cancer

A new study could transform treatment for women with the most common form of early stage breast cancer – by avoiding the need for chemotherapy altogether. It could affect three thousand women in the UK every year – news which charities have described as “wonderful”. And the new treatment could begin immediately.

It’s notorious as being one of the most difficult diseases to detect in its crucial early stages, and survival rates here are poorer than in the rest of Europe. Most types of ovarian cancer, once diagnosed, are treated with chemotherapy. But a new breakthrough drug, called niraparib, is being made available on the NHS. It…

When most people think about cancer, they think about chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. Now a survey by the Teenage Cancer Trust has revealed that eight out of 10 young people find the mental health impact of cancer as hard to deal with as the treatment itself. Yet half of all teenagers with cancer do not…

The mother of a little boy who died from a rare form of childhood cancer has appealed to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to intervene in a funding row over a drug which could cure other children. Gemma Lowery, whose six-year-old son Bradley suffered from neuroblastoma, wants an antibody treatment to be made available on the…

Parents of children with a rare form of cancer were told their treatment could be stopped mid-course, because the highly expensive drug might no longer be available for free. Doctors feared that the company which provides the Neuroblastoma drug, and has already spent £6 million on, might have to start charging. They’ve now agreed to…

The most detailed study yet of a major cancer type has revealed that genetic damage can begin years, or even decades, before symptoms appear and diagnosis is possible. The study also suggests that many patients could avoid unnecessary surgery and chemotherapy.

A terminally-ill man suffering from motor neurone disease has begun a high court challenge against the ban on assisted dying. Noel Conway says he feels “entombed” by the disease and wants a doctor to be able to help him bring about a “peaceful and dignified” death at a time of his choosing. Jackie Long has…