Lung cancer research
Cancer Research UK is a major supporter of lung cancer research in the UK. We fund research at all levels, from uncovering the molecular causes of the disease to developing new treatments and improving patients’ quality of life.
We are also heavily involved in raising public awareness of lung cancer and the dangers of smoking, particularly through our national anti-smoking campaigns.
We also provide a range of information materials aimed at patients and carers – there is a section dealing extensively with lung cancer on our CancerHelp website.
You can find out more about lung cancer in our 'Cancers at a Glance' section.
Understanding the causes of lung cancer
Professors Richard Doll and Austin Bradford-Hill first proved the link between smoking and lung cancer over fifty years ago. Smoking causes lung cancer because, over time, the toxic cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens) in tobacco smoke damage the DNA inside lung cells. This eventually causes them to start dividing uncontrollably, forming a tumour.
However, we still know relatively little about the molecular mechanisms by which these carcinogens cause cancer. That is why we are funding important research into the most basic lung cancer biology.
For example, we fund Professor Sir David Lane's lab at the University of Dundee. His team are studying a protein called p53, whose function appears to be defective in 95 per cent of lung cancers. Understanding the basic biology of this protein, whose normal function is to act as a brake on cell division in damaged cells, could provide new insights to develop more effective treatments.
The charity is also funding work pinpointing the precise way in which the toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke harm our DNA. Cancer Research UK-funded scientist Professor David Phillips has developed a technique that can detect tiny amounts of DNA damage. His team are now using this to see if they can predict a person’s risk of lung cancer by measuring the extent of the damage. They are also trying to discover how subtle genetic differences between us can predict how likely a smoker is to develop cancer.
Preventing and detecting lung cancer
Lung cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer, as 90% of cases are caused by just one thing – exposure to tobacco smoke.
In order to monitor the UK’s smoking habits and their effects on lung cancer rates, we fund the internationally renowned Clinical Trials Service Unit and Epidemiological Study Unit in Oxford, led by Professor Sir Richard Peto. Their work has shown that tobacco-related lung cancer deaths over the next fifty years will be influenced far more by the rate people are giving up smoking than by young people taking up the habit.
Thankfully, the number of people smoking in the UK is falling and, in UK men, lung cancer rates have been falling for the last 30 years.
We also fund Professor Robert West at the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Unit. He is undertaking key research into the effectiveness of treatments to help smokers stop and to increase the number of smokers who use effective treatments. The research aims to understand more about addiction and its genetic, psychological and social basis, and to develop and evaluate new behavioural and pharmacological treatments.
Improving treatment
Our clinical researchers are improving existing treatments for lung cancer and developing more effective therapies. We are committed to improving survival and quality of life for lung cancer patients.
There are two types of lung cancer – non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). They are different because they originate in different types of cells in the lungs. Around 80% of lung cancer is NSCLC. SCLC tends to be a more aggressive disease, although both types are difficult to treat and can spread rapidly to other parts of the body.
Treatment for SCLC often involves a drug called cisplatin, which Cancer Research UK scientists helped to develop in the 1970s. We are still working to improve the way this drug is used in the clinic. Dr Siow-Ming Lee's group at Middlesex Hospital is studying the combination of cisplatin with other drugs such as thalidomide (which stops new blood vessels growing – an essential step in the development of cancer) and with radiotherapy. The group is running clinical trials to achieve this goal.
Cancer Research UK-funded scientists are also developing better ways of giving patients radiotherapy. Professor Michele Saunders team in London has designed a new radiotherapy regime called CHARTWEL, which delivers x-rays in shorter, but more frequent bursts than in normal radiotherapy. This has shown promise in preliminary studies in patients with NSCLC.
Psychological Support
Cancer Research UK has pioneered research into how best to support cancer patients and their families. Our researchers up and down the country are looking to meet the needs of patients and their carers. We’ve also developed highly successful training courses to improve the communication and counselling skills of cancer doctors, now the basis for a government initiative.
Progreess and future perspectives
- Smoking among UK men has decreased steadily since the 1950s; as a result, lung cancer rates have fallen steadily since the 1970s.
- Lung cancer rates in UK women have finally started to fall, having remained nearly constant for the last fifteen years.
- The identification of new genes and proteins involved in lung cancer will allow doctors to develop better ways to diagnose, treat and prevent the disease.
