In the last fifteen years our understanding of the causes of cancer has increased greatly, with a genetic basis identified for some types of breast cancer and a viral aetiology identified for cervical cancer, for example. A better understanding of the cause can result in more successful preventative strategies – notably in the case of smoking and lung cancer. However the causes of many common cancers, such as colon and ovarian cancer remain unclear and are being actively researched.

Earlier detection is also a key to improving the success of therapy and the imaging technology available for diagnosing many cancers has improved enormously. However, some types of cancer are still difficult to detect, such as prostate cancer, ovarian cancer in asymptomatic women and colon cancer, and remain important areas for research.

In therapy, new drugs such as tamoxifen and taxol have revolutionized the treatment of breast cancer. But novel therapies based, in a similar way, upon a fuller understanding of the biology of the disease are being actively sought for other tumours that remain hard to treat, for example ovarian cancer, colon cancer, renal cell carcinoma and melanoma. Genomics and cell biology present many new potential therapies - identifying potential target molecules that control cell proliferation and apoptosis (programmed cell death), or that inhibit angiogenesis and prevent a new blood supply to a growing tumour, or that harness the body’s own immune system to kill cancer cells more effectively.