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One in two people diagnosed with cancer today in the UK will survive the disease for 10 years or more – up from just one in four in the early 1970s, according to a study published last year. This dramatic progress has been driven by advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment – much of it backed by Cancer Research UK.

As the world’s largest charitable funder of cancer research, Cancer Research UK has made major contributions to improved cancer survival by backing scientists who have delivered significant advances from our understanding to treatment of the disease.

For example, by proving that nearly all cervical cancers are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), Cancer Research UK scientists created the opportunity to prevent the disease: a vaccine against the virus. And it worked. A monumental study funded by the charity showed that the vaccine dramatically reduces cervical cancer by almost 90% in women in their 20s who were offered it at ages 12 to 13.

“Eight out of 10 people receiving drugs for cancer in the UK are taking drugs that are developed by us, or with us,” says Dr Dani Skirrow, a Cancer Research UK science expert.

The prospects for improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients have never been stronger thanks to technologies including immunotherapies, targeted treatments, advanced genetic sequencing tools, gene editing, liquid biopsies and AI.

Researchers working for pharmaceutical and biotech companies are making advances using these tools, but often have to prioritise technologies with clearer commercial pathways.

“Because Cancer Research UK is funded by the public, we have the freedom to back scientists with bold ideas which might lead to step changes. What this means, ultimately, is that more people get to hear the words ‘it’s gone’ after their cancer treatment,” says Skirrow.

This spirit of bold, exploratory research is also the focus of a special episode of The Rest is Science podcast, hosted by Hannah Fry and Vsauce creator Michael Stevens. The episode, a collaboration between Goalhanger and Cancer Research UK, takes a closer look at some of the breakthroughs and technology shaping the future of cancer research – and what they could mean for the next generation of treatments.

Developing new treatments by hacking cancer cell communications

Many patients with cancer benefit from targeted drugs called inhibitors – which block the cellular signals that tell cancer cells to grow and multiply. However, cancers can adapt and develop resistance to these treatments.

Researchers that have formed a collaboration called REWIRE-CAN are exploring the opposite approach.

Led by Prof Bart Vanhaesebroeck of the UCL Cancer Institute in London, the team is building on evidence that cancer cells thrive only when growth signals stay within specific “Goldilocks” ranges – levels that tumour cells carefully maintain to maximise survival and proliferation.

The team aims to push these growth signals into overdrive, stressing the cancer cells until they die – much like overwatering can kill a plant’s roots.

REWIRE-CAN will test this approach as a potential new treatment for colorectal cancer. The group has been awarded $25m (£20m) as part of Cancer Grand Challenges, a global initiative that aims to tackle cancer’s toughest problems. The initiative was co-founded in 2020 by Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute, and is also supported by an alliance of partners and donors.

Immune system bootcamp: training T-cells to tackle tumours

Other researchers are focusing on empowering the body’s own defences. CAR-T cell therapies, for example, modify a patient’s immune cells to seek out and destroy cancer. They have already transformed survival for children with certain blood cancers. However, they have proved far less effective against solid tumours, which often create defensive barriers and hostile environments that repel immune attacks.

A collaboration called NexTGen is tackling this challenge. The team aims to develop CAR-T therapies for children with certain brain cancers and sarcomas, which develop in bone or soft tissue. They’re searching for mysterious markers on the surface of solid tumour cells that these modified immune cells might be able to spot. And they’re making multi-terrain CAR-T cells that can traverse the tumour’s hostile surroundings, getting to the site of the disease where they can unleash their cancer-killing potential.

Backed by Cancer Grand Challenges funding, with support from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, the group is planning three clinical trials – two of which are already under way.

Beating brain cancer, Trojan horse-style

Cancer’s ability to develop resistance is a case of evolution on fast forward. Cancer Research UK-funded scientists are seeking to block cancer’s ability to survive and adapt by taking control of its genes.

Prof Steven Pollard, director of the Cancer Research UK Brain Cancer Centre of Excellence, has developed a gene therapy designed to treat the aggressive brain tumour glioblastoma.

The Trojan horse is a virus, stripped of its harmful parts and loaded with an army of therapeutic genes. Pollard and colleagues have equipped their gene therapy with DNA that incorporates three components to fight cancer.

The first is a form of sensor that only switches on inside cancer cells. The second produces an enzyme that converts a separate orally taken drug into a cancer killer, and the third reawakens the immune system to clear any remaining cancer cells and provide longer-term protection against recurrence.

The treatment has been shown to be effective in pre-clinical studies. Trogenix, a biotech initiative co-founded by Pollard, has announced plans for a phase 1 trial to test a gene therapy in patients with glioblastoma that has returned.

Harnessing the power of the microbiome to treat melanomas

Immunotherapies have transformed the treatment of advanced melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Recent studies suggest that more than half of patients treated with combined immunotherapies now survive 10 years or more beyond diagnosis. However, this approach is still ineffective in many patients.

Dr Pippa Corrie, a clinical consultant oncologist at Addenbrooke’s hospital, Cambridge, has shown that immunotherapies can be more effective when supported by certain microbes in the gut.

Corrie is working with Microbiotica, a biotech company also based in Cambridge, which has developed a capsule containing nine species of bacteria shown to make immunotherapies work better.

The results of a phase 1 trial of the treatment in combination with an immunotherapy called pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma are expected later this year.

Corrie is one of 4,000 scientists, doctors, and nurses supported by Cancer Research UK, working across more than 200 cancers. Together, they are transforming research into real-world treatments – from harnessing the immune system to manipulating the microbiome – helping translate scientific discoveries into new treatments that give patients longer, better lives.

Listen now: hear how Cancer Research UK is driving breakthroughs that could change the future of cancer medicine – on a very special branded episode of The Rest is Science podcast