To mark World Cancer Day, Professor Caroline Dive from Cancer Research UK’s Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence explains how a £4m funding boost from ScottishPower is supercharging incredible research to help beat lung cancer.
Nearly one in two people will get cancer in their lifetime* and the impact of this disease is devastating. 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 in Scotland 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.
Co-led by myself and Professor Charles Swanton, 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 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.
New computational tools
Developing effective treatments for people with lung cancer has been slower than other cancers due to its complex biology, resulting in poorer outcomes for people affected by the disease.
However, in the last five years, researchers at the LCCE have developed 15 new computational tools that could help us tackle lung cancer, including AI tools to assist diagnosis and new methods to help doctors detect and monitor cancer using blood tests.
These tools could allow people to receive the most effective treatment at the earliest possible point.
Support from ScottishPower
Cancer Research UK started its journey with ScottishPower in 2012 with a goal to raise £5m in three years but since then its employees, suppliers and customers have raised £40m – and they won’t stop there.
ScottishPower is determined to raise a total of £50m by 2029 to support the pioneering work of 4,000 incredible scientists, researchers, doctors and nurses working day and night across the UK.
From fundraising events like Race for Life, Stand Up To Cancer, and its Help Beat Cancer energy tariff, every penny has contributed towards Cancer Research UK’s vision to bring about a world where everybody lives longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
As part of global activity for World Cancer Day on February 4, Cancer Research UK hosted a special webinar with ScottishPower employees to share the stories of people affected by cancer and to hear from researchers and fundraisers from both organisations.
It’s tremendous to see the level of support from the ScottishPower team in Scotland and across the UK.
World Cancer Day is a chance to reflect on the progress we’ve made and the work that still needs to be done.
Cancer is relentless, but so are we.
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.
For more information on Cancer Research UK’s partnership with ScottishPower, please visit scottishpower.co.uk/about-us/cancer-research-uk
Professor Caroline Dive CBE
Co-Director of the Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence and Director of the Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre
*cruk.org/lifetimerisk