlight the need for the Government, charities and health organisations to continue to work together to reduce inequalities in uptake of both HPV vaccination and cervical screening. For more in-depth analysis, read our news story.

And finally

• The Guardian wrote a thought-provoking article about ‘life after cancer’, which discusses how falling deaths from cancer mean that many people are living with the disease for longer. This is of course good news, but also means society needs to find ways to support cancer patients after their treatment stops.