News and features

At The Institute of Cancer Research, London, our ability to visualise the intricate inner workings of cancer is going from strength to strength. Robbie Lockyer spoke with scientists using cutting-edge imaging techniques to uncover how these tools are helping us understand cancer in unprecedented detail.

Dame Stella Rimington, who served as Chair of the Board of Trustees at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, from 1997 to 2005, died on 3 August 2025.

Whole-body MRI scans provide powerful insights into treatment effectiveness and long-term outcomes for patients with myeloma, an incurable but treatable blood cancer.  Results from the iTIMM study led by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and The Institute of Cancer Research, London have shown that whole-body MRI scans (WB-MRI) can detect tiny traces of the disease, known as minimal residual disease (MRD), in the bone marrow after treatment. This can provide a crucial insight into how well patients with multiple myeloma are responding to treatment and whether they might relapse - offering a potential new standard in how this complex blood cancer is assessed. 

A collaborative study reveals an unexpected way cancer spreads through the body – by shedding tiny, previously unidentified fragments called shearosomes as tumour cells squeeze through narrow blood vessels. Shearosomes appear to actively influence their surroundings, supporting the growth of secondary tumours, offering new insights into how cancer spreads.

Two decades ago, a pivotal exchange between two scientists sparked a scientific and medical revolution. Professor Alan Ashworth, then Director of the Breast Cancer Now Toby Robins Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and his collaborator Professor Steve Jackson had long known that inherited genetic mutations in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 increase the risk of cancer. But, they wondered, what if those same mutations could be turned against the cancer itself?

Thousands of women with breast cancer could be spared unnecessary treatment, thanks to a simple test which can identify whether or not their cancer is likely to return – just two weeks after starting treatment.

Thousands of women who undergo radiotherapy for low-risk breast cancer could be spared some of the side effects of treatment after a study confirmed that more targeted treatments are just as effective at controlling the disease in the long term.

Scientists have uncovered a protein that acts like a ‘suit of armour’ for cancer cells, shielding them from hostile environments and allowing one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer to spread through the body.

Researchers have tracked how the most common form of oesophageal cancer and its immune environment change during a standard form of treatment – offering vital clues that could shape future therapies, so they work for longer.

Cell biologists have made a significant advance, uncovering the key role of an enzyme in determining the physical structure and behaviour of cancer cells, including how they spread.

Dr Maggie Cheang, a breast cancer researcher at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has been awarded the prestigious CL Oakley lectureship.

Scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, have developed a tool that can predict how bowel cancer adapts to treatment – helping researchers to design new personalised drugs that will keep patients living well for longer.