To mark World Cancer Day, Professor Caroline Dive from Cancer Research UK’s Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence shares incredible research from the Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre at the University of Manchester and explains how a boost of up to £4m from ScottishPower is supercharging studies.
Nearly one in two people will get cancer in their lifetime*, but in the last 50 years, Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work has helped double cancer survival in the UK.
And today, it’s continuing to save lives here and around the world, striving towards a world where everybody lives longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
That can’t happen overnight, and we need research to unlock new ways to prevent more cancers, diagnose cancers at an earlier stage and provide access to kinder and better treatments.
A powerful collaboration of scientists and clinicians
The Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence (LCCE) is a powerful collaboration of scientists and clinicians in Manchester and London working towards developing much-needed advances in this hard-to-treat cancer and training the next generation of lung cancer researchers.
The LCCE was created over a decade ago to tackle the unique complexities of lung cancer – the third most common cancer in the UK and the most common cause of cancer death.
Since then, it has become a world-leading hub of research developments - playing a leading role in Cancer Research UK’s flagship lung cancer research study, TRACERx.
Through TRACERx and the ScottishPower-supported TOPICAL study, Cancer Research UK researchers have helped understand the link between air pollution and cancer, proving that tiny pollutant particles in the air can cause inflammation that can lead to non-small cell lung cancer.
This discovery stands to improve public health and prevention strategies for many years to come.
Over the last 12 years, Cancer Research UK have partnered with ScottishPower to raise an amazing £40m for life-changing research, and the energy company recently committed up to £4m for the LCCE in Manchester and London as part of a five-year plan to raise a further £10m.
That's the kind of funding that takes our research to another level.
Working together to achieve a better future
Cancer Research UK's pioneering work has benefited millions of lives by improving how we prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, but cancer remains one of the world’s greatest health challenges.
To go further and faster, we need forward-thinking partners like ScottishPower, who recognise that by working together, we can achieve a better future sooner for people diagnosed with cancer. Together, we have the energy to help beat cancer.