November 2007 podcast transcript

Kat: Hello, I'm Dr Kat Arney and welcome to this month's podcast. We'll be bringing you the latest news from the NCRI Conference - the biggest cancer conference in the UK, as well as focusing on lung cancer awareness. Coming up later, find out how you can give an unusual Christmas gift that could help our scientists. But first, here's Josephine Querido with the latest news.

0:49

Josephine: This month, we're bringing you the top stories from the National Cancer Research Institute Conference, also known as the NCRI Conference, which took place in Birmingham at the beginning of October. The conference brings together the best researchers in the UK, and around the world, to share their findings and ideas.

At the Conference, Cancer Research UK-funded researchers from the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre in Warwick showed that hospitality workers' exposure to harmful second hand smoke has fallen by 95 per cent since smokefree workplaces were introduced in England on 1 July 2007.

The researchers calculated that on average, employees' exposure was the equivalent to smoking 190 cigarettes a year before the legislation, and this dropped to the equivalent of around 44 cigarettes after.

The team also assessed the air quality in almost 40 venues across the country - including pubs, bars and restaurants. They found that levels of 'small particles' in the air contained in cigarette smoke dropped from near hazardous levels in June to levels that are similar to the outside air in August.

Here’s Hilary Wareing, co-director of the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre, to explain more about their research.

"We've been out working with 60 business both pre and post the legislation to look at the health effects on staff and the effects on businesses. What we found is that compliance with the legislation is good - over 90% of business have found no problems.

Also the staff's health is beginning to improve. Over half of the staff think their health is better just one month on."

2:30

Josephine:At the conference, we also heard from Cancer Research UK scientists who have been trying to "re-educate" immune cells to attack cancers. Usually immune cells called macrophages are found within tumours, and are thought to help cancers grow and spread by producing chemical messages.

The team, led by Professor Fran Balkwill, showed that blocking a particular molecular pathway in the cells could turn the macrophages back into cancer killers, as well as triggering other immune cells to turn on the tumour.

The treatment also significantly reduced the rate of tumour growth in mice with ovarian cancer - an important step in the development of a treatment for human cancer patients.

The research was jointly funded by Cancer Research UK and a Marie Curie Fellowship.

Here's Professor Balkwill, from Barts and the London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, to explain more about the role of macrophages, and the work of Thorsten Hagemann in her team.

"The macrophages in the cancer are basically the bad guys. They are there to help the cancer grow and spread. Cancers have lots of macrophages in them - up to 40% for some cancers. We're trying to see if we can switch them, to re-educate them so they say "Hey! There’s something wrong here".

We're using the cells that are there and switching them from being the bad guys to the good guys. Thorsten has found a way of doing that - he’s done it in the test tube and in mouse models. The next step is to see if we can do it in patients."

TIME

Josephine: Cancer Research UK scientists also presented promising results from lab tests on a potential new drug for several types of childhood cancer.

The researchers, from the Paterson Institute at the University of Manchester, showed that the drug RH1 can kill tumour cells from neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma, three types of childhood cancer that are often resistant to current types of chemotherapy.

On the strength of these pre-clinical results, the researchers are planning a phase I trial for the drug involving children with cancer.

The planned trial would be the first for a drug tested for children through Cancer Research UK's drug development office.

Here’s researcher Dr Guy Makin to explain more about how the drug works.

"We've been doing some pre-clinical work with RH1. It's an alkylating agent, so it causes damage to DNA. Its designed to be activated in tumour cells.

It becomes activated by an enzyme called DT-diaphorase, which is found at high levels in cancer cells. So it becomes a much more potent alkylating agent then."

3:04

And finally, Cancer Research UK has announced that a state-of-the-art facility, devoted to developing experimental cancer treatments, is to be built at the charity's Clare Hall Laboratories in Hertfordshire, helping to bring the latest scientific developments to patients' bedsides.

The new Biotherapeutics Development Unit will cost a total of £20 million to build and equip, and will be responsible for developing antibodies, gene therapies and cancer vaccines for use in clinical trials.

If successful, they could one day be used to treat cancer patients, helping turn scientists' discoveries into potentially life-saving treatments.

Building work has already begun at the site, with the unit scheduled for completion in May 2009.

4:39

Kat: 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. You can also listen to interviews that I did with some of the top researchers who spoke at the NCRI Conference, in the 2007 Conference podcast series.

4:58

Lung cancer is often linked to smoking, but people who don't smoke can be affected too - meaning that it's important for everyone to keep an eye out for early signs and symptoms. It can affect both men and women - although hardly anyone is diagnosed with lung cancer under the age of 40 - and the risk increases as you get older.

