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2023 Annual Report

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2023 Annual Report of the Cancer Research Institute

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The 2023 Annual Report of the Cancer Research Institute

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• Realizing the Bold Vision of Cancer Health Equity
• Progress Against Cancer in 2023
• AACR Annual Meeting 2023

Scientific Publishing

Aacr global, honoring scientific achievement, aacr project genie®, science and education, research and grants administration, policy and advocacy, aacr membership, aacr foundation, financial statement.

• The AACR in 2024: A Look Ahead

AACR Annual Impact Report     -->2023

We are pleased to present the 2023 Annual Impact Report of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The report highlights the AACR’s extraordinary progress and innovation during the past year in support of our mission: to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, research funding, and science policy and advocacy.

Left to right: 2023–2024 AACR President Philip D. Greenberg, MD, FAACR; AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc); and 2022–2023 AACR President Lisa M. Coussens, PhD, FAACR.

Realizing the Bold Vision of Health Equity

Progress Against Cancer in 2023

AACR Annual Meeting 2023

The AACR in 2024: A Look Ahead

• The AACR and COVID-19
• Fighting Racial Inequities and Health Disparities
• Progress Against Cancer in 2020
• AACR Annual Meeting 2020
• Scientific Publishing
• AACR International
• Honoring Scientific Achievement
• Science and Education
• Scientific Review and Grants Administration
• Policy and Advocacy
• AACR Foundation
• Financial Statement
• The AACR in 2021: A Look Ahead

We are pleased to present the 2020 Annual Report of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The report highlights the AACR’s progress over the past year in support of our mission—to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, research funding, and science policy and advocacy—despite unprecedented challenges faced this year.

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Left to right: AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc); 2019–2020 AACR President Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, FAACR; and 2020–2021 AACR President Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, FAACR.

Table of Contents

THE AACR AND COVID‑19

FIGHTING RACIAL INEQUITIES AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

PROGRESS AGAINST CANCER IN 2020

AACR ANNUAL MEETING 2020

SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING

AACR INTERNATIONAL

HONORING SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION

SCIENTIFIC REVIEW AND GRANTS ADMINISTRATION

POLICY AND ADVOCACY

AACR FOUNDATION

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

THE AACR IN 2021: A LOOK AHEAD

Progress Against Cancer in 2021

• AACR Annual Meeting 2021
• Scientific Publishing
• AACR International
• Honoring Scientific Achievement
• AACR Project GENIE®
• Science and Education
• Scientific Review and Grants Administration
• Policy and Advocacy
• AACR Foundation
• Financial Statement
• The AACR in 2022: A Look Ahead

Left to right: 2021–2022 AACR President David A. Tuveson, MD, PhD, FAACR; AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc); and 2020–2021 AACR President Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, FAACR.

We are pleased to present the 2021 Annual Report of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The report highlights the AACR’s progress over the past year in support of our mission: to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, research funding, and science policy and advocacy.

The theme of the AACR Annual Meeting 2021, “Discovery Science Driving Clinical Breakthroughs,” is also the theme of this report. The report outlines all the ways in which AACR programs and initiatives support the efforts of investigators across the continuum of cancer research to save, extend, and enhance the lives of patients with cancer.

Once again in 2021, these efforts took place under the shadow of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Under the leadership of our COVID-19 and Cancer Task Force, the AACR continued to safeguard science and public health during the crisis. The second AACR Virtual Conference on COVID-19 and Cancer presented the latest advances in basic, clinical, translational, and epidemiological science, as well as the survivorship and policy issues that are critical to overcoming the virus. In addition, AACR educational forums and publications addressed the challenge of vaccine hesitancy among patients, advocates, and the public.

As this report documents, despite these challenges 2021 was another year of spectacular achievement. The AACR launched its newest journal, Cancer Research Communications , providing an open-access, rapid publication outlet for high-quality research that spans the full spectrum of cancer science and medicine. Scientists, clinicians, and other health care professionals—especially early-career scientists—continued to join the AACR, as our member ranks exceeded 50,000 for the first time. And AACR Project GENIE® announced two data releases, increasing the size of this international pancancer registry to nearly 121,000 sequenced tumors from more than 111,000 patients—including data that were included as part of a successful regulatory submission to the FDA that led to the approval of the first-ever KRAS inhibitor, sotorasib.

