Health: Why millions survive cancer

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If the very thought of cancer terrifies you, you’re not alone - the disease is the British public’s number one fear.


New treatments and improvements to older methods of tackling the disease mean that although cancer rates have increased by more than a quarter since 1979, survival in the UK has doubled in the last 40 years, and deaths from the disease have fallen by a fifth over the last three decades.







There are over 200 different types of cancer, but they all have two things in common - abnormal growth, and the ability to spread throughout the body (metastasis).

This spread is the biggest clinical obstacle in treating cancer, but important advances in the three common treatment options - surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy - mean that even this hurdle can be overcome.

Stereotactic radiotherapy - or cyberknife - can now be used to increase the precision of radiation therapy used to shrink tumours and kill cancer cells.

Doctors aim a number of low dose radiation beams at a tumour from different angles, thus giving a full dose of radiation when the beams meet at the tumour site.

The technique has fewer side-effects than standard radiotherapy, as surrounding healthy tissue is damaged less because the individual beams are low dose.

Advances in cancer surgery include robotic procedures, where the surgeon operates a robot unit to make tiny, accurate movements. Such procedures offer more precision and better patient recovery times.

There are now also ‘molecularly targeted drugs’ which are like missiles going directly to the tumour, as opposed to the old-style “carpet bombing” chemotherapy, which Pecorino likens to a “brute attack” that killed healthy cells as well as cancerous ones.

Pecorino, a cancer biology lecturer at Greenwich University, says personalised medicine - which has been used to treat breast cancer for several decades - is being used more routinely, but is still in its infancy.

It involves genetic testing to identify cancer-causing mutations, and then using targeted drugs to tackle the specific problem.

“It’s using the right treatment for an individual patient, rather than guessing,” explains Pecorino.

But what’s just as vital as the treatments, she says, is avoiding carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) in the first place.



All cancers are caused by carcinogens, which are in the environment and in our diet, and include radiation - such as that from the sun which can lead to skin cancer - and infections like the human papilloma virus, which can lead to cervical cancer.



Pecorino stresses: “The fact that we can make lifestyle changes to decrease cancer risk needs to be emphasised - it needs to be screamed from the highest mountain.”


“You need to stack the cards in your favour,” says Pecorino. “But if you do get cancer, remember that the statistics are pointing out that it’s becoming a chronic disease - something you can live with.”





That’s something DJ Chris Evans can vouch for. The Radio 2 DJ, whose father died from colon cancer, had a routine colonoscopy in July and had two pre-cancerous growths removed.

While Evans was clearly worried about his own health because of the link to his father, it’s estimated that inherited factors cause just 10% of all cancers.

But whatever the cause, they all need treating, and Sharp warns: “Sadly, there probably won’t ever be one magic bullet.

“There are so many different cancers, and so many different faults in the body that lead to the disease, we’re unlikely to have one thing that can target all of them.”

However, she says current work on the genetic mapping of cancers could mean more major treatment improvements in future, and she adds: “Each cancer is different and has its own challenges. But there’s been huge progress - and there’s much more to come.”

Cancer facts:

l There were around 309,500 new cases of cancer diagnosed in 2008 in the UK.




l Almost two-thirds of women with breast cancer survive their disease beyond 20 years.

l More than three out of five cancers are diagnosed in people aged 65 and over.



l Alcohol consumption is estimated to cause at least 13,000 cancers in the UK each year.

l Why Millions Survive Cancer: The Successes Of Science by Lauren Pecorino is published by Oxford University Press, priced £16.99. Available now

l For more information on cancer, visit