Longer, better lives: Ep.1 What is Cancer Research UK's manifesto?

01/29/24 • 13 min

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.

The cancer crisis is urgent. Every day, people affected by cancer face anxious waits for tests and treatment, reflected in month after month of missed cancer waiting time targets. And for UK cancer research, we’ve identified a funding gap of more than £1bn in the next decade, putting our world leading research at risk.

That’s why, in late 2023, we embarked on an ambitious policy development programme, giving a voice to the millions of patients and thousands of researchers who are demanding for real progress in cancer research and care in the UK.

And so, Longer, better lives was born.

Follow Sophie over the next five episodes as she uncovers the missions behind this manifesto and why we need it now more than ever.

In this first episode, Sophie speaks to Shaun Walsh, Head of public affairs and campaigns at Cancer Research UK. Shaun has followed the manifesto’s journey, from conception to its launch in November, and explains what it is and why Cancer Research UK has created it.

Read the manifesto

Sign our open letter

For more cancer stories, visit Cancer News

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

And so, Longer, better lives was born.

Follow Sophie over the next five episodes as she uncovers the missions behind this manifesto and why we need it now more than ever.

Read the manifesto

Sign our open letter

For more cancer stories, visit Cancer News

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

The world of clinical trials

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 through to taking part, to give you the full picture of what a clinical trial really involves.

We spoke to Ruth Plummer, professor of experimental cancer medicine at the University of Newcastle, Karen Turner, a senior research nurse at the University of Birmingham, and Peter, who took part in the Cancer Research UK-funded CHHiP trial after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Learn more about the topic:

If you’d like to talk to someone, our nurses are available Monday to Friday 9-5pm on freephone 0808 800 4040.

For more news about all things cancer, check out Cancer News

And if you have a question you’d like us to answer or topic you want us to explore, you can send an email to [email protected] and tell us about your idea!

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Next Episode

What's causing the cancer care gap?

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 inequalities and what we can do to narrow the gap.

We speak to Cancer Research advocate and public health manager for Luton, Elizabeth Bailey, the lead researcher of the Inequalities Cancer Outcome Network programme, Professor Bernard Rachet and Julia Cotterill, a health information officer here at Cancer Research UK.

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