June 2007 transcript
In the June podcast we hear about Cancer Research UK’s ambitious goals for the year 2020, as well as finding out what makes cancer spread around the body. Plus, how a blog about one man’s experience of cancer became a book.
Kat: Hello, I'm Dr Kat Arney. In this month's podcast we bring you news of the charity's challenging goals for the year 2020 - we're aiming to make real progress in beating cancer. And we find out what makes cancer spread around the body.
Coming up later, weíll be talking to Ian Spratley, whose blog about his experiences of bowel cancer are about to be published as a book. But first, here's Henry Scowcroft with the latest news.
Henry: In a groundbreaking study, Cancer Research UK scientists have identified five regions of the human genome that contain genes which can increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. The Cambridge based scientists led an international team that studied the DNA of nearly 50,000 women.
Two of the regions they identified contain genes that appear to increase breast cancer risk by about 20 per cent in women who carry one faulty copy and by between 40 and 60 per cent if they carry two faulty copies.
Genetic testing for combinations of these gene faults could one day help doctors make decisions about prevention, diagnosis and treatment for women who inherit them.
Professor Doug Easton, one of the study's authors, explains more.
These new loci (genes) we've identified only confer a relatively small increase in risk. Probably in the immediate future they won't become routinely tested because they don't confer a big enough risk.
However, we anticipate that these five are only the beginning, and as we mine deeper through this data and other genome scans, we will find many more such genes. And when we put these different genes together, it may well be that we are able to say that for people who have combinations of these genes, their risk is really quite substantial.
The UK's new National cancer tissue bank is to be based in Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire. The tissue bank will be a world-class archive of anonymous tissue and blood samples for use in cancer research.
The use of biological samples donated by patients is fast becoming the cornerstone of cancer research - especially in studies looking at the effects of potential new treatments.
Samples will be collected and catalogued by OnCore UK, which is funded by Cancer Research UK, the Department of Health and the Medical Research Council. The contract to store the samples has been awarded to Fisher BioServices, which will manage and maintain donated tissues, as well as providing logistical support.
Here's Anne Carter from OnCore UK.
Anne Carter
Cancer researchers need to work on tissues and blood to look at changes in tissues that have cancer, or differences between cancerous and non-cancerous tissue. Often itís an inhibitor of their research, because theyíve got to start by finding patients who have the relevant tissues, and then obtaining the tissues with all the regulatory aspects of obtaining consent from the patients, and research ethics committee approval.
Organisations like us are set up to do that prospectively. So when the researcher wants to start their project, the tissues are already available, and they can come to us and see whatís available. Assuming theyíve got ethical approval for their research theyíll be able to take the tissue from us without having to go directly to patients for it.
And finally, Cancer Research UK-funded scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research have developed a new type of cancer therapy that can make cancer cells commit suicide, at least in initial experiments. The technique uses a modified virus that is injected alongside an initially harmless chemical.
When the drug and the virus meet inside a cancer cell, the conditions inside the cell cause the virus to activate the drug, killing the cancer cell but leaving normal cells unharmed.
In lab experiments, mice with bowel tumours that received the therapy lived twice as long as those that did not. The researchers suggest their technique could one day be used as a treatment for advanced bowel cancer that doesn't respond to standard chemotherapy.
Kat: Thanks Henry. And if you want find out more about these stories, or get the latest from the charity's scientists, and researchers around the world, then have a look at our News & Resources website.
Kat: Although there's a long way to go before we've truly beaten cancer, there are signs that we may be winning the fight. Last month, Cancer Research UK announced that more people than ever are surviving cancer, with ten year survival rates for cancer doubling over the past thirty years.
It's clear that Cancer Research UK and other organisations need to keep pressing on with research into new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. To help with this, we recently launched ten goals for the year 2020, challenging us to work together with other organisations such as the NHS to make real improvements.
You can read more about these goals on our website, but I spoke to Harpal Kumar, the new chief executive of Cancer Research UK, to find out more about the goals and what they mean.
