
© Greg Harding
From the mechanics behind fast-moving melanoma cells to cancer’s very own (and very complex) family tree, we’ve picked a handful of important research discoveries to share from the last 12 months.
It’s thanks to all our supporters that we’re able to fund this research, and discoveries like these are opening up vital new ways of tackling cancer.
1. Stopping cancer in its tracks
Melanoma cells move quickly, which is why the disease is tough to treat once tumour cells have spread around the body. Finding ways to stop this is a major focus for our scientists.
Research with fluorescent fish showed us that some slower-moving melanoma cells might hitch a ride on faster ones to spread.
And a study looking at how these tumour cells stay on track revealed a chemical ‘breadcrumb trail’ that the melanoma cells lay for themselves while they’re on the move.
But just being nimble isn’t enough. Melanoma cells also need to be flexible, and change shape to squeeze through gaps between tissues as they spread. Our researchers showed one way this shape-shifting ability is controlled in melanoma cells to keep them going.
Crucially, these studies could all help turn some of a melanoma’s greatest strengths into weaknesses. And our researchers will keep tracking these cells in search of new ways to target the disease.
2. Making treatment personal
New treatments must be safe and an improvement on what’s already out there. And to show this you need a clinical trial.
But we’ve seen the face of clinical trials change a lot in recent years, including several studies we fund that are aiming to test several different treatments at the same time.
Our Matrix trial for lung cancer is one of these, offering treatments to different groups of patients based on the genetic make-up of their cancer.
3. Attacking the trunk of cancer’s ‘family tree’
As the tools for genetic analysis become more advanced they reveal an increasingly complex picture of how a cancer grows and changes over time.
This complex ‘family tree’ was documented in unprecedented detail by our scientists working on lung cancer. And they’ve now extended this analysis to more tumours as they begin penning an evolutionary ‘rule book’ for cancer.
The hope? To one day make predictions about how a tumour will grow, staying a step ahead of it and being able to offer the best treatments for that patient’s disease.
4. Drug resistance is futile
A sad truth is that in some cases a patient’s cancer will stop responding to the treatments available to them. The challenge of drug resistance is a big one. But our researchers are making progress.
A team of our scientists in London discovered that healthy blood vessel cells may be encouraging treatment resistance via a cellular communication molecule called FAK.
Researchers are also turning to blood samples as a potential new way to gather precious cancer cells to study drug resistance. For lung cancer, these ‘liquid biopsies’ are showing great promise, as we explored recently when we visited a team of our scientists in Manchester.
5. Tackling the toughest research challenges
In our ambitious research strategy we laid out plans to tackle lung, brain, oesophageal and pancreatic cancers, which have seen little improvement in survival figures over recent decades.
This year we’ve more than doubled the amount of money we spend on lung cancer research, and upped our pancreatic cancer spend from £6m last year to £15m this year. We held the world’s first international meeting of oesophageal cancer experts, and world-leading brain cancer researcher, Professor Richard Gilbertson, joined us from the US as head of the Cambridge Cancer Centre.
And our researchers have already begun making progress in boosting our understanding of these diseases.
They have redefined pancreatic cancer as at least for different types, and begun unravelling the genetic chaos fuelling lung cancer.
Our scientists in Cambridge have taken the next steps towards developing a new test that could help diagnose oesophageal cancer earlier when treatments are more likely to be successful.
And researchers have shown how a modified version of a brain cancer drug could help overcome resistance to treatment.
Each of these discoveries advances our understanding of cancer, uncovering potential new ways to diagnose and target these diverse diseases.
And each discovery is rooted in the generous donations from our supporters. For that we say thank you.
Nick
Comments
Lynn Ebury August 28, 2015
My brother Kev died of lung cancer which spread to his brain last february. (20/2/14). Had he lived, he would have been 58 on 29/3/14. he was only 16 months older than me. What a pity this wasn’t around before. at least there is hope for others. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
Mark Avery August 24, 2015
My daughter,her friend,and her friend’s mum,recently took part in ‘Race for life’,in support of Cancer Research UK.I was really proud of her!Keep up the excellent work,and continue the battle. But I agree with one of the previous comments;the government should contribute more,enabling even more research,and hopefully becoming closer to the success rates of our European colleagues.
Jan Hamilton August 22, 2015
Very interesting and encouraging to learn of the work being done in the fight against cancer. Even better to hear of the progress being made. Thank you to all involved in this research who work so tirelessly.
Laura Martin August 22, 2015
Love getting these updates. They allow me to pass information on to people who have been diagnosed with Cancer to reassure them that so much is being discovered all the time.
Sophie Bingham August 21, 2015
In the ten years that my (then 32) beloved brother died from melanoma having received superb treatment at the Royal Marsden in Chelsea, It’s so encouraging to learn the significant progress that has been made for those with the disease diagnosed stage 3+ . Carry on with the good work , I salute you.
Frances Lee August 21, 2015
It is encouraging that progress is being made. We do need our government to contribute more to medical research and not leave it to the pharmaceuticals!
Dr Trace Allen August 21, 2015
Hello, I remain disappointed at the lack of resource and priority CRUK is applying to Pancreatic Cancer—mentioned in your text tho’ as far as I know and I may be out of date. Last year I retired as Chair of PCUK having sought partnership during my 6 years as Chair with CRUK.
I know that there have been some fruits from the relationship between CRUK and PCUK though I remain disappointed in the amount of attention given to date.
Please tell me I am incorrect in my assertions.
Nick Peel August 21, 2015
Hi Miss Oseni,
Thanks for your comment and support. We’re really sorry to hear about your diagnosis.