In addition, the AACR’s long-standing efforts to diversify the cancer workforce and improve outcomes for patients in underserved populations were bolstered by several new partnerships. The Lustgarten Foundation and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation chose the AACR to administer new grants to support early-career scientists from diverse backgrounds who have been underrepresented in cancer research, and Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck partnered with the AACR to support research focused on eliminating cancer disparities. Further, the AACR partnered with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMSF) and National Medical Fellowships, providing our expertise in education and training to enhance the BMSF Diversity in Clinical Trials Career Development Program. To meet the program goals of increasing the diversity of patients enrolled in clinical trials and fostering underrepresented early-career investigator physicians, the AACR is organizing a workshop on excellence in clinical trial implementation and training 250 community oriented clinical trial investigators over the next five years.

We are proud that AACR programs have facilitated the groundbreaking advances made by cancer scientists and clinicians over the past year. We are even more proud that AACR initiatives ensure that the benefits of those breakthroughs are distributed more equitably. As the first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing progress against cancer, we will continue to work with all sectors of the cancer community until we achieve our shared mission to prevent and cure all cancers—for all patients.

Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc) AACR Chief Executive Officer

Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, FAACR AACR President, 2020–2021

David A. Tuveson, MD, PhD, FAACR AACR President, 2021–2022

Home > AACR Cancer Progress Report > AACR Cancer Progress Report 2023: Contents > Cancer in 2023

• Cancer in 2023

In this section, you will learn:

• In the United States, the overall cancer death rate has been steadily declining since the 1990s, with the reductions between 1991 and 2020 translating into more than 3.8 million cancer deaths avoided.
• The decline in overall U.S. cancer death rates is driven by steady declines in mortality from cancers of the breast, colon and rectum, lung, and prostate.
• More than 18 million cancer survivors were living in the United States as of January 1, 2022.
• Progress has not been uniform against all cancer types or all subtypes and stages of a given cancer type.
• There are stark inequities in the cancer burden among many sociodemographic groups within the United States; these inequities occur across the cancer continuum and are driven largely by social factors.
• The economic burden of cancer both on individuals and the U.S. health care system is expected to rise in the coming decades, highlighting the urgent need for more research to accelerate the pace of progress against cancer.

Research: Driving Progress Against Cancer

Cancer: an ongoing public health challenge, inequities in the burden of cancer in the united states, variable progress against different types of cancer and stages of diagnosis, the growing population burden of cancer, the global burden of cancer, funding cancer research: a vital investment.

Research is the backbone of progress against cancer because it is the driving force behind every breakthrough that enhances survival and quality of life and every new policy or program designed to improve public health. Discoveries across the major areas of cancer research, including basic, clinical, translational, and population sciences, provide the foundation for advances in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.

Every clinical advance as well as every policy that spurs progress against cancer is the culmination of a complex process that requires collaboration over the course of many years among numerous different stakeholders committed to fundamentally changing the face of this devastating disease (see Sidebar 1 ).

