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Cancer

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY POPULAR cause. It's not hard to work out why. One in three Britons will get cancer, and most of us have been affected directly or indirectly.

But fighting cancer means many things – from research to treatment, from advice to care. So you'll want to consider concentrating on just one of these issues - or spreading your support widely across one or more of them.
 

> Overview
> General cancer research
> Research into specific cancers
> Support and care for cancer patients
> Help a specific group of cancer patients


Overview
Different aspects and types of cancer are disproportionately funded. Lung cancer, for example, is the most deadly variant but receives comparatively little funding. Many rarer cancers are also underfunded. Don’t forget that raising awareness is more important than it might sound – it keeps cancer high on the government’s health agenda, as well as encouraging people to check for early signs of cancer.

Often, donors and funders focus on research and treatment at the expense of emotional support and care. As medical techniques advance, more and more people are living with cancer or the threat of its return – and they need support as well as medicine.

> The 20 most deadly cancers in the UK are...
The 20 most deadly cancers are...
1. Lung Cancer – 33,000 deaths per year
2. Bowel Cancer – 16,100 deaths per year
3. Breast Cancer – 12,400 deaths per year
4. Prostate – 10,000 deaths per year
5. Oesophagus – 7,600 deaths per year
6. Pancreas – 7,000 deaths per year
7. Stomach – 6,000 deaths per year
8. Bladder – 4,800 deaths per year
9. Ovary – 4,600 deaths per year
10. Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma – 4,400 deaths per year
11. Leukaemia – 4,250 deaths per year
12. Kidney – 3,600 deaths per year
13. Brain & Central Nervous Sysytem – 3,400 deaths per year
14. Liver – 2,700 deaths per year
15. Multiple myeloma – 2,600 deaths per year
16. Mesothelioma – 1,969 deaths per year
17. Melanoma (skin) – 1,800 deaths per year
18. Oral – 1,600 deaths per year
19. Body of Uterus – 1,500 deaths per year
20. Cervix – 1,100 deaths per year

Information taken from Cancer Research UK


General cancer research charities
For a non-specific, wide-ranging approach, give to a big-name charity.  It will invest most of your cash in general (cellular) research, which helps fight all types of cancer.

Cancer Research UK (CRUK - see profile) is the biggest charitable funder of cancer research in the UK. (Its website explains what it's currently funding.) But CRUK also provides a huge amount of info through its Cancer Information Nurses and its patient-information website, CancerHelp UK.  It also campaigns to raise awareness about cancer and to keep it at the top of the government health agenda.

> Cancer research in Britain
Cancer Research in Britain
 Cancer research in Britain is funded by about 250 charities, government bodies and the pharmaceutical industry (see this short article to find out how they work together).  Between them, they spend approximately £450-500 million per year.

Until recently, there was no way of co-ordinating all these funders to make sure that the money was being distributed logically.  It wasn’t even possible to find out what research was being carried out.  So the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), a partnership of 22 leading government and charity cancer research funders, was set up in 2001 to identify gaps and encourage collaborative work.

According to the NCRI's initial research, the amount of money spent on each type of cancer was roughly in proportion with the ‘disease burden’ it caused.  But for some, such as leukaemia, ovarian and cervical cancer, there seemed to be extra money, while others, such as lung, pancreatic, stomach, oesophagus and bladder cancer, were lacking.  There also appeared to be too little research into prevention of cancer and into palliative care.

Since 2002, the NCRI has been working to balance out research and funding, but it can only encourage co-operation – it doesn’t actually have any authority to say what is spent where.  That’s why the smarter donor – with a bit of time to examine the NCRI Cancer Research Database – may want to work out where help is most needed.


The Association for International Cancer Research is similar, if much smaller, and funds research worldwide.  Tenovus (see profile) works across a range of areas – it funds research into various cancers, has a freephone cancer helpline and runs a Cancer Information Centre staffed by nurses, counsellors and social workers.

Some of the smaller charities have a local focus, such as the North West Cancer Research Fund (see profile), Yorkshire Cancer Research (see profile) or the Clatterbridge Cancer Research Trust (which works in north-east England; see profile).

Unique among the research-funders, the World Cancer Research Fund (see profile) focuses on the role of diet and exercise in preventing cancer.  Or for the more adventurous donor, the very small Cancer Vaccine Institute (see profile) hopes that it can develop new and more effective forms of treatment, with fewer side effects.

Finally, if you don't like the idea of animal testing, you should know that several cancer research charities conduct it (or their money funds it). If this concerns you, ring up and check. Alternatively look at charities that do other kinds of work, like care or awareness-raising.

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Research into specific types of cancer
There are lots of charities which fund research into specific types of cancer – try putting the name of the cancer into our search.  Here are a few examples:

Prostate and male-specific cancers
The Prostate Cancer Charity (see profile) is the largest of a range of outfits researching male cancers – the others include the Prostate Cancer Research Centre (see profile), the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation (see profile), the Orchid Cancer Appeal (see profile), the Bob Champion Cancer Trust (see profile) and the St Peter’s Trust for Kidney, Bladder and Prostate Research (see profile).  This may seem like an excessive number of organisations – but read this short Watchdog article to find out why they're all necessary.