Harpal explains the areas covered by the ten goals, aiming to improve outcomes in cancer and for cancer patients over the next thirteen years. They cover everything from improving our fundamental understanding of cancer, developing new treatments, preventing cancer, providing patient information, and reducing smoking.
But we aren't doing this on our own. Although Cancer Research UK has developed the goals, we can only achieve them by working together with a large number of UK and international partners. This is the first time a major research organisation has tried to do something like this, but we think it's important.
The goals have been well-received so far, and they will inspire people to work together to achieve them. The new cancer survival data is incredibly encouraging, and itís great to celebrate it after hearing so many negative stories about cancer survival in the UK in relation to Europe. But we do have a lot further to go - we want to double survival rates again.
Kat: When Ian Spratley was diagnosed with bowel cancer, he started writing an online diary, or blog, to share his experiences with his friends. Now he's on the road to recovery, Ian's wry look at living with cancer is about to be published as a book, to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
I spoke to Ian on the phone to find out more.
Ian Spratley
Ian was diagnosed with bowel cancer in December 2005, after going to the doctor complaining of an unrelated earache. He mentioned he'd had diarrhoea for about a week, and ended up having surgery for cancer within a month of diagnosis. He kept a blog because he found it easier to write to people about what was going on, rather than speak to them.
He felt from the beginning it was important to speak to a lot of people about it, partly to get positive stories, and also because he was scared. Lots of people said his emails were informative and funny - there's a lot of funny things that happen to you in hospital.
In March 2006, Cancer Research UK put out an advertisement for people to write blogs. He found it very therapeutic to write his experiences down in this way. To his surprise, people around the world were reading it, and leaving supportive comments and advice.
Just before Christmas, someone sent his blog to a publisher, and they decided to publish about a year's worth of entries in a book. He wants to communicate to loved ones, carers and professional what it feels like to have this disease, because there are things you just can't be prepared for.
Kat:YYou can read more about Ian and his experiences in our regular patient information email newsletter, Cancer Spotlight. To subscribe, simply visit the CancerHelp UK website. And Ian's book is published by Spring Hill Books and will be available in August from bookshops and online retailers, so go and check it out.
Kat: Cancer begins when a cell in the body starts to multiply out of control. But what makes many cancers difficult to treat is the fact that the disease starts to spread through the body, forming new tumours elsewhere. This process is known as metastasis.
Cancer Research UK is funding a number of scientists who are working on the challenge of metastasis, trying to understand exactly how and why cancer cells break away from the original tumour and start to spread. I met up with Professor Ian Hart, from Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, to find out more about metastasis and how we can tackle it.
Most people in his lab work on metastasis - the process of cancer which is responsible for most deaths, and the process that most people with cancer fear above everything else. Metastasis is very complicated, involving several steps.
Professor Hart and his team are studying how cancer cells invade neighbouring tissues, and the molecules involved. They are is interested in molecules found on cancer cells called integrins. These molecules are comparable to the "feet" of cancer cells, and help cancer cells to move.
By studying these molecules, we can develop drugs that target cancer cells that have spread. We've shown we can do this in the lab, now we'd like to be able to do it in patients. Hopefully, these targeted treatments will be more selective for cancer cells than current treatments.
Kat: Scientists like Professor Hart can only do their vital research thanks to the donations of all our supporters. Whether it's giving a regular donation, running a Race for Life, leaving a legacy, even sitting in a bath of baked beans or anything else you can imagine, you can help support our life-saving research too.
You can find out more about different ways to support Cancer Research UK online.
We've reached the end once more so we hope youve enjoyed the podcast. Don't forget that your feedback is vital in helping us improve the show, so please send us your comments and suggestions by email to podcast@cancer.org.uk. And you can sign up to our RSS feed to get the latest Cancer Research UK podcast delivered straight to your computer every month.
I'll be back next month, finding out how England's coping with going smoke-free, and of course all the latest news from Cancer Research UK. Until then, goodbye!
- Credits:
- Presented and produced by Kat Arney
- News by Henry Scowcroft and Kat Arney
- Post-production by Henry Sowcroft
- Original music written and performed by Kat Arney and Henry Scowcroft
- With special thanks to all the participants
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