News and features

A new study could lead to improved decision making in assigning treatments for children with the aggressive cancer rhabdomyosarcoma after revealing key genetic changes underlying development of the disease.

A new drug could become the first ever targeted brain cancer treatment, with encouraging early results from a phase 1 trial suggesting it could treat some patients with advanced disease.

Scientists have identified a new class of targeted cancer drugs that offer the potential to treat patients whose tumours have faulty copies of the BRCA cancer genes.

Professor Nick James and Professor Emma Hall were recognised for their contributions to radiology and oncology by the Royal College of Radiologists in a virtual admission ceremony today.

For our latest Discovery Club, members met virtually with some of our leading scientists, who are using cutting-edge methods to assess and treat rare cancers such as sarcoma and other cancers of unmet need. During the evening, guests learned more about how they helping to find new treatment options for these patients who desperately need them - and why philanthropic support is so vital.

Women with high-risk, early-stage breast cancer who also have inherited faults in their BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have shown a remarkable response to the targeted drug olaparib in a major clinical trial.

A new high-tech drug treatment for prostate cancer, which delivers a precisely targeted dose of radiation to cancer cells, can keep patients alive and healthy for longer, a new phase III trial reports.

Professor Julia Buckingham CBE, an acclaimed medical researcher with exceptional leadership experience in academic institutions and across the sector, will become Chair of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, in August.

Polypharmacology – the ability of a drug to affect more than one protein – should be studied early in the drug discovery pathway, and constantly monitored as the chemical structure is optimised in the design of the clinical candidate, leading researchers believe.

Scientists can use genetic ‘weather forecasting’ to predict how long it will take for bowel cancer to evolve resistance to a drug before a patient has even started treatment, a new study has shown.

In this feature, Molly Andrews takes a close look at how the ICR’s Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit is turning scientific advances into benefits for patients, through cutting-edge clinical trials.

The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has ranked highly in the UK’s first Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), a new Government assessment of universities’ partnerships and their influence on wider society.