Improving the lives of
all people with cancer
More than
54,000
people took part in cancer clinical trials in the UK in 2006 – almost 37,000 of them were in trials funded by Cancer Research UK
We ensure that our findings are used to improve the lives of all people with cancer.
Research is at the heart of what we do and it is critical that we use our findings to make real improvements to people's lives. This is why we're always looking for new ways of detecting and treating cancer, as well as seeing how we can better support people with cancer and enhance their wellbeing.
Going smokefree
Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable illness and early death in the UK. So protecting people from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke is crucial – especially in enclosed public places like pubs and restaurants.
Along with thousands of supporters, we campaigned to persuade the government to implement smokefree legislation across the whole of the UK.
This hard work paid off: Scotland was smokefree from 26 March 2006; Wales was smokefree from 2 April 2007; Northern Ireland was smokefree from 30 April 2007; and England was smokefree from 1 July 2007.
Finding cancer earlier
Screening saves lives by detecting cancer earlier and improving the chances of successful treatment.
Although quality screening should be available to everyone in the UK, programmes vary according to where in the UK people live. For example, bowel cancer screening programmes are currently available in England and Scotland, but not in Wales and Northern Ireland.
We are campaigning to ensure that the best screening programmes are offered throughout the UK.
New treatments
In addition to this work, we continue to focus our efforts on developing new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
Cancer Research Technology, our technology transfer and development company, has grown significantly this year and opened a new office in Boston in the USA.
Our drug development activities are also increasing steadily so that we now have around 35 projects in progress at any one time. At the moment, 12 of our early phase clinical trials are open for recruitment and another 8 are expected to open later in 2007.
Find out more about what we do: