Our impact so far

More research is making more possible

Michelle Mitchell. Image credit: David Vintiner.

Michelle Mitchell. Image credit: David Vintiner

Michelle Mitchell. Image credit: David Vintiner

Two years ago, we launched our More Research, Less Cancer campaign with a clear ambition: to help accelerate progress against cancer by raising £400m and securing 120 high-value legacy pledges. Today, we’re past the halfway point of the campaign and momentum is strong, thanks to your generosity.

From pioneering science at the Francis Crick Institute and through Cancer Grand Challenges, to bold innovation through our Cancer Impact Club, philanthropic support is opening doors for researchers to pursue big ideas and accelerate discoveries. It’s a collective effort, powered by our supporters and driven by talented teams across the UK and internationally.

The next chapter of the campaign is critical. Science is moving faster than ever and, together, we can make sure these discoveries translate into real-world impact for people. That means more cancer prevention, earlier detection and kinder, more effective treatments.

Thank you for standing with us. Your commitment means more research. And more research means less cancer.

Michelle Mitchell OBE
Chief Executive
Cancer Research UK

More breakthroughs

Step by step, day by day, we are beating cancer. Here are some of the research and clinical achievements we’re most proud of from the past two years.

Preventing cancer with vaccines

We’ve started supporting scientists who are developing vaccines to prevent lung, ovarian and bowel cancer in people at high risk of these diseases. LungVax trials start this year.

Spotting early signs with a sponge

Our BEST3 trial showed that an innovative sponge-on-a-string test is up to 10 times better at spotting early risk signs for oesophageal cancer than standard care. Now, the BEST4 trial is finding out if the test can save lives, potentially paving the way for it to become part of a targeted screening programme.

Helping children and young people thrive

Our SIOPEL 6 trial helped bring sodium thiosulphate to the clinic after we proved that it can help protect children’s hearing when they’re receiving cisplatin, a type of chemotherapy. Now it’s available on the NHS in the UK and approved internationally.

Linking air pollution to lung cancer

Thanks to our TRACERx research team, we now know how air pollution can cause lung cancer in people who’ve never smoked. Together with international collaborators, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute identified tiny pollutants that ‘wake up’ pre-cancerous cells in the lungs, triggering them to form tumours.

Towards global elimination of a cancer

More women could now survive cervical cancer, thanks to our INTERLACE trial. Our researchers showed that adding a short course of chemotherapy before standard treatment can reduce deaths by 35%. This builds on our huge successes in supporting the development and roll-out of the HPV vaccine, which is expected to prevent almost 90% of cervical cancers in the UK.

More discoveries, less disease

Fuelling discovery research at the Francis Crick Institute in London

Biomedical discovery research to understand the fundamental biology underlying health and disease is at the heart of beating cancer. Discovering more about cancer biology, about how tumours develop, grow and spread, how they interact with the rest of the body and how they evolve and evade treatments, has led to interventions that today give thousands of people more time with their loved ones.

We fund world-leading discovery research across all our institutes and centres. At the Francis Crick Institute in London, philanthropic support is empowering researchers to go further, ask bolder questions and accelerate discoveries that will transform lives.

40 years of treatment-
transforming discoveries

Professor Julian Downward is a principal group leader at the Crick. His mission is to understand how faulty genes can lead to cancer. But in 1982, when Julian had finished his biochemistry degree and was starting a PhD, his focus was on cell growth and how it’s controlled. Little did he know then that he’d go on to make a discovery that would fundamentally change how we treat many types of cancer.

Julian’s PhD research centred around a molecule called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is involved in the messages our cells send each other to control their growth. He started comparing EGFR to other molecules that had already been studied – which in those days involved using offline databases stored on tape drives that were distributed by post.

One evening, Julian discovered something astonishing: EGFR was almost identical to cancer-causing molecules produced by a virus that affects chickens. This meant that the very molecules our cells produce to grow could also cause cancer if they become overactive.

“As soon as we saw that link and realised that EGFR-like proteins could cause cancer, it was immediately obvious that this could be a therapeutic opportunity,” Julian explains. His breakthrough triggered an effort to develop drugs to block EGFR, resulting in more than 10 new medicines for six different types of cancer.

