Thanks to research, more people than ever are surviving their cancer. In the 1970s, just 1 in 4 people in the UK survived cancer for 10 years or more. Today, that figure has doubled. But, we have so much more to do. We need to go further, and faster.

In the North East of England, around 17,200 people are diagnosed with cancer every year* and sadly, around 7,900 of them do not survive their diagnosis**. We urgently need to advance research to improve survival for people with cancer. Together, we can support ground-breaking science that will help to save and improve lives for generations to come.

Our pioneering work across the UK, including in the North Est of England, benefits from the generosity of supporters leaving a gift to Cancer Research UK in their Will. In fact, legacy gifts fund a third of our research. 

Cancer Research UK funds a world-leading network of centres and institutes, driving our understanding of cancer biology and developing new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease. It’s thanks to our incredible supporters that we consistently provide world-class leadership in cancer research.

In the North East, our researchers at the Cancer Research UK Newcastle Cancer Centre and the Newcastle Adult and Paediatric Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs) are determined to make a difference for people with cancer in this region and beyond.

Our Newcastle Centre is home to world-leading researchers working to accelerate our understanding of how and why cancer develops and progresses, with the goal of combining this knowledge with pioneering technology to improve survival for people with cancer

The Newcastle ECMC, jointly supported by us and the National Institute for Health Research, brings together lab scientists and cancer doctors from local NHS trusts and universities with the united goal of speeding up the flow of ideas and new treatments from the lab to the clinic. By bringing together experts, these research hubs are accelerating the translation of cutting-edge discoveries from the lab into direct benefits for people with cancer.

One of the exciting research projects happening in the North East is led by Professor Helen Reeves. She explains the challenges her team face in treating liver cancer:

‘Liver cancer has been traditionally very difficult to study. Most patients present with symptoms too advanced for treatment. Not only does this affect outcomes for them it also means that tissue samples for research are rarely collected, delaying discoveries needed to make things better in the future.’

To address this, Professor Reeves has set up the HUNTER network, which is bringing together the best minds from the UK, Spain and Italy to tackle liver cancer. Through this network, scientists are creating new tools and techniques that will help researchers from across the world to unlock new insights into unanswered questions about the disease.

The team is working together to collect samples of liver tissues and blood from people with liver cancer to create a vital resource that will be used in future research to build our understanding of the disease. They are also setting up a PhD programme to encourage more young researchers to investigate liver cancer and drive the breakthroughs of the future.

Professor Reeves highlights the importance of the HUNTER network and the impact of gifts in Wills to her research:

‘With help from Cancer Research UK and our patients, we have developed new ways to study liver cancer in the lab using donated liver tissues and blood samples. This generosity will help us develop blood tests to detect cancers earlier, but also to identify which treatment combination is the right one for each patient. I’m motivated by the hope for new discoveries, that will change people’s lives.’

‘I am truly humbled by the generosity of those who leave a gift in their Will. Thinking of others after you have gone, your generous gift will make a real difference.’

Help us fund pioneering researchers like Professor Reeves and make cancer a thing of the past.

Together we will beat cancer.

To get your free Gifts in Wills guide, visit cruk.org/pledgenortheast

 

*Based on the average annual number of new cases of cancer excl. NSMC (ICD10 C00-C97 excl. C44) diagnosed in the North East of England between 2017 and 2019.

**Based on the average annual number of deaths from cancer (ICD10 C00-C97) in the North East of England between 2017 and 2019