Science Talk

Around 21,000 people are diagnosed with a gynaecological cancer in the UK each year. This September - Gynaecological Cancer Awareness Month - our Communications Administrator Molly Andrews spoke to Professor Chris Lord and Dr Susana Banerjee about an important new trial in the gynaecological cancer field.

Delays in cancer diagnosis can have a profound impact on patients, but so too can their perception of the process. New ICR research shows that there is a complex relationship between patient wellbeing and waiting times. Science Communications Officer Joanne Duffy delves in.

After Aoife Flanagan died of germ cell cancer at the age of three, her mum, Eilish, set up a charity in her daughter’s name to change the future for other children with cancer.

Our Registrar and Director of Academic Services, Dr Barbara Pittam, discusses how we are supporting our students as they navigate the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research have helped discover and develop many targeted treatments that are enabling cancer patients to live longer and with a better quality of life. Sally Steadman-South explains what these research advances have meant for her and her family, and why she needs this work to continue.

Henry French looks at how an Institute of Cancer Research-led study into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with cancer helped to start a national debate.

The ICR’s Dr George Poulogiannis and his team have revealed a metabolic weakness in cancer that could be targeted by combining new drugs with a diet free of omega-6 fats. Our Media Officer Diana Cano Bordajandi explains the research findings and their potential implications.

Professor Nick James, Chief Investigator of the STAMPEDE trial, joined the ICR in December 2019 and is one of our newest Team Leaders. Diana Cano Bordajandi met him to find out more about his current research and future plans, which will help us answer key questions on how to treat men with prostate cancer.

At a time when cancer researchers usually descend on Chicago for the biggest cancer conference of the year, Sarah Wells looks ahead at some of the highlights that researchers from The Institute of Cancer Research will be presenting at this year’s virtual edition of the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Cryo-electron microscopy is an exciting technology that could revolutionise drug design by seeing complex molecules in unprecedented detail. The Institute of Cancer Research has been at the vanguard in applying it to cancer – and now a new collaboration called the London Consortium for Cryo-EM (LonCEM) is using this super-cooled technique to learn more about the mechanisms of life and cancer.

Henry French introduces a new project at the ICR, where cancer researchers are turning their expertise in the creation of high-affinity antibodies to new approaches to COVID-19 testing and treatment.

March is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Web Editor Dave Morgan reviews four recent news stories covering different types of prostate cancer research taking place at The Institute of Cancer Research.

Maureen is 56 and is living with advanced, incurable breast cancer. Before the outbreak of coronavirus, she wrote a blog post about why she’s making the most of the life she has now. This is a very difficult time for many, but here at the ICR we’re doing everything we can to ensure our life-saving work continues, so that we can give people like Maureen more time to spend with their loved ones.

Research carried out by The Institute of Cancer Research, London, into cancer susceptibility genes has transformed our understanding of the inheritance of cancer risk. Genetic information can be used to help people with cancer and their families by informing them about their risk and guiding decisions over personalised cancer treatment. Cara Hoofe was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016. She has the inherited condition Lynch syndrome which means she had an 80% chance of developing bowel cancer and has a higher risk of developing womb and ovarian cancer. Here she explains how living with Lynch syndrome has changed her life.

Hundreds of thousands of men with prostate cancer across the world are now able to live longer and with a better quality of life, thanks to abiraterone. Discovered and developed by The Institute of Cancer Research, the drug was the first treatment shown to be effective in patients with advanced prostate cancer. Rob Lester is one of those patients, and has been on abiraterone for around 8 years.

Obesity is known to be linked to cancer risk, but new research shows that weight gain is linked to a *lower* risk of breast cancer among women before the menopause. In this blog post, Joanne Duffy takes a closer look at the findings and explains how this contributes to our understanding of breast cancer risk factors.

New results from an ICR-led clinical trial are set to change the outlook for patients with a rare form of kidney cancer. Sarah Wells takes a look at some of the main challenges in studying rare cancers, and how the ICR’s researchers are going about making discoveries to improve the outlook for the one in five cancer patients with a rare cancer.

Scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, gathered recently at this year’s Festival of Genomics. Diana Cano Bordajandi, Media Officer at The Institute of Cancer Research, reports on the themes that ran through the conference.

To celebrate Darwin Day, The Institute of Cancer Research invited world-leading expert on the biology of ageing, Professor Dame Linda Partridge, to talk about how ageing stems from evolutionary processes, and what it means for diseases like cancer.

To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science this year, we're sharing some advice from our scientists about pursuing a career in research.