For the new immunotherapy treatments you have mentioned, there is still a lot of research to be done to find out which types of cancer will respond to the treatments and who would benefit from them. And no treatment is without side effects, including immunotherapies. At the moment, these treatments have only been proven effective in lung cancer and melanoma. You can read more about the latest research on immunotherapies here.
New treatments can also only be made available on the NHS once they’ve been shown to be effective in clinical trials, and once an assessment has been made about how cost effective the treatment is for the health service. We have been doing a lot of work to encourage the Government to develop a more flexible approach to funding new cancer drugs so newer types of treatment, such as immunotherapies, can be given to everyone who will benefit in the future.
If you would like to speak to someone about your situation you can contact one of our Cancer Information Nurses for free on 0808 800 40 40 or via this online form.
Best wishes,
Nick, Cancer Research UK
Jennifer Brown August 21, 2015
Good explanation of how the research is progressing. Insight into the cancer becoming resistant. The opportunity for trials (I am a trial patient).
It’s reassuring to know that slowly progress is being made so one day we will beat cancer.
judith stobbart August 21, 2015
the increase in funding for pancreatic research funding is welcome and brilliant news
Andrene Skinner August 20, 2015
We have a long way to go in our efforts to combat cancer but we must not slow down our research. It is vital we do all we can to attract more young scientists to join the wonderful people who are making such good progress at this time.
Mr Brian James MacKintosh August 20, 2015
I think this is one of the best research topics we have had and very easy to understand also you can look at any of the cancers by the click of your mouse,
Greta Lyons August 20, 2015
All these improvement s are fantStic and. Tribute to the work by research. Very little is heard of blood cancers,particularly the in curable ones- any movement on these??
Edward Sutcliffe August 20, 2015
It is good to know that more people are surviving longer after being diagnosed with cancer.I think that it is important that clinics world wide share thier research in order that cures may be found quicker.
Nick Peel August 20, 2015
Hi Glenda,
Thanks for your comment. We’re sorry to hear about your husband and son.
You can read about all the prostate cancer research we’ve blogged about recently here. We have also written about some important clinical trial results in prostate cancer that were announced earlier this year – you can read the news report here. And you can also find out about all the prostate cancer research we are funding here.
Best wishes,
Nick, Cancer Research UK
Nick Peel August 20, 2015
Hi Alison & Katie,
Thanks for your comments. Rare cancers are absolutely something we’re focusing on too, as part of our work with the International Rare Cancers Initiative.
In answer to your specific questions, yes – we’ve just agreed to support a clinical trial that’s testing whether patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours benefit from having chemotherapy following surgery. And we’re also funding a trial testing a new treatment for people with neuroendocrine tumours that start in other parts of the body.
And we spend more than £116 million on research into the biology of cancer, which helps us understand and tackle all types of the disease and could lead to faster diagnosis and better treatments for patients with neuroendocrine tumours.
Best wishes,
Nick, Cancer Research UK
Doug Brown August 20, 2015
Reassuring to hear the progress and future efforts to beat cancers is really reassuring. I have nearly finished my prostate cancer course and am virtually cleared. Keep up the good work.
Harvey Tordoff August 20, 2015
Hi Kat, thanks for your reply regarding IPT. I have looked at the web site and it simply says that IPT should not be taken because it lowers the blood sugar levels. Yes, that’s the point.
Does it mean that the low dose chemo drugs are more effective? No evidence.
It is disappointing that there are no scientists out there who want to go to clinical trials. The potential is huge. Unfortunately, it also has the potential for reducing drug company revenues by 90%!
Best wishes, Harvey
Glenda Willmot August 20, 2015
Please can we have the latest on prostate cancer sometimes, both my husband and son are victims
Michael Broom August 20, 2015
I have multi myeloma cancer but there never appears to much information concerning research into this type of cancer.
Victor Rossiter August 20, 2015
I have lost 2 pals to pancreatic cancer and am pleased that you are increasing your budget in tackling this nasty cancer
Harvey Tordoff August 20, 2015
A lot of good news has emerged in recent months on new lines of cancer research. It bodes well for the future, but meanwhile there are a lot of people who have to accept treatments that are available now.
My wife is in her fifth year since she was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian/peritoneal cancer. Surgery and radiotherapy have been ruled out, so she has been given chemo. Again and again. It has kept the cancer at bay, but boy, those side effects!
So when we heard about IPT with low-dose chemo we thought this could be what she needs. But is it? No studies, no research, no plans for research. We can go abroad for treatment, but why isn’t this being investigated to help the thousands of chemo patients in this country who suffer from side-effects?
[IPT stands for Insulin Potentiated Therapy; insulin is used to reduce blood sugar levels; then glucose laced with chemo drugs is introduced intravenously, and the cancer cells gobble it all up. 10% of normal chemo dose, and none left to attack the rest of the body.]
Kat Arney August 20, 2015
Hi Harvey,
We’re very sorry to hear about your wife, and wish you both the best.
We fund research and clinical trials on the basis of proposals made to us by researchers. To the best of our knowledge we have never been approached by any scientists wishing to study IPT for treating cancer in the UK.
However, there is evidence that insulin and insulin-like molecules can actually encourage certain cancers to grow, and we have funded a number of research projects in this area.
You may find this page looking at the current evidence around IPT useful:
https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/insulin-potentiation-therapy
Best wishes,
Kat
Kris Henchley August 20, 2015
Thanks for the email as someone with ovarian cancer and having 2nd line chemotherapy I see and hear very little in positive news regarding research particuly when new drugs are refused by the cancer drug fund.
Mariana August 20, 2015
Well done, Cancer Research! I am a keen supporter and truly believe we WILL BEAT CANCER! :) Keep up the wonderful work you do for all of us!
Hugh Gardenier November 10, 2015
How about myelofibrosis?