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Funding cancer prevention research

After smoking, being overweight or obese is the next greatest risk factor for cancer. This year our research confirmed that ten cancers are now linked to being overweight: post menopausal breast, bowel, ovarian, womb, pancreatic, kidney, gallbladder, oesophageal, liver and advanced prostate cancers.

Our research also discovered:

Cancer has no boundaries which is why, as a network, we fund the best research around the world.

As part of our global research priorities, this year we have funded new research programmes at:

  • Cancer Council Victoria, Australia

    In this pilot study, Dr Brigid Lynch and her team hope to better understand the role that physical activity plays in surviving breast cancer. This 12-week intervention (using wearable technology, behavioural counselling and goal setting) aims to increase physical activity and reduce sitting time in a population of breast cancer survivors.
  • Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, France

    Dr Francoise Clavel-Chapelon hopes to identify the best dietary behaviours to minimize cancer risk, taking into account a person’s socio-economic background, as well as identifying major changes in dietary behaviours after cancer diagnosis.
  • University of Bristol, UK

    In this, the largest study of its kind on prostate cancer, Dr Sarah Lewis hopes to give a definitive insight into the nutrients that cause prostate cancer. The study aims to help understand how body size and vitamin D levels influence prostate cancer progression and should establish the basis for development of future food or nutrient trials.
  • German Cancer Research Centre (DKZF), Germany

    Low-dose aspirin has been shown to protect against cardiovascular disease and more recently cancer, especially colorectal cancer. This observation suggests platelet over-activation as a major shared risk factor for both cancer and cardiovascular disease. Dr Tilman Kühn and his team will therefore be assessing the role of dietary and lifestyle factors on anti-platelet effects to help decrease risk of cancer.

The Continuous Update Project (CUP) is our ongoing analysis of the global research on how diet, weight and physical activity affect cancer risk and survival. It is an authoritative resource, which underpins public health policy on cancer prevention around the world.

This year four new CUP reports were produced: on prostate cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer and gallbladder cancer giving us valuable new insights into the risk factors for these cancers.

Globally, there is no standardised way to review the vast amount of research on the biological processes (mechanisms) by which lifestyle factors can cause cancer.

We have been working with the University of Bristol to develop a comprehensive and systematic way of collating and reviewing mechanistic research. An online tool, funded by us and the Medical Research Council, will automate the process making it easier to identify information.

The method is currently being tested by Maastricht University and the German Cancer Research Center. Once complete, it will help identify the gaps in our knowledge and inform the direction of future research worldwide. Understanding these mechanisms will help to create a better picture of cancer risk, how cancer can be prevented and more lives saved.

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