Professor Julian Downward

Professor Julian Downward

Drugging the undruggable

Today, Julian’s lab at the Crick focuses
on a major cancer risk gene called RAS. And in the past year, he’s made another discovery that again holds the potential to transform cancer treatment.

If it’s faulty, the RAS gene permanently
turns on the switch controlling cell growth, telling cells to keep growing and dividing, leading to cancer. Around 1 in 5 cancers are linked to a faulty RAS gene, including some of the hardest to treat, such as lung and pancreatic cancer. But previous efforts to block RAS with drugs have seen little success. Many consider it 'undruggable'.

Now, working with biotechnology company Vividion Therapeutics, Julian and his team have identified a compound that could break the link between a faulty RAS gene and uncontrolled cell growth – like cutting the wires that connect a switch to a light bulb.

The team are now testing the new drug in a clinical trial. If it’s successful, it could offer a new treatment option for people with cancers caused by a faulty RAS gene.

Julian is quick to acknowledge the generosity of the supporters who’ve helped make his career, and therefore his treatment-transforming discoveries, possible. “It’s such a privilege to work at the Crick, which is right at the forefront of biomedical research,” he says. “This institute wouldn’t be what it is today without the incredible support of our dedicated donors. And for that, I’m truly grateful.”

The Francis Crick Institute. Image credit: Dave Guttridge | thephotounit.co.uk

The Francis Crick Institute. Image credit: Dave Guttridge | thephotounit.co.uk

The Francis Crick Institute. Image credit: Dave Guttridge | thephotounit.co.uk

More investment, more hope

Turning ideas into life-saving innovations through Cancer Research Horizons

Too many promising ideas never reach the people who need them most. This is often because developing new tests and treatments for cancer is high risk, so commercial partners are scarce, especially for ventures relating to hard-to-treat cancers, such as pancreatic and oesophageal cancer, and cancers affecting children and young people.

But now, philanthropic support is helping to change that. Cancer Research Horizons, the translational arm of Cancer Research UK, unites world-leading researchers and their bold ideas with the right partners to help propel discoveries from the lab into new tests, treatments and technologies that will give people affected by cancer more hope.

Accelerating early-stage innovations

In June 2022, we launched the Cancer Research Horizons Seed Fund. The fund offers high-potential, early-stage innovations not only financial support, but also expert networks and business building support to help them progress to where commercial investors come onboard and accelerate their transition from lab to clinic.

Cancer Research UK kickstarted the fund with a £15m investment and we set out to double it. Thanks to a transformational £10m donation from Garfield Weston Foundation, we’re well on our way.

What’s more, since March 2025 we’ve been building a powerful community of business leaders to support the Seed Fund through their philanthropy and networks.

The Cancer Research Horizons Seed Fund has already invested in more than 20 early-stage companies, including:

Trogenix – which is pioneering targeted gene therapies to treat glioblastoma, a brain tumour with a five-year survival of only around 5% in the UK.

52North – which is bringing an at-home test to market that helps doctors more effectively identify patients at risk of neutropenic sepsis, the most serious side effect of chemotherapy.

Myricx Bio – which is developing a completely novel treatment approach using antibodies that bind to the surface of specific tumour types to deliver a drug to its target.

Infinitopes – which is entering first-in-human clinical trials with a cancer vaccine to help stop oesophageal cancer from coming back.

We've built a powerhouse of innovation.

90+

start-ups supported, leveraging £3.4bn in additional investment

£600m+

from royalties and intellectual property reinvested into cancer research

14 drugs

that we significantly contributed to, delivering over six million courses of treatment for people with cancer worldwide

These figures reflect activity delivered since 2000, including contributions from the predecessor to Cancer Research Horizons, Cancer Research Technology. They include work supported by a range of funding sources, not solely the More Research, Less Cancer campaign.

A fresh approach

Bringing entrepreneurial thinking to philanthropy with Darren Redmayne, former CEO of Cardano

Darren Redmayne brings 30 years of business-building experience to a mission close to his heart: helping to turn lab breakthroughs into new tests and treatments for people with cancer.

