Cancer is more complicated than we ever imagined. Just as every patient is different, so is their cancer — even the cells within an individual tumour can vary enormously from one another, and cancer does not stand still, but changes over time. This makes cancer incredibly difficult to treat.
But we’re starting to unravel some of this complexity. We now understand how cancers change and evolve, adapting to the environment within our bodies and sidestepping the drugs designed to halt their progress. We know that cancer cells use complex webs of signals to interact with each other and sustain their growth.
To find better treatments and cures, we need to build on this knowledge and make discoveries that will open up cancer to new lines of attack.
Our research will untangle cancer’s complexity and reveal the fundamental processes that drive its development, growth and spread. We are now collecting more data on cancer than ever before and can use it to provide new insights into the disease. We will apply the latest ideas and cutting-edge technologies, computing power and innovative imaging techniques to provide a detailed picture of what makes cancer tick.