Scientists have created mini biological models of human primary liver cancers, known as organoids, in the lab for the first time. In a paper published in Nature Medicine, the tiny laboratory models of tumours were used to identify a new drug that could potentially treat certain types of liver cancer.

Professor Greg Hannon is today announced as the new director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute. 

In the centenary year of the publication of a seminal treatise on the physical and mathematical principles underpinning nature – On Growth and Form by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson – a Cambridge physicist has led a study describing an elegantly simple solution to a puzzle that has taxed biologists for centuries: how complex branching patterns of tissues arise. 

Gene editing using ‘molecular scissors’ that snip out and replace faulty DNA could provide an almost unimaginable future for some patients: a complete cure. Cambridge researchers are working towards making the technology cheap and safe, as well as examining the ethical and legal issues surrounding one of the most exciting medical advances of recent times.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have developed a new statistical model which estimates kidney function in patients with cancer. This is the most accurate model for estimating kidney function yet developed and should help cancer specialists treat their patients more safely and improve the accuracy of chemotherapy dosing. The model is now available free online.

Our immune systems are meant to keep us healthy, but sometimes they turn their fire on us, with devastating results. Immunotherapies can help defend against this ‘friendly fire’ – and even weaponise it in our defence.

A large scale study of women carrying faults in important cancer genes should enable doctors to provide better advice and counselling for treatments and lifestyle changes aimed at reducing this risk.

Scientists have uncovered why Zika virus may specifically target neural stem cells in the developing brain, potentially leading to microcephaly – a potentially serious birth defect where the brain fails to develop properly, leading to a smaller head. 

Cambridge scientists have received two of the biggest funding grants ever awarded by Cancer Research UK, with the charity set to invest £40 million over the next five years in two ground-breaking research projects in the city.

Researchers in Cambridge are set to receive a £5m Cancer Research UK’s Catalyst Award to improve the early detection of cancers in GP surgeries. The CanTest team, led by Dr Fiona Walter from the University of Cambridge, will work with researchers in three UK sites and across the globe on a five year project that will help GPs to detect cancers in a primary care setting, enabling patients to benefit from innovative approaches and new technologies, and reducing the burden of referrals.