News and features

Professor Paul Workman, deputy chief executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, has welcomed the news that a drug designed and synthesised in his unit will benefit from a £1.2m grant from the UK government’s Biomedical Catalyst programme that should help speed its progress towards clinical trials.

The huge genetic diversity within tumours is threatening efforts to create personalised cancer treatments – but, as an article in Nature Biotechnology reveals, scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research in London believe powerful new technology will bring a solution.

The dream of a single pill to cure cancer, a magic bullet that stops the disease in its tracks, is one that now looks a little outdated.

At The Institute of Cancer Research, London, Professor Mel Greaves applies evolutionary thinking to illuminate how cancers work.

A new programme on BBC World’s The Health Show revealed how doctors in the UK are tailoring cancer treatments to individual patients using samples of their DNA.

The successful sequencing of the human genome in 2000 set in motion an explosion in our understanding of cancer. Some of the fruits of this research are already being incorporated into treatment and care of cancer patients, and much more is set to follow.

Cancers affecting a specific site are not single diseases, but rather a collection of diseases caused by alterations of distinct genes and molecular networks. Technological developments in the last decade have led to an increase in our understanding of which of these are required for cancer cells to grow and survive.

Professor Alan Ashworth, chief executive of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, comments on the announcement that vemurafenib (Zelboraf) has been recommended by NICE for NHS patients with advanced malignant melanoma and a mutated BRAF gene.

Scientists have developed a computer system that can automatically analyse images of breast cancer cells to look for telltale signs that the tumour will be aggressive. The technique, details of which were published this week in Science Translational Medicine, could be used to give women with breast cancer a more accurate prognosis and help tailor their treatment accordingly.

The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has an outstanding record of achievement going back over 100 years, and has been involved in some of the most important discoveries in the history of cancer research. But we need to do more to promote ourselves within the UK and globally to ensure we maintain our position as one of the world’s most influential cancer research institutes. Our new branding is an important part of our identity, and is designed to help get across to our various audiences the world class nature of our science, and its benefits for patients.

Doubts over the best standard treatment for metastatic soft tissue sarcoma have been put to rest thanks to a large international, randomised clinical trial led by a scientist at The Institute of Cancer Research, London.

Scientists have designed a blood test that reads genetic changes like a barcode – and can pick out aggressive prostate cancers by their particular pattern of gene activity.