Posts

May 18, 2013

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8:00 AM | News digest – Angelina Jolie, clinical trial transparency, testicular cancer and more

Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer, after she learnt she carried the BRCA1 gene, resulted in blanket coverage across the media this week. You can read about her reasons for undergoing … Continue reading →

May 16, 2013

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12:18 PM | Building an artificial tumour in the lab

In 2000, a team of archaeologists in the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes uncovered the mummified remains of a young woman called Tabaketenmut. The big toe of her right foot was missing. In its place was a wood and leather … Continue reading →

May 11, 2013

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8:00 AM | News digest – tobacco disappointment, genetic ‘fine tuners’, vaccine cost drop, and more

Wednesday was a sad day for public health. The worrying rumours we’d heard last week – that the government had scrapped plans to introduce plain, standardised tobacco packaging in the Queen’s speech – turned out to be true. This BBC … Continue reading →

May 04, 2013

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8:00 AM | News digest – breast cancer rates, worrying tobacco rumours, genetic maps and more

Breast cancer in women under 50 has reached 10,000 a year for the first time, according to figures we released this week. But the good news is that more women in this age group are surviving their disease. Here’s our … Continue reading →

April 27, 2013

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8:00 AM | News digest – radioactive bacteria, plain tobacco packs, gene patenting and more

For those who don’t know why we want the Government to legislate for plain standardised tobacco packaging, read this excellent Lancet Oncology article. We want to give children one less reason to start smoking but interestingly, our research this week … Continue reading →

April 23, 2013

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5:15 PM | Innovative drug development fund backs first major project

Last year we were extremely excited to launch an innovative fund to bring new cancer drugs to patients. Today we’re pleased to reveal that the fund has given the green light to its first project, aimed at accelerating the development … Continue reading →

April 20, 2013

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8:00 AM | News digest – misleading tobacco ads, new type of bowel cancer, platy fish and more

Lots of tobacco news this week. On Monday we learnt that smokefree legislation has been linked to a drop in emergency hospital admissions from asthma. Here’s our news story. In parliament on Tuesday, the government confirmed that it’s taking a … Continue reading →

April 18, 2013

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12:05 PM | Video: Dr Antony Michalski on treating children with cancer

No parent expects to outlive their child – yet, tragically, some do. And although it’s relatively rare, cancer is still single biggest killer of children. A few weeks ago, Dr Antony Michalski, a Cancer Research UK-supported doctor from London’s Great … Continue reading →

April 13, 2013

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8:00 AM | News digest – tracking tumour evolution, leukaemia in twins, cancer screening and more

Our top story of the week comes from Cancer Research UK’s own labs. Our scientists have developed a new way of looking at how tumours evolve in real-time by tracking DNA changes in the patients’ blood. Our press release and … Continue reading →

April 06, 2013

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8:00 AM | News digest – bowel cancer increase, major NHS changes, Cancer Drugs Fund and more

April is bowel cancer awareness month, and new figures we released this week highlight the importance of the campaign. They show that bowel cancer rates among men have increased by more than a quarter in the last 35 years. The … Continue reading →

March 30, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – landmark genetic study, teenage cancer, tobacco smuggling myths and more

As the cold bank holiday weekend kicks off, a week of hot cancer research news comes to a close. Here are our highlights: Our scientists were part of an international collaboration of researchers (COGS) who revealed unprecedented new detail about … Continue reading →

March 13, 2013

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1:46 PM | Smokers: save your health and your bank balance

Times are tough. The economy is in the doldrums and many people are struggling to make ends meet. But if you’re a smoker then there’s a sure-fire way to start saving some cash: quit. Of course, that’s often easier said … Continue reading →

March 09, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – tobacco tip-off, processed meat, UK health ranking, a GameJam and more

Wednesday was our high-point this week, when we spotted this Guardian article claiming that the Government plans to legislate for standardised cigarette packaging this year. Our Chief Executive outlined why we think this legislation is so important in our news … Continue reading →

February 23, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – galaxies and tumours, childhood cancer trials, doctor delays, and more

The number one reason people say they might delay seeing their GP is difficulty making an appointment. Our press release has more info and the story was widely covered in regional media, and in The Independent. Overly complex EU clinical … Continue reading →

February 16, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – tackling tobacco, lung cancer survival, a dancing gorilla and more

A lot of this week’s cancer research news focused on lung cancer and tobacco. Here’s our run-down of the week’s events. World leaders must ‘take tobacco much more seriously’ in order to tackle disease like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. … Continue reading →

