Cancer Research UK

    Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness-promotion group in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of the Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. It is the foremost cancer charity (charity number 1089464) in the United Kingdom, and the biggest cancer research organisation outside the USA. It is accredited by the UK's National Health Service as a health information provider.

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In the financial year 2005-6, the charity spent £251 million on cancer research, supporting the work of more than 3,000 researchers, physicians, nurses and other medical professionals in hospitals, universities and institutes throughout the United Kingdom. This funding covers all areas of cancer research. For example, some of the money goes to funding lab-based scientists who research the biology behind cancer. These scientists are trying to answer questions such as: how cells become cancerous, how cancer spreads and how cancerous cells differ from non-cancerous cells. This research can then be used to identify possible new more effective and targeted cancer treatments. Funding also goes into supporting clinical trials of promising new drugs; researching and testing improved methods for diagnosis; carrying out studies into the risk-factors for cancer; improving quality of life for cancer patients; and much more. [1]

The charity has recently moved into the area of public campaigning, lobbying the Government on issues such as smokefree workplaces legislation and long-term strategies for cancer services.

Additionally, it disseminates information to the general public and the scientific community through its various websites, as well as its twice-monthly scientific publication, the British Journal of Cancer. It also makes information about current clinical trials accessible via its website; as at January 2006, there were 211 such trials open to UK cancer patients.[2]

The vast majority of its funds come from private and corporate donations. It also conducts fundraising events[3] including the women-only Race for Life 5k series, has a network of volunteers, and operates over 600 "high street" charity shops, which stock both new and donated items.[4]] In recent years a number of Relay For Life events have been held in the UK (the idea having been imported from the American Cancer Society); their numbers, and the amount of money they bring in, are increasing year on year.

Cancer Research UK is supported by a number of celebrities, including Nicole Kidman, Madonna, Kara Tointon, Nell McAndrew, Kirstie Allsopp, All Saints, Mica Paris, Gloria Hunniford, Lemar, Cilla Black and Cate Blanchett.

See also

• European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)

• Academic Clinical Oncology & Radiobiology Research Network An NCRI initiative funded by Cancer Research UK to revitalise radiotherapy research in the UK. Website contains a database of clinical trials and research projects.