Leukaemia and blood cancers
The Leukaemia Research Fund (see profile) sponsors research into all kinds of blood cancer (not just leukaemia), and provides information to affected people. The Anthony Nolan Trust (see profile), on the other hand, carries out specific research into improving bone marrow transplants, alongside running the UK’s leading bone marrow register. Arguably, the best way to help is to get yourself on the register of potential donors – but be aware that this is a serious commitment.

For a focus on research into kids’ leukaemia, try the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (see profile) or Children with Leukaemia (see profile), which has invested £15m in research over the last three years.

Breast cancer
 Breakthrough Breast Cancer (see profile) is the UK’s largest charity committed to fighting breast cancer through research, campaigning and education, and runs the UK’s first dedicated breast cancer research facility.  The website clearly explains the direction of its research.  The Breast Cancer Campaign (see profile) is similar, but slightly smaller (with an odd name for an outfit that focuses on research). For more on breast cancer, read this article.

Lung cancer
The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation (see profile) and the British Lung Foundation (see profile) both provide a range of services, from research to emotional and practical support.  The British Lung Foundation investigates all lung diseases, while the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is the only UK charity devoted to lung cancer, and particularly helps children and young people to make informed decisions about smoking.


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Support and care
The two giants in this area are Macmillan Cancer Support (see profile) and Marie Curie Cancer Care (see profile).  Macmillan funds almost 4,000 cancer-health professionals, campaigns for improved care, provides advice and information, and funds self-help and support groups. 

Marie Curie specializes in helping patients in the terminal stages of cancer, and campaigns for the right to be cared for and die at home.  It also provides nurses for patients at home and runs ten hospices which help 25,000 people each year.  The charity also researches palliative care, while the Marie Curie Research Institute investigates the causes and treatment of cancer.

The Christie Hospital Charitable Fund (see profile) is the biggest hospital-based charity outside London, and helps to kit out Manchester’s Christie Hospital Cancer Centre with staff and equipment, as well as funding some research.  The Cancer Aid and Listening Line (see profile) is a small charity also based in Manchester which offers practical help at home, as well as a telephone helpline in the evenings.  If you’d like to improve cancer patients’ quality of life, you might like to consider giving to a hospice, such as Isabel Hospice (see profile), St Mary’s Hospice (see profile) or the recently merged Joseph Weld & Trimar Hospice and Cancercare Dorset (see profile).  All three offer free services to people with cancer and other serious illnesses, as well as bereavement support for family and friends. 

If you want to support those who have lost somebody to cancer, Cruse Bereavement Care (see profile) is the largest charity designed to help people cope with grief – via 178 branches, counselling services, two telephone helplines and an email service.

Support and care for people with specific types of cancer
 Breast Cancer Care (see profile) is the UK’s largest breast-cancer charity, providing free advice and support, and keeping the issue on the media’s agenda. Breast Cancer Haven (see profile) runs day centres offering free support, information and complementary therapies. For more on breast cancer, see this article.

Ovacome (see profile) runs a small but growing UK-wide support network providing information, support and contact for anyone with ovarian cancer, their families and friends.

The Lymphoma Association (see profile) helps people who have been diagnosed with lymphoma, offering advice and support to patients and their families. Bowel Cancer UK (see profile), previously Colon Cancer Concern, is a leading national charity in its area, providing information, support and advice for those affected by the second-most-deadly cancer in the UK.  It also raises awareness, educates people about bowel cancer and campaigns for better treatment and screening.

For lung cancer, try the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation (see profile) and the British Lung Foundation (see profile), mentioned above in the research section.

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Helping a specific group of people with cancer
If you want to help a particular group of people suffering from cancer, here are a couple of ideas to get you started:

Children
CLIC Sargent (see profile), is the largest UK children’s cancer charity, so it's a good choice if you want to spread your money widely. Children with Leukaemia (see profile) covers all aspects of childhood leukaemia, from research to helping affected families.  The Teenage Cancer Trust (see profile) is a much smaller outfit, which specialises in helping teen cancer units in hospitals.

Women
Wellbeing of Women (see profile) is dedicated to solving a variety of health problems that solely affect women, including ovarian cancer.  It funds research, raises awareness and campaigns to drive women’s health up the public agenda.

Local
There are lots of local support organizations, such as CancerCare (see profile) in Lancaster and Kendal, and the Cancer Resource Centre (see profile) in South London, which offers a range of complementary therapies and provides advice. It also caters for people who don’t speak English as a first language.

To find local cancer charities or other specific groups, check out our cancer charity listings. Failing that, search across every charity in England and Wales using CAF's comprehensive search.        

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