Our story

We’re the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research. Our groundbreaking work in finding new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer has saved millions of lives.

Why we’re here

Our aim is to ensure more people survive cancer. The term 'cancer’ actually refers to more than 200 diseases that all involve the uncontrolled, abnormal growth of cells, which makes our vision of beating cancer a complex challenge. Sadly, more than one in three of us will get cancer at some point. It’s vital that we continue our research so that many more lives can be saved.

Our work

We support the work of more than 4,000 researchers, doctors and nurses throughout the UK, fighting cancer on all fronts. Every day, our researchers make cutting-edge discoveries in our labs, and our doctors and nurses pioneer new treatments with patients in hospitals.

We run high-profile health awareness campaigns and provide clear information to help people understand more about cancer and the steps everyone can take to reduce their risk of developing the disease. We also lobby the government to make sure cancer stays at the top of the political agenda.

Progress

Thanks to our supporters, our work has helped transform the way cancer is prevented, diagnosed and treated today. We’re proud of our achievements. Survival rates have doubled in the last 40 years, and we’ve helped prevent many thousands of new cases of the disease.

Our vital work is behind many important drugs, such as:

• tamoxifen and herceptin – which have saved the lives of thousands of women with breast cancer
• temozolomide – used worldwide to treat people with the most common type of brain tumour
• carboplatin – one of the most successful cancer drugs ever developed.

Our ground-breaking research led to a dramatic increase in the numbers of people whose cancer could be cured by radiotherapy. We influenced the three national screening programmes for breast, bowel and cervical cancer, which save thousands of lives each year. And we were instrumental in bringing in smokefree law in England, which has helped more smokers to quit than ever before and will help prevent an estimated 40,000 deaths by 2018.

We receive no government funding for our research – the life-saving work of our researchers, doctors and nurses depends upon your generosity and support.