A turning point for cancer

Diagnosing cancers earlier

Carol's story

Carol, from Lancashire, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2013. At the time, she didn’t have any symptoms, so it wasn’t a case of going to the doctor to get checked out. Her cancer was spotted early because she completed the bowel cancer screening kit that landed on her doorstep.  

That’s the power of screening. It can catch cancers at an earlier stage, when there can be many more treatment options and outcomes are much better.  Sometimes, screening can even stop cancers developing in the first place. 

“My diagnosis was a huge shock because I had no symptoms whatsoever when I did the test,” says Carol. “Because the screening detected the tumour so early, my cancer was all contained in the bowel, so it could be removed completely by surgery, without the need for chemotherapy or radiotherapy.”  

There are many stories like Carol’s. England’s breast, bowel and cervical screening programmes save thousands of lives each year. With a plan that focuses on improving cancer screening and removing barriers that might stop people taking part, the NHS can push that number much higher.  

“I am nearly 80 now and I wouldn’t have reached this without the screening test,” Carol says. “I had worked in medicine all my life and I know how important these tests are. Screening saves lives but it can save money as well – being diagnosed like me will cost the NHS less.  

“Lots of people I know didn’t do the tests – and they do now because of me!”  

Making sure everyone gets the best treatment

Lucy's story

Tests aren’t just useful for spotting cancer. They can also reveal a cancer’s weak points, so doctors can pick the best available treatment. 

Lucy, who lives in Cambridge, was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2019, almost 20 years after she started working here at Cancer Research UK. At that point, her job focused on explaining our most cutting-edge research. It still does today. Now, though, she’s seen that research from both sides.  

Shortly after she was diagnosed, Lucy joined our Personalised Breast Cancer Programme (PBCP), which uses a special genomic testing technique to ‘read’ cancer cells like barcodes. 

As part of the PBCP, researchers compared the DNA instructions in Lucy's tumour cells with the same ones in her healthy cells. That allowed them to see which genetic changes were causing her disease and determine whether any targeted drugs could treat it.  

In Lucy’s case, this test confirmed that she was already receiving the best treatment: a combination of chemotherapy and a targeted drug called Herceptin, which our researchers helped develop.  

Doctors chose Herceptin because Lucy’s cancer produced large amounts of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which Herceptin can latch onto to stop cancer cells growing and dividing.  

After six months of chemotherapy and Herceptin, Lucy had surgery to remove the rest of her tumour and a few nearby lymph nodes. Then she had three weeks of radiotherapy to lower the risk of her cancer coming back.  

“I was one of the lucky ones who had a complete pathological response to chemo – meaning no discernible cancer cells after surgery,” explains Lucy. "The fact that I found the lump and acted straight away definitely made an impact. I could have a smaller operation in part due to the response to chemo and targeted therapy and also because a study showed that a lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy was as effective as a bigger operation in cases such as mine.”  

Lucy continued to see the impact of the latest research through every phase of her treatment.  

"I didn’t have to spend as long on Herceptin after my surgery in part due to the findings of the Persephone trial,” she says. “That meant less time in hospital, and, as this was during the pandemic, it also reduced my risk of developing COVID before the vaccines became available.  

"It really felt like every part of my cancer journey was ticking off all the breast cancer science stories I had read and learned about in the preceding 15 years or so!"

Prioritising prevention

So far, we’ve focused on the ways a National Cancer Plan can improve how the NHS diagnoses and cares for people who already have cancer. But there's also a chance for it help drive a more fundamental shift – from treating cancer to preventing it.  

That starts with tackling smoking, which is by far the largest cause of cancer in the UK. The Government now has a golden opportunity to help stop the harm caused by smoking by passing and implementing the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which would ensure that those currently people born on or after 1 January 2009 will never legally be sold tobacco.

The National Cancer Plan is a chance to build on the Tobacco and Vapes Bill with measures to help more people who currently smoke to quit. It could also support the policies laid out in the recent 10 Year Health Plan to tackle two of the other leading preventable causes of cancer: obesity and alcohol.

Then there’s the other side of preventing cancer: vaccinating people against it.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which was first introduced in 2008, is now expected to prevent almost 9 out of 10 of cervical cancers in the UK. Together with cervical screening, it has put us on the path to making sure almost no one develops cervical cancer at all. The National Cancer Plan now needs to take the next step on that journey and tackle the barriers that are stopping some people receiving the vaccine.

Powering more research

Alfred's story

Cancer vaccines have gone from a distant possibility to an approaching reality because of innovative research – lots of it involving the NHS. To bring more potentially lifesaving tools to the people who need them, the National Cancer Plan needs to set the health service up to carry out and support a new generation of crucial clinical trials and studies. 

These research projects are a vital source of hope, but that's not all. They give people affected by cancer the chance to help change things for the better.

That’s what Alfred, who was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in 2012, was thinking about when he joined our STAMPEDE trial.  

“When I found out I was eligible for the trial, I thought: ‘There’s something I can do’. Not just for myself, but for others too,” Alfred says.  

STAMPEDE investigated whether different combinations of prostate cancer treatments could help more people survive the disease. As part of the trial, Alfred took four doses of abiraterone every day, along with a hormone injection every 12 weeks.

Abiraterone takes away the fuel used by prostate cancers by targeting testosterone - even stopping tumours producing it for themselves.

“I don’t think I’d be here today if it wasn’t for the trial, abiraterone and Cancer Research UK scientists who helped develop the drug,” says Alfred. 

With protected time for staff to carry out research, more integrated data and simplified trial set up processes, the NHS can lead the world in testing and introducing lifesaving new technologies like cancer vaccines, genomic tests and drugs like abiraterone. Then we’ll have many more stories like Alfred’s. 

“I know the impact politicians can have, and how important the National Cancer Plan can be for people now and for generations to come,” says Alfred, who now works with us as a Campaigns Ambassador. 

“Trials like the one I was on are the future. We want more STAMPEDEs, more research, more targeted treatment. We want more people surviving."