That Cancer Conversation

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation!

Here in the UK, radiotherapy plays a part in treating more than 140,000 people with cancer every year. From infants to adults, radiotherapy is a precise and personalised tool used to target many different types of cancer.

But how does it all work?

In this episode Sophie speaks to Hayley Brown, a science engagement manager at Cancer Research UK to explain alo...

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation!

We're entering the summer season and hopefully expecting some sunny weather. But with warm weather approaching we're likely to spend more time outdoors, so it’s time to start thinking about protecting ourselves from those UV rays!

Skin cancer is the 5th most common cancer in the UK, with almost 9 in 10 cases caused by exposure to too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation from ...

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! 

In this episode Sophie delves into the big topic of food and cancer.

She begins the conversation with her first guest, Professor Marc Gunter, a cancer epidemiologist who specialises in diet and obesity and is part of Cancer Grand Challenges team, PROMINENT. He talks all about how food can impact someone’s risk of getting cancer and unpacks some highly talked a...

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! 

We think of cancer as a primarily elderly disease but there’s a rising trend of cancer cases in younger adults (age 25 to 50), also known as early onset cancer. And in this episode we’re discussing what early onset cancer is and why it’s rising. 

To start the conversation, Sophie speaks to Dr Nisha Duggan, a former researcher and now science engagement manager...

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation!   

In this special episode, we’re celebrating the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK. The fund was set up by Dame Deborah James, also known as ‘Bowelbabe’, and her family in the last few weeks of her life.  

For this special episode of the podcast, Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, interviews four of Deborah’s family and...

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! 

In our last episode, ‘What are cancer vaccines?’, Sophie spoke to Dr Heather Shaw to learn about cancer vaccines and how they work. In this second episode, we continue to dive deeper into the world of cancer vaccines to find out when we might see cancer vaccines as treatments for cancer. 

To start the conversation, Sophie speaks to Dr Lennard Lee, Associate Pr...

We're back with the third season of That Cancer Conversation, the podcast from Cancer Research UK.

Have you heard of cancer vaccines? Maybe you've seen a headline or two, but what is a cancer vaccine?

In this episode, Sophie talks to Dr Heather Shaw, a skin cancer clinician and researcher at University College London, who is leading the first skin cancer (melanoma) vaccine trial in the UK. From what makes a cancer vaccine to ...

Our DNA is made up of 3000 million letters of code. They make up genes within our DNA and are responsible for how cells in our body grow and multiply. But what happens when something in that code goes wrong? 

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation, a podcast from Cancer Research UK that brings together the science and the stories behind cancer.  

In this episode, Sophie will be looking at t...

In the UK 4 in 10 cancer cases are preventable. 

But what can the government do to stop those 4 out of every 10 cancers before they even start?

Welcome to the fourth episode of our mini-series, That Cancer Conversation Longer, better lives. 

In this episode, Sophie sits with Alizee Froguel who works on prevention policy here at Cancer Research UK. They discuss what’s causing most of these preventable cancers, the...

Welcome back to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! 

We’re kicking off Volunteers’ Week 2024 with the second of our special episodes celebrating our inspiring volunteers. 

Last time, we chatted to Penny, one of our campaigns ambassadors. This week, we’re moving into the world of events with Rhian. 

Rhian has been volunteering at Race for Life and Pretty Muddy events across London since 2021. She was ins...

Welcome back to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! 

Here at Cancer Research UK, we’re grateful to benefit from the support of more than 25,000 incredible volunteers, who donate their time to help us beat cancer.  

So, in the lead up to Volunteers’ Week on the 3rd of June, we want to say a huge thank you to our brilliant community of volunteers, whose support makes our life-saving research possible.

T...

You can’t beat cancer without scientists. 

Without research the progress we've made in beating cancer wouldn’t be where it is today. But that progress is at risk of stalling.

To keep up and to plug the funding gap, we would need to find an additional £1 billion pounds over the next decade.  

In this episode, Sophie sits down with Owen Jackson, head of policy at Cancer Research UK to understand what chal...

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation!

While bowel cancer is relatively rare for people in their 30s and 40s to get bowel cancer, cases are rising.  

At 39 years old Dr Anisha Patel (@doctorsgetcancertoo), a practicing GP, was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. Now, 6 years on, Anisha is dedicated to raising awareness of cancer, especially in adults under 50.

In this episode we talk to Anisha...

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation!  

April is Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month, where charities and the young people we support come together to raise awareness of the unique challenges of having cancer during some of the most intense years of your life.   

In this episode Sophie speaks to Shaumya, who was 18 years old and getting ready to go to medical school when she w...

We’re back with another episode of our subseries, Longer, better lives! This series unpacks our recently published manifesto, Longer, Better Lives: A Manifesto for Cancer Research and Care.    

You might recognise our next guest, as she was part of our ‘Together We Are Beating Cancer’ campaign featuring on a TV advert as well as billboards and posters on display across the UK, during September.  

We’ve made huge progress on cancer in the last 50 years. 

But not all of it has been felt equally. People’s experience of the healthcare system, and ultimately how likely they are to be successfully diagnosed and treated, varies massively. These are known as health inequalities and can be caused by a range of factors. 

In this episode of That Cancer Conversation, we’re exploring how deprivation impacts cancer inequaliti...

Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! We’re launching a new subseries which unpacks our recently published manifesto, Longer, Better Lives: A Manifesto for Cancer Research and Care.

At Cancer Research UK, we know that huge strides have been made in beating cancer – with survival in the UK doubling over the last 50 years.   

But this hard-won progress is at risk of stalling.   

Th...

Clinical trials are a vital step in the development of new medicines of any kind, and that includes new cancer treatments. They aim to find out whether new treatments are safe and effective and work better than current treatments. 

In this episode of That Cancer Conversation, we're going to take you into the world of clinical research and walk you through the pathway, from how we design trials in the first place, right thro...

Our latest podcast is about how families cope with cancer, and the scientific progress helping them through.

Austin was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was 2 years old.

In 2016, scientists took some cells from Austin’s immune system. Dr Sara Ghorashian, from the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, changed them so they could recognise cancer cells as a threat. Then ...