Anna Lacey went to speak to Macmillan nurse Lorraine Creech about when you should go to the doctor, and how to spot potential symptoms yourself.

5:38

Lung Cancer Awareness package

People may have a cough that hasn't gone away over a number of weeks, they've become more breathless, or coughed up a bit of blood. Or they may be losing weight or have pain in their chest.

Lots of people get coughs through their lives, but you need to look out for any changes in your cough, a new cough that doesn't respond to antibiotics, or blood in your phlegm. If you have these symptoms, go to the GP and they will advise you further. You may need a chest X-ray.

As well as looking out for symptoms yourself, there are other people around to provide help and advice - whether it be for you or someone you know. Davan Eustace is a community pharmacist involved with the Lung Cancer Awareness Month campaign. Pharmacists can play an important role in spotting symptoms and giving guidance on what to do next.

Patients often come in asking for cough linctuses. Once or twice is usual, but we can notice when this has gone on for a long time, and suggest they should go to their GP. People also tend to tell us things they may not tell their GP.

We have lung cancer awareness posters and leaflets available in all pharmacies across the UK, as well as media events with MPs, so keep your eye out at your local pharmacy to find out more.

One of the key messages of Lung Cancer Awareness Month is early detection, and this is especially important when trying to treat it. Lorraine explains that there’s a misconception that there isn't a treatment for lung cancer. However, early detection is very important to allow people with lung cancer to be given treatment as quickly as possible. Early detection often leads on to the most effective treatment.

A study into a new method of detecting early stage lung cancer is being helped by funding from Cancer Research UK. Most people with lung cancer have a condition called COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - although only around one in a hundred people with COPD will go on to develop lung cancer.

Professor Stephen Spiro and his team at University College London Hospitals are trying to find out if they can spot the early signs by looking for abnormalities in the phlegm - and the five year study is just about to start.

The researchers are taking 1300 people with mild or moderate COPD. Half will just be followed for 5 years, while the other half will have phlegm, tests every year. Anyone whose phlegm has abnormal cells in it will go on the have fluorescence bronchoscopy, examining their airways to look for cancer.

We're looking at phlegm because it is readily available, and it's not possible to screen everyone by bronchoscopy. We need to find out how good this test is at picking up lung cancer.

It'll be a good few years before we know if phlegm is useful for screening, but in the meantime, Lung Cancer Awareness Month is pulling out all the stops to help everyone spot the signs. And it's not just smokers that need to be aware.

Ten per cent of patients with lung cancer cannot link it to a smoking history. But if smoking is part of your lifestyle you need to be partcularly aware. And if you have conditions such as emphysema or COPD, you need to go to your GP if your symptoms change.

7:30

Kat: If you're fed up of socks for Christmas this year, how about a lab coat? Not for you, but for one of our scientists, to protect them.

It's one of the great selection of virtual gifts that you can buy from our Send and Give website, and we've also got a big range of environmentally friendly e-cards. And of course, the money raised will go towards our vital research.

I asked Poppy Ahern, Online Income Manager, to tell us more about what's on offer.

7:40

"We've got a great site this year with over 40 Christmas designs, including traditional, religious and modern. And there are animated designs, building on the success of our animated penguins last year.

You can customise your cards by adding your own message, or even uploading a photo. It's hassle free - no postal deadlines to worry about, and you can reach all your international friends. Plus you don't have to run around looking for your address book, as well as being environmentally friendly.

We've also got a wide selection of virtual gifts relating to our research. Some of the most exciting gifts are related to specific areas of our research. So you can buy a gift supporting work into bowel, brain, breast, prostate or lung cancer.

We've also got some gifts centred on our research institutes around the UK, so you could fund research in your local area. It's a very thoughtful gift for someone who might be going through a cancer experience at the moment.

To buy a gift or card go to the Send and Give website and follow the simple instructions.

My favourite quirky gift is yeast, which has been very popular so far. Yeast is used by scientists to study how cells multiply, so although it sounds unlikely it really is used by our researchers!"

9:40

Kat: So this year, why not shun the socks and buy some of our ecards and virtual gifts, at www.sendandgive.org.uk.

12:17

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.

We'll be back next month with all the latest news from Cancer Research UK. Until then, good bye.

• Credits:
• Presented and produced by Kat Arney
• News by Josephine Querido and Kat Arney
• Lung cancer awareness package by Anna Lacey
• Post-production by Henry Sowcroft
• Original music written and performed by Kat Arney and Henry Scowcroft
• With special thanks to all the participants