Cancer Research

Key facts about Cancer Research UK

• Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research and the largest single funder of cancer research in the UK
• The charity funds around 4,250 scientists, doctors and nurses based throughout the UK
• Cancer Research UK’s vision is ‘Together we will beat cancer’
• We carry out world-class research to improve our understanding of cancer and find out how to prevent, diagnose and treat different kinds of cancer
• We ensure that our findings are used to improve the lives of all people with cancer

Key Facts about cancer

• Each year in the UK, nearly 285,000 people are diagnosed with cancer and more than 150,000 people die from the disease.
• More than one in three people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives.
• Cancer is the biggest single cause of death in the UK - one in four of us will die from the disease.
• There are over 200 different types of cancer. Breast, lung, bowel and prostate cancer account for almost half of all new cases diagnosed.

Advances and Achievements

Thanks to cancer research, advances are being made in the detection and treatment of cancer and lives are being saved. Here are some motivating statistics that illustrate the progress being made:

• Average ten-year survival rates for cancer have doubled over the past three decades
• On average, half of all people diagnosed with cancer now will survive for at least five years
• Survival rates have improved for most common cancers over recent years
• Since 1990, the death rate from cancer has dropped by 18% - that’s nearly a fifth
• Survival rates for ovarian cancer have doubled since the 1970s
• The death rate for breast cancer in the UK has fallen by almost a fifth in the last 10 years
• The death rate for bowel cancer has fallen by a third over the last 20 years. That’s thanks to greater awareness, earlier detection and better treatments
• More than nine out of ten men with testicular cancer are now successfully treated.
• Around 3 out of 4 children with cancer now survive, compared with only 1 in 4 in the 1960s

Manchester: Cancer Research UK funds many researchers in Manchester. Much of their work is taking place at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, where scientists are leading ground-breaking studies into all aspects of cancer biology.

Liverpool: Cancer Research UK is funding a range of pioneering studies at The University of Liverpool. These include fundamental research investigating the genes and molecules involved in the development of cancer, which will pave the way for future treatments. A number of studies are also focused on finding ways to improve the treatment of pancreatic cancer.