Search Help

To search Cancer Research UK’s websites, just type whatever comes to mind in the search box and hit 'Enter' or click the 'Search' button. Most of the time you should find what you are looking for with a basic query (the word or phrase you searched for). Here are some tips for better searching:

• Keep your search query simple – describe what you need with as few words as possible as each additional word limits the results.
• You don’t need to include ‘and’ between your search words – the search engine looks for all the words you enter into the search box.
• The order in which you enter your search words or phrase matters.

Advanced search tips

• Use the ‘+’symbol immediately before a word to search the exact word without employing synonyms (different words with similar meanings). This will return pages that contain the word exactly as you typed it. Place a space before the ‘+’ but not after it.
• Use the ‘-’ symbol immediately before a word to exclude any pages that contain this word from your results. Place a space before the ‘-’ but not after it.
• Use quotation marks around your search word or phrase to return only pages that contain the phrase exactly as you typed it.
• Use brackets around the search terms to display results which contain either of the search terms within the brackets. For example, (healthy eating) will display results on ‘healthy’ OR ‘eating’.
• Use the *, or wildcard, to broaden a search. By searching on run*, you will also receive results on ‘running’, ‘runners’, ‘runs’ etc.