Having been personally impacted by the disease, he saw an opportunity to apply entrepreneurial thinking to philanthropy that helps to beat it. He worked closely with us, using his expertise to help develop the Cancer Impact Club. The club is a unique initiative that brings together a community of people with private equity, venture capital and entrepreneurial backgrounds to support the Cancer Research Horizons Seed Fund through their philanthropy and networks.

We spoke to Darren about the kind of impact the club and the fund is hoping to achieve.

Darren Redmayne

Darren Redmayne

What’s the goal of the Cancer Impact Club?

It exists to make sure promising ideas don’t just stay in the lab but have a chance to benefit people affected by cancer who urgently need new options.

Why now?

We’re in a golden age of cancer research. Thanks to developments in areas like artificial intelligence, vaccine technology and genomics, we have a real opportunity to make breakthroughs that were unthinkable 20 years ago. But currently, too many promising innovations never make it out of the lab.

Researchers need more help to bridge the funding gap between discovery science and early-stage clinical trials. The translation journey is complex and expensive and many start-ups stall as they lack the funds needed to reach a stage where they’re ready for commercial investment. By bringing philanthropic support to the Seed Fund, we’re giving the most promising ideas their best chance to reach people affected by cancer.

How does it work?

Each member commits £100,000 in support over three years. Gift Aid (UK only) can reduce the net contribution to £55,000 for top-rate taxpayers. Every £1 donated is combined with £1 from the Seed Fund, delivering £200,000 in funding for early-stage cancer ventures.

What makes being part of the club so
meaningful?

As a member, I can really see the impact my donation is having. I know that the Seed Fund is able to invest in additional, pioneering cancer ventures thanks to my support. I gain valuable insight into innovative companies, each striving towards becoming commercially investable. I’ve met a community of like-minded peers. And I’m excited that successful ventures will not only benefit people with cancer but could also deliver a return to power more discovery science for many years to come.

Alongside Darren, supporters Dale Lattanzio, Richard Anthony and Christiian Marriott have formed a Founders Circle to drive membership forward. Since launching in March 2025, the club has made rapid progress towards its target of 50 members. By December, it had recruited 37 and added £3.7m to the Seed Fund’s firepower, meaning more early-stage ventures can be supported.

Thank you to Garfield Weston Foundation, our Cancer Impact Club members and all the visionary philanthropists supporting our innovation and translation work. Your commitment could potentially transform the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer for millions.

To find out more about the Cancer Impact Club, visit the website.

A lifetime of support

From his first gift in 1995 to his first major philanthropic donation in 2008 to investing £1m in our More Research, Less Cancer campaign in 2024, Gervase Forster has supported our work for three decades.

During that time, he and his family – his wife, Margaret, and children, Giles and Lucy – have been active and loyal supporters, attending events, championing our campaigns and inspiring others to get involved.

What’s more, at HepcoMotion, the family’s Tiverton-based engineering firm, philanthropy is firmly embedded in the company culture – from donating for every exhibition visitor and customer feedback to replacing gifts with charitable donations.  

In 2024, Gervase and Margaret joined us for the launch of More Research, Less Cancer, writing afterwards to say how energised they felt by the campaign’s vision. Later that year, Gervase made an extraordinary £1m gift through HepcoMotion to accelerate discovery research, helping us understand more about how and why cancer develops and progresses so we can find more effective ways to prevent, detect and treat it.

Gervase says:

“There is no reward greater than knowing my donations are helping to beat cancer. To see the progress and know I’ve played a part is hugely rewarding. Cancer research is about hope – hope for families today and for future generations. I believe that every gift, large or small, brings us closer to a world where cancer no longer casts a shadow.”

More understanding, more treatments

Transforming the lives of children and young people with cancer

Cancer in children and young people is complex and different to cancer in adults. From the types of cancer children and young people get to the long-term effects of treatment, it presents unique challenges and requires a different, dedicated approach.

Thanks to philanthropic support, we’re driving a programme of work to take on those challenges. Our ambition is bold: to completely change the outlook for children and young people with cancer. We want to not only improve survival, but also reduce the often long-term side effects of treatment, such as hearing loss, epilepsy and infertility. For children, young people and their loved ones, the potential impact of this work could be life-changing.