February 09, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – World Cancer Day, DNA ‘editing’, stress and cancer, inequalities, and more

Monday was World Cancer Day, and a chance to reflect on progress and challenges in global efforts to tackle cancer. This meant an abundance of editorials in the press, and a slew of comment pieces around the web. We blogged … Continue reading →

February 02, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – men’s cancer toll, UK’s stiff upper lip, teen sunbed use, and more

Men are over 35 per cent more likely to die from cancer than women in the UK, according to a new report we released this week. This may be partly down to biological differences between men and women. But lifestyle … Continue reading →

January 26, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – trebling prostate cancer risk, women smokers, ‘quadruplex’ DNA and more

Boys born in 2015 will have almost three times the risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their lives than those born in 1990, according to stats we released this week. Here’s our press release and … Continue reading →

January 19, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – sunbeds, phone apps, a pill to prevent breast cancer and more

The average skin cancer risk from sunbeds is more than double that of spending the same length of time in the Mediterranean midday summer sun. Here’s our press release and here’s the BBC’s take. On the subject of skin cancer, … Continue reading →

January 12, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – ovarian cancer smear tests, trial data, drug holidays, raccoons, TV and more

US researchers have found tantalising evidence that DNA from cervical screening samples could also be used to detect ovarian and womb cancers. Nearly 80 per cent of eligible women in the UK go for smear tests, so the idea of … Continue reading →

January 05, 2013

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9:00 AM | News digest – tumour-sprouting cigarettes, bowel cancer genes, sperm banking, and more

Welcome back – after a progress-packed 2012, here’s our first summary of cancer research news of the new year: Smoking just 15 cigarettes is enough to trigger a genetic mutation of the sort that can lead to cancer, according to … Continue reading →

January 01, 2013

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10:00 AM | Some inspiration for those healthy resolutions

As we clean up after New Year’s Eve, our thoughts often turn to healthy resolutions The living room floor has started to accumulate worrying numbers of pine needles; the last of the turkey trimmings have long gone; and the recycling … Continue reading →

December 19, 2012

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12:14 PM | Men’s cancer risk is climbing: what can we do about it?

A boy born in 2027 in the UK will have a one in two chance of developing cancer over the course of his lifetime, according to new figures we released today. In other words, 50 in every 100 UK men … Continue reading →

December 08, 2012

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9:00 AM | News digest – bowel screening, cancer conspiracies, lung cancer improvements, and more

It’s childhood cancer awareness month, so we thought we’d lead with this story in medwireNews about two new genes that US researchers have linked to neuroblastoma. The finding shows that children whose tumours contain faults in one of two genes … Continue reading →

December 05, 2012

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1:36 PM | Childhood cancer awareness month – research, information and more

Talking about our research and the progress we’re making is a delicate balancing act. We want to shout from the hilltops about the tremendous progress that’s being made against cancer every day thanks to research. But we’re only too aware … Continue reading →

December 01, 2012

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9:00 AM | News digest – friendly nudges, packs go plain Down Under, ‘chemo brain’ and more

More than a third of people say they visited the GP after talking to a friend or relative about a change to their body that was playing on their mind, according to a new survey from Cancer Research UK. Our … Continue reading →

November 24, 2012

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9:00 AM | News digest – tobacco industry ‘nonsense’, progress in ovarian cancer, emergency cancer care, and more

The tobacco industry’s claims that plain packaging of cigarettes will increase smuggling are “nonsense”, according to an expert report we commissioned (here’s our press release). We outlined the report’s key points in this blog post. Sticking with tobacco smuggling, an … Continue reading →

November 17, 2012

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9:00 AM | News digest: Little Stars, health inequalities, exercise and cancer, and more

There will be an estimated 33,000 long-term survivors of childhood cancer in the UK by the end of 2012, according to new figures we released this week (press release here). The report marks the launch of our annual Little Star awards, … Continue reading →

November 10, 2012

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9:00 AM | News digest – important cancer conference, blind mole rats, pregnancy tests, and more

President Obama’s re-election notwithstanding, and from our perspective at least, the main media event this week was the National Cancer Research Institute’s annual conference. Cancer doctors and researchers from around the world met in Liverpool to discuss progress and challenges … Continue reading →

November 03, 2012

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9:00 AM | News digest – breast screening, new melanoma drugs, redheads, smokers, and more

The big news story this week was the review of the UK’s breast screening programme, which dominated the papers and airwaves for most of Tuesday. We produced a range of information to help women understand the results (all linked to … Continue reading →