Annual Review 2008/09 - Cancer Research UK

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More women than everbefore are surviving breastcancer thanks to our work08 / Annual Review / Focusing on the individual
Focusing on the individualOur world-class researchProfessor PeterJohnsonChief Clinician,Cancer Research UKWe’re increasingly using our improvedunderstanding of cancer biology to developmore tailored approaches to tackle the disease.The past couple of decades have seen anexplosion in our knowledge of cancer, movingus towards an era of personalised treatment.This is enabling us to maximise the benefitsof treatment and reduce the unpleasant sideeffects that people often experience.Death rates from breast cancer in womenare at their lowest in almost 40 years, withfewer than 12,000 women dying from it eachyear. Looking forward, we believe that we cando even more, and better tailored treatmentand disease prevention will drive this process.Using our work in breast cancer as an example,here are some of our recent advances in thefield of personalised treatment.Genetic testsWomen who inherit faulty BRCA genes have a high risk ofdeveloping breast cancer, but these faults are rare. Ourscientists have identified several common gene variants thatmoderately increase a woman’s risk. Recently they showedthat it could soon be possible to offer women a genetic testfor some of these ‘modest risk’ genes. In future, this will allowdoctors to offer cancer prevention or early diagnosis adviceto those at increased risk. Although we’re not quite there yet,this work highlights the potential of a new wave of genetictests to help assess a person’s risk of developing cancer moreaccurately and to tailor prevention and treatment.Tailored drugsThere is great interest within the cancer research communityabout new experimental drugs called PARP inhibitors, whichare being trialled alone or in combination with standardchemotherapy drugs. They are being investigated as a tailoredtreatment for women who have inherited BRCA gene faultsand have gone on to develop breast or ovarian cancer. Tumourcells with faulty BRCA genes have lost one of two ways theyrepair damaged DNA. PARP inhibitors exploit this by shuttingdown the other way. Because tumour cells can’t then repairDNA damage, they die, leaving healthy cells unharmed.Early clinical trials on these new treatments are encouraging,both for inherited cancer and for other cancer types whichalso have faulty DNA repair. We hope to see these drugs fulfiltheir tremendous potential over the coming years.Understanding responses to treatmentEven the most effective cancer drug has varying success indifferent patients. Our scientists are working to understandwhy. In Cambridge, we made a major breakthrough this year indiscovering why some women develop resistance to the drugtamoxifen. This work will help doctors explore new ways toovercome the problem, helping to save many more lives.Our researchers in London found that some early side effectsfrom certain hormone drugs, like tamoxifen, can indicate howlikely it is that a woman’s breast cancer will return. This couldhelp doctors to better target future treatment, based onwhether women experience these symptoms.And our scientists at the University of Edinburgh discoveredthat a test already used to diagnose some cases of breastcancer could also predict who will benefit from drugs calledanthracyclines. Because the test is already available, it couldsoon be used to improve the treatment of many womenwith breast cancer.Continuing work to beat cancerOur progress is hugely encouraging. Cancer Research UKis exceptionally well-placed to apply our understandingof different cancers to move away from ‘one-size-fits-all’treatments. We are increasingly tackling the disease accordingto the profile of the individual patient, and the era ofpersonalised medicine is finally dawning.Annual Review / Focusing on the individual / 09
Page 1 and 2: Making an impactAnnual Review2008/0
Page 3 and 4: Welcome to ourreview of the yearThi
Page 5 and 6: Our vision,purpose and goalsOur vis
Page 7 and 8: Progress againstour goalsWe introdu
Page 9: ‘I investigate how theimmune syst
Page 13 and 14: ‘My research on howcells repair D
Page 15 and 16: Last year, our specialistcancer inf
Page 17 and 18: This year, we’ve seen realchange
Page 19: Last year, we spentnearly £13m on
Page 22 and 23: Fundraising andsupporting our workO
Page 24 and 25: Our financesWhat you raised and wha
Page 26 and 27: Our objectivesfor next yearHere are
Page 28 and 29: The Executive BoardOur Executive Bo
Page 30 and 31: Thank youWe would also like to than
Page 32: Cancer Research UKRegistered addres

Annual Review 2008/09 - Cancer Research UK

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