Improving treatment for leukaemia

Fearne was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in April 2023, after falling seriously unwell with symptoms including exhaustion, bruises and pain in her legs.

She was in hospital for six weeks at the start of her treatment and was enrolled on the UK arm of the Cancer Research UK-funded ALLTogether-1 trial. This trial is discovering if children and young people with ALL can be treated more successfully and with fewer side effects if their chemotherapy regimen is tailored to their personal risk factors.

Fearne has now finished treatment and received a Cancer Research UK for Children & Young People Star Award in 2025 in recognition of the courage she’s shown.

Fearne’s dad, Gary, says:

“We’re immensely proud of Fearne for taking part in the clinical trial. The progress in improving the outlook for children with leukaemia is only possible because of organisations like Cancer Research UK and the courage of young people who have taken part in research.

By joining the clinical trial, Fearne is helping to create a brighter future for others who face the same journey.”

To find out more, visit our website.

Fearne

Fearne

More leaders, more solutions

Investing in the next generation of scientists who will shape the future of cancer research

Within science, the journey from PhD to leadership is challenging, marked by funding gaps, systemic inequalities and career uncertainty. We’ve already invested millions into identifying and nurturing rising stars in the field of cancer research, from supporting clinical researchers to championing diversity through our Black Leaders in Cancer PhD Programme.

With philanthropic support, we’re empowering brilliant young researchers today so they can help us save and improve the lives of people for generations to come.

Turning innovation into hope

One PhD student we support, Marah Alassaf, has always believed in the power of research to change people’s lives. “Research is never abstract. It’s always about real people and families,” she says. “Every small step forward could translate to earlier diagnosis and better treatment options.”

While Marah was studying engineering in Syria, two women she knew, both in their early 30s, were diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. That experience stayed with her. “Could engineering help detect cancer earlier, before it has a chance to grow?” she wondered.

Today, as part of her PhD in Dr Faezeh Arab Hassani’s research group at the University of Bristol, Marah is looking to answer that question. Using her engineering background, she’s designed a soft wearable patch that detects subtle heat changes in the skin. Since breast cancer tissue creates a different heat pattern compared to healthy tissue, the patch could help detect abnormalities, leading to earlier diagnosis of the disease.

Marah believes this device could eventually offer an additional option for people who struggle to access breast cancer screening. “We know some people decline screening because of logistics or anxiety,” she explains.

“I want screening to feel less intimidating, more accessible and easier to fit around people’s lives. A person’s postcode or income shouldn’t determine whether their cancer is caught early. Wearable technologies like this breast patch could really help reduce these inequalities.”

Marah Alassaf

Marah Alassaf

Marah Alassaf

For Marah, this is more than technology – it’s hope. And that hope is made possible by investing in early-career researchers. Funding a PhD is more than financial support, it’s helping someone take the first step towards becoming a scientist. Alongside that funding, we provide students with mentors, peers and a community that makes the journey feel achievable.

This support gives young researchers the space, resources and confidence to think boldly and tackle the challenges that stand in the way of beating cancer.

By supporting future leaders like Marah, we’re making sure that bold ideas become real-world solutions in the future. Marah’s patch is still in development, but its promise is clear: making breast cancer screening easier, faster and more accessible for thousands of women.

A wearable patch that could help detect breast cancer earlier

A wearable patch that could help detect breast cancer earlier

A wearable patch that could help detect breast cancer earlier

More questions, more answers

Seeking solutions for one of the toughest problems in cancer research

Through Cancer Grand Challenges, a research initiative that we co-founded with the National Cancer Institute in the US, and thanks to philanthropic support, we’ve funded three separate world-leading multi-disciplinary teams with one mission: tackling solid tumours in children. These are different to adult tumours, which means that despite the life-saving advances we’ve made in treating adult cancers, children with solid tumours still face particularly tough odds in cancer care and their outlook is often poor.

The three teams are each developing innovative interventions that target the unique biology of children’s and young people’s cancers so that treatments are not only more effective but also less toxic.

Team NexTGen is developing CAR-T cell therapies, a type of immunotherapy, for children with brain tumours and sarcomas, a cancer of the connective tissue.

