Science blog

The idea of taking a small vial of blood and being able to detect cancer at its earliest and most treatable stages is an attractive one.

In the news this week: new estimates suggest there are now nearly 3 million people in the UK living with cancer and some promising immunotherapy trial results.

Poo is an important source of clues when it comes to detecting bowel cancer early. We chat to some of our researchers who are using poo to understand more about what’s going on in the gut.

There are many unanswered questions about how and why cancer spreads around the body. But one thing we do know is that only some cancers metastasise.

In the news this week: an arthritis drug has stopped breast cancer spreading to bones in mice and teens across the globe are not doing enough physical activity.

A number of cancer types can be detected in pee. We speak to our scientists who are developing urine tests that aim to detect bladder and pancreatic cancer earlier.

In the news this week: cancer waiting time targets have been missed since 2015 and people suggest cancer patients to be given a NASA-style training before chemo.

A successful cancer test needs to reliably detect ‘red-flag’ molecules produced by the cancer and be cheap so it can be used to screen thousands of people.

In the news this week: we pledge £56 million to revolutionise radiotherapy research and new study adds to evidence that gut bacteria might be behind some bowel cancers.