Cancer Research in UK

Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) has been introduced in 1902 as the Cancer Research Fund and its name was changed to Imperial Cancer Research Fund, two years later. The charity has grown over the next twenty years as one of the leading cancer charity in the world of research. Until the merger, which has made an enormous contribution in almost all research on cancer. Its laboratories in Lincoln & Inn Fields and Clare Hall, now known as Cancer Research UK London Research Institute.

In 2008/09, the charity spent 303 million pounds for Cancer Research, the funding of the work of more than 4,500 scientists, doctors and nurses in the UK. Supports more than 100 clinical trials and cancer research and cancer risk in over one million people in the United Kingdom. Approximately 40% of total expenditure on research is basic research laboratory, which is relevant to all types of cancer. This research on the molecular basis of cancer to better understand how cancer grows and spreads and therefore provides a basis for future research. The remaining funding is used to support research at more than 100 types of specific cancers, focusing on key areas such as drug discovery and development, prevention, early detection and imaging, surgery and radiotherapy, and cancer, where survival is still low, as the esophagus, lung and pancreas. This important work will help ensure that millions of people who survive cancer.

Present Proton Therapy Centers

Proton therapy needs heavy equipment. For instance, the Orsay proton therapy center, in France, (see figure) uses a synchrocyclotron weighing 900 tons in total. Such equipment was formerly only available within centers studying particle physics. In the case of the Orsay installation, the treatment machine was converted from particle research usage to medical usage.

Presently (end of 2008), there are proton therapy centers in Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan (5 centers), Korea, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and USA (6 centers), altogether 26 installations, and over 60000 patients have been treated so far.

Proton therapy for ocular tumors is a special case since this treatment requires only a comparably low energy (about 70 MeV). In the United Kingdom, it is currently only available at the Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology in Bebington on the Wirral, Merseyside. In the USA, it is available in Sacramento, California at the University of California, Davis, , the UC Davis Proton Facility which is operated exclusively by the UC San Francisco Department of Radiation Oncology. Since 2004, the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute at Indian University, and, in 2006, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston TX, and the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institution, Jacksonville, Florida.

With over 5000 patients, the largest number of ocular tumors have been treated since 1984 at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland Im March, 2009, patient treatment has begun at the first commercial proton therapy center of Europe, the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center (RPTC) in Munich, Germany.

Skin cancer

Skin cancer is a malignant growth on the skin which can have many causes. The most common skin cancers are basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer, and melanoma. Skin cancer generally develops in the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin), so a tumor is usually clearly visible. This makes most skin cancers detectable in the early stages. There are three common types of skin cancer, each of which is named after the type of skin cell from which it arises. Unlike many other cancers, including those originating in the lung, pancreas, and stomach, only a small minority of those afflicted will actually die of the disease.(citation needed) Skin cancers are the fastest growing type of cancer in the United States. Skin cancer represents the most commonly diagnosed malignancy, surpassing lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. Melanoma is the least common skin cancer but it is potentially the most serious: there are over 8,000 new cases each year in the UK and 1,800 deaths. More people now die of Melanoma in the UK than in Australia. It is the second most common cancer in the young population (20 – 39 age group). It is estimated that approximately 85% of cases are caused by too much sun. Non-melanoma skin cancers are the most common skin cancers. The majority of these are called Basal Cell Carcinomas. These are usually localised growths caused by excessive cumulative exposure to the sun and do not tend to spread.

Colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or large bowel cancer, includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix. With 655,000 deaths worldwide per year, it is the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world.[1] Many colorectal cancers are thought to arise from adenomatous polyps in the colon. These mushroom-like growths are usually benign, but some may develop into cancer over time. The majority of the time, the diagnosis of localized colon cancer is through colonoscopy. Therapy is usually through surgery, which in many cases is followed by chemotherapy.

To Read More About This Article:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_cancer

Cancer

Cancer (medical term: malignant neoplasm) is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth (division beyond the normal limits), invasion (intrusion on and destruction of adjacent tissues), and sometimes metastasis (spread to other locations in the body via lymph or blood). These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize. Most cancers form a tumor but some, like leukemia, do not. The branch of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer is oncology.

Cancer may affect people at all ages, even fetuses, but the risk for most varieties increases with age. Cancer causes about 13% of all deaths. According to the American Cancer society 7.6 million people died from cancer in the world during 2007. Cancers can affect all animals.

Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells. These abnormalities may be due to the effects of carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation,chemicals, or infectious agents. Other cancer-promoting genetic abnormalities may be randomly acquired through errors in DNA replication, or are inherited, and thus present in all cells from birth. The heritability of cancers are usually affected by complex interactions between carcinogens and the host's genome. New aspects of the genetics of cancer pathogenesis. DNA methylation, and microRNAs are increasingly recognized as important.

Genetic abnormalities found in cancer typically affect two general classes of genes. Cancer-promoting oncogenes are typically activated in cancer cells, giving those cells new properties, such as hyperactive growth and division, protection against programmed cell death, loss of respect for normal tissue boundaries, and the ability to become established in diverse tissue environments. Tumor suppressor genes are then inactivated in cancer cells, resulting in the loss of normal functions in those cells, such as accurate DNA replication, control over the cell cycle, orientation and adhesion within tissues, and interaction with protective cells of the immune system. Diagnosis usually requires the histologic examination of a tissue biopsy specimen by a pathologist, although the initial indication of malignancy can be symptoms or radiographic imaging abnormalities. Most cancers can be treated and some cured, depending on the specific type, location, and stage. Once diagnosed, cancer is usually treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. As research develops, treatments are becoming more specific for different varieties of cancer. There has been significant progress in the development of targeted therapy drugs that act specifically on detectable molecular abnormalities in certain tumors, and which minimize damage to normal cells. The prognosis of cancer patients is most influenced by the type of cancer, as well as the stage, or extent of the disease. In addition, histologic grading and the presence of specific molecular markers can also be useful in establishing prognosis, as well as in determining individual treatments.

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the cells of the breat in women and men. Worldwide, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer (10.4% of all cancer incidence, both sexes counted) and the fifth most common cause of cancer death. In 2005, breast cancer caused 502,000 deaths worldwide (7% of cancer deaths; almost 1% of all deaths).

Breast cancer also occurs in males. Incidences of breast cancer in men are approximately 100 times less common than in women, but men with breast cancer are considered to have the same statistical survival rates as women.

Brain tumor

A brain tumor (brain tumour in the UK and Canada; see spelling differences) is any intracranial tumor created by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division, normally either in the brain itself (neurons, glial cells(astrocytes,oligodendrocytes,ependymal cells), lymphatic tissue, blood vessels), in the cranial nerves (myelin-producing schwann cells), in the brain envelopes (meninges), skull, pituitary and pineal gland, or spread from cancers primarily located in other organs (metastatic tumors). Primary (true) brain tumors are commonly located in the posterior cranial fossa in children and in the anterior two-thirds of the cerebral hemispheres in adults, although they can affect any part of the brain. In the United States in the year 2005, it was estimated that there were 43,800 new cases of brain tumors (Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, Primary Brain Tumors in the United States, Statistical Report, 2005–2006), which accounted for 1.4 percent of all cancers, 2.4 percent of all cancer deaths, and 20–25 percent of pediatric cancers. Ultimately, it is estimated that there are 13,000 deaths per year in the United States alone as a result of brain tumors.