Cancer hope as survival rates double

People with breast, bowel, or ovarian cancers are twice as likely to live for another 10 years as patients diagnosed in the 1970s were, research has found.

Survival rates in a wide range of other cancers have also improved dramatically as a result of scientific advancements and better treatments.

Taking all cancers together, almost half of patients diagnosed in 2007 can expect to live for 10 years after diagnosis compared with less than a quarter of those diagnosed in 1971-72.

Cancer Research UK is starting a campaign highlighting the successes, but also warning that there is still more work to be done. Read more

Genetic Factors Can Increase Leukaemia Risk Seven-Fold

Scientists have found four new regions of the genome that increase the risk of a common blood cancer, according to results published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Professor Richard Houlston and his team at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) have now found the location of 10 genetic variants, common in the European population, that are associated with an increased risk of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

Professor Houlston’s team last year proved that people’s genes could make them more susceptible to CLL, identifying six regions of the genome more common among sufferers. In the latest paper, also funded by the charity Leukaemia Research, his team have identified another four regions that influence an individual’s risk of CLL.

CLL is the most common form of leukemiain western countries, with around 2,700 people in the UK diagnosed each year with the disease, most after age 55.

The genetic factors identified in the latest study are all common in the population, and each increases the risk of CLL by between 1.2 and 1.4-fold. Each person may carry from a few of the identified risk factors to all the risk factors. Importantly, the more genetic factors carried, the higher their risk of developing CLL. Read more