Tales from the Lab
Find out what's going on at the front line of cancer research as ICR researchers — including PhD students, postdocs and clinical fellows — let you inside their labs and show you their science.
Science Writing Prize 2018 – When your parent is diagnosed with cancer
Hannah Brewer, a PhD student in the Division of Genetics and Epidemiology and runner-up in the Science Writing Prize 2018, shares the story of her mother's cancer diagnosis.
Science Writing Prize 2018 – Eating our way out of cancer
In the second of our series of blog posts by the winner and runners-up of the Mel Greaves Science Writing Prize 2018, Dr Maxine Lam discusses how diet affects cancer.
Science Writing Prize 2018 – The human microbiome and cancer: friend or foe?
In the first of four blog posts by the winner and runners-up of the Mel Greaves Science Writing Prize 2018, Dr Samantha Nimalasena, runner-up, writes about how our own microbiomes and immune systems can be used to tackle cancer.
Training as an oncologist in a top-quality research environment: an ICR clinical student shares their experiences
During this year's Teaching Week, Dr Sumeet Hindocha, an MSc student in Oncology and an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Clinical Oncology at The Institute of Cancer Research, introduces some of the benefits and challenges of training simultaneously in a clinical and research environment.
Light, sound… image! Photoacoustic imaging for cancer treatment
Photoacoustic imaging is an emergent technology that uses a mixture of light and sound to generate images. PhD student Dr Márcia Costa, from the ICR’s Department of Radiotherapy and Imaging, gives an introduction to this exciting technology – and to our work to develop it for use in cancer treatment.
Understanding the mutations that drive myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow
PhD student Phuc Hoang's work is exploring the genetic mutations that lead to development of the cancer multiple myeloma. Here, fellow PhD student Molly Went writes with Phuc about the work, and its implications for understanding and treating the disease.
Science Writing Prize 2017 – How Darwin's finches may help us treat cancer
In his winning entry to the ICR's 2017 Science Writing Competition, Dr Benjamin Hunter discussed why an understanding of evolutionary biology matters to cancer researchers – and how the key principles of Darwin's great theory can be applied to create new ways of monitoring and treating cancer.
Science Writing Prize 2017 – Accelerating returns: sequencing our genomes
In his runner-up entry to 2017's Science Writing Competition, Matthew Beaney reflects on the speed of technological change and it's enormous impact on DNA sequencing.
Science Writing Prize 2017 – Development of cancer: the luck of the draw?
Dr Samantha Nimalasena is an oncology registrar at the ICR. In her runner-up entry to 2017's Science Writing Competition, she describes the difficulties in conveying the message that the risk of developing cancer is dependent on probabilities.
Why we study inherited cancer risk
Following their recent publication in Nature Reviews Cancer, the ICR’s Dr Amit Sud and Dr Ben Kinnersley explain why studying genetic susceptibility is a crucial aspect of cancer research, and how their work fits into our mission to defeat cancer.
Why developing treatments into rare childhood cancers is a team effort
As part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month we invited Antonio Romo-Morales to write about his research into Ewing sarcoma – a form of cancer that mainly affects children. Antonio is a PhD student in a team that works closely with family-led charities and through his research he has gained a deeper appreciation for how such charities support our research.
More than your average spreadsheet - one PhD student's quest to understand cancer genetics
As part of our inaugural Teaching Week we hear from second-year PhD student Molly Went – who gives us a behind the scenes look at her research into the genetics of multiple myeloma, and provides general insights from working in a leading cancer research lab.
PhD insights: ’Seeing’ individual atoms using structural biology
Studying the shapes and roles of proteins is vital in understanding how cells malfunction in cancer. But it’s easier said than done when these molecules are invisible to the naked eye…
What can cancer research learn from ‘the origin of life’?
It was standing room only when UCL's Dr Nick Lane presented at the ICR's annual 'Darwin Lecture' last week. Dr Christopher Tape was in attendance to find out why cancer biologists should be interested in the 'evolutionary big bang' that gave rise to eukaryotic cells.
Computing cancer amidst a deluge of data
The reams of data now being generated by genome sequencing provide challenges and opportunities in our hunt for better ways to understand and treat cancer, as ICR bioinformatician Dr Philip Law explains.
The acceptable poison: drinking alcohol will remain a personal choice despite links to cancer
Alcohol is everywhere in modern Western society, but with growing evidence of a link to cancer, ICR PhD student Kevin Litchfield asks how long the status quo will last.
Team Science? It’s all Greek to me
Scientists from different disciplines must take care with how they communicate if we are to deliver true team science.
More than one way to skin A CAT… at least in our genes
Finding the harmful 'spelling mistakes' among our 20,000 genes is a gargantuan task, but one which could unlock the causes of genetic disorders.
Teaching pigeons to spot gorillas
Why the future may be digital for detecting cancer in imaging scans – almost.
Bringing science and art together
For the first time, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, took part in Sutton’s Imagine Festival of the Arts, hosting an evening of science and interactivity in Sutton Library. Molly Went, a PhD student at the ICR, writes about the experience.