Team KOODAC is developing targeted protein degraders, a type of drug that acts like a molecular matchmaker to trick a cell into destroying a specific, harmful protein. They’re focusing on five cancer-causing proteins for which there are currently no targeted therapies.

Team PROTECT is using targeted approaches to degrade proteins, focusing on targets known to contribute to the development of many children’s cancers.

Team NexTGen

Team NexTGen

Team NexTGen

Teams KOODAC and PROTECT. Image credit: Patrick Harrison

Teams KOODAC and PROTECT. Image credit: Patrick Harrison

Teams KOODAC and PROTECT. Image credit: Patrick Harrison

Gavin and Evan

Gavin and Evan

Gavin and Evan

Putting patient outcomes at the core

Within these teams, patient advocates are consulted by researchers to help make sure that people affected by cancer, and their families and loved ones, are positively impacted by the work. Gavin Lindberg is supporting the work of teams NexTGen and KOODAC after his son, Evan, died from neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that develops in early nerve cells.

Gavin says:

“I lost my only child to cancer. Evan was seven-years-old when treatment failed him following four brutal years of therapy. Despite his incredible courage and spirit, Evan was never in a fair fight. Young patients battling solid tumours desperately need less toxic, more effective therapies.

I am very excited to serve as a patient advocate and help revolutionise how kids like Evan are treated. By supporting these teams, Cancer Grand Challenges is investing not only in great science but also in our most precious resource, our children.”

Vital insights

More than 80 patient advocates have been appointed across all the Cancer Grand Challenges teams since More Research, Less Cancer started in 2019 and together they’ve already made a tremendous impact.

Across teams NexTGen, KOODAC and PROTECT, patient advocates help researchers navigate the use of precious tumour samples donated by patients and parents, identify potential participants for future clinical trials and influence policymakers to increase support and investment into developing targeted drugs for children and young people.

They also help to guide public engagement initiatives. For example, for team NexTGen, Gavin and his fellow patient advocates are advising clinicians on updating important patient information booklets for one of the three upcoming clinical trials to make them more accessible for parents and children.

Together, teams NexTGen, KOODAC and PROTECT are working to improve outcomes and quality of life for children with solid tumours by revolutionising the treatment options available to them. With philanthropic support, Cancer Grand Challenges has already funded £60m towards this revolution. With continued support, we can turn today’s toughest challenges into tomorrow’s breakthroughs.

infographic: 86 patient advocates, 16 teams, 13 challenges

Our progress in numbers

Since More Research, Less Cancer launched, the campaign has helped fund new research projects and trials, support more future research leaders, invest in more early-stage cancer start-ups and grow our philanthropic community.

1601

philanthropic supporters

£250m+

raised, with 45 gifts of £1m+ and 225 gifts from outside the UK

793

research projects funded

48

clinical trials supported

727

PhDs and MB-PhDs started (an MB-PhD is a PhD undertaken during medical training)

16

investments made in start-ups

With the exception of the total raised so far (correct as of January 2026), these figures include activity supported by a range of funding sources (not solely the More Research, Less Cancer campaign) from 1 April 2019 (when the campaign counting began) to 31 March 2025.

More momentum

Sherry Coutu

Sherry Coutu

Sherry Coutu

As co-chair of the More Research, Less Cancer campaign, I’m delighted we’ve now raised over £250m towards our £400m target. This success is thanks to the extraordinary commitment of our friends and supporters, and it’s truly energising to see the impact this has on Cancer Research UK’s work.

Our community of visionary philanthropists and legacy pledgers are driving discovery science and will help deliver the breakthroughs that will transform our understanding and treatment of cancer.

As this report demonstrates, we’re at a pivotal moment that will shape the future of cancer research. Now, we need to go further – launching new projects in innovation and translation, harnessing data and AI, advancing work at our cutting-edge research institutes and driving progress against children’s and young people’s cancers. Achieving our £400m target will help us get there.

Thank you for standing with us. Every step we take together means more time, more hope and more lives saved.

Sherry Coutu CBE
Co-Chair
Global Campaign Leadership Committee

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