The remarkable advances being made against cancer—in particular, improvements in prevention, early detection, and treatment—are resulting in a steady decline in U.S. cancer death rates year after year. In fact, the age-adjusted overall cancer death rate has fallen by 33 percent between 1991 and 2020, a reduction that translates into averting an estimated 3.8 million deaths from cancer ( 2 ) Siegel RL, et al. (2023) CA Cancer J Clin, 73: 17. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . The reduction in overall U.S. cancer mortality rate is driven largely by the decline in lung cancer death rate, the pace of which has accelerated in recent years because of reduction in smoking and advances in early detection and treatment (see Figure 1 ). Reduction in death rates for melanoma, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and female breast cancer has also contributed to overall progress against U.S. cancer mortality ( 2 ) Siegel RL, et al. (2023) CA Cancer J Clin, 73: 17. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Research-driven advances in treatment are reflected in the steady declines in death rates for melanoma, leukemia, and kidney cancer ( 2 ) Siegel RL, et al. (2023) CA Cancer J Clin, 73: 17. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . The death rate for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, for instance, has declined by 70 percent between 1975 and 2020 ( 5 ) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Accessed: July 5, 2023. . This progress can be attributed to groundbreaking basic research discoveries from the 1960s through 1980s that identified the mechanistic underpinnings of the disease and propelled the development of a cascade of new treatments for CML (see Sidebar 6 ) ( 6 ) Howlader N, et al. (2023) Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, 32: 744. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Among children (14 years or younger) and adolescents (15 to 19 years), overall cancer death rates have declined by 70 percent and 64 percent, respectively, between 1970 and 2020, driven largely by improvements in treatment ( 2 ) Siegel RL, et al. (2023) CA Cancer J Clin, 73: 17. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Among the major advances made across the clinical cancer care continuum from August 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, are 14 new anticancer therapeutics approved for use by FDA (see Table 3 ). During this period, FDA also approved new uses for 12 previously approved anticancer therapeutics (see Table 3 , p. 77), two agents to improve quality of life for patients with cancer undergoing active treatment, two new imaging agents to help visualize cancerous cells during surgery (see Visualizing Lung Cancers More Precisely During Surgery and Imaging Prostate Cancer More Clearly ) and several artificial intelligence-based tools to improve detection and diagnosis of cancers (see Sidebar 24 ). Collectively, advances such as these are helping increase the number of children and adults who live longer and fuller lives after a cancer diagnosis. As of January 1, 2022, the most recent date for which such estimate is available, more than 18 million individuals with a history of cancer were alive in the United States ( 7 ) Miller KD, et al. (2022) CA Cancer J Clin, 0: 1. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Recent studies indicate that the number of U.S. individuals living despite being diagnosed with metastatic disease has increased since the 1990s and this number is estimated to grow considerably in the coming years ( 8 ) Gallicchio L, et al. (2022) J Natl Cancer Inst, 114: 1476. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . This increase is attributable to the advances in treatments that are available for patients with metastatic cancers.

Although incredible progress has been made against cancer, it continues to be an enormous public health challenge in the United States and around the world (see Sidebar 4 ). In the United States alone, an estimated 1,958,310 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2023 and 609,820 people will die from the disease (see Table 1 ). Men have a higher incidence of many cancer types, including bladder, colon, and brain cancer compared to women and ongoing research is evaluating the role of a range of biological factors including genetics, epigenetics, metabolism, and immunity in mediating these differences.

Unfortunately, many population groups in the United States experience a disproportionately high rate of cancer incidence and death attributable largely to socioeconomic disadvantages. It should also be noted that current estimates of cancer burden do not reflect the adverse impact of COVID-19, which caused serious declines in screening, early detection, and new cancer diagnoses, and which continues to take a toll on cancer care especially among the medically underserved populations ( 9 ) American Association for Cancer Research. AACR Report on the Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Research and Patient Care. Accessed: June 30, 2022. ( 10 ) Berrian J, et al. (2023) Cancer Med, 12: 7381. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] ( 11 ) Zhao J, et al. (2023) JCO Oncol Pract: OP2200522. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Ongoing monitoring of cancer-related population-based data is warranted to assess the long-term consequences of COVID-19 on cancer burden in the United States.

While we are making unprecedented advances against cancer, the grim reality is that these advances have not benefited everyone equally. Because of a long history of structural inequities and systemic injustices in the United States, certain segments of the population continue to shoulder a disproportionate burden of adverse health conditions, including cancer.

Cancer disparities are one of the most pressing public health challenges in the United States. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) defines cancer disparities as adverse differences in cancer, such as number of new cases, number of deaths, cancer-related health complications, survivorship and quality of life after cancer treatment, screening rates, and stage at diagnosis that exist among certain population groups (see Sidebar 2 ).

As outlined in the AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2022 ( 13 ) American Association for Cancer Research. AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2022. Accessed: June 30, 2023. , racial and ethnic minorities and other medically underserved U.S. populations shoulder a disproportionately higher burden of cancer (see Sidebar 3 ).

Individuals who are Black have the highest death rates and lowest survival rates of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S. for most cancers, largely driven by structural and systemic inequities ( 14 ) American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures for African Americans 2019-2021. Accessed: July 28, 2023. . While the disparity in the overall cancer death rate between Black and White populations has narrowed by half over the last two decades, Black individuals still had a 12 percent higher overall cancer death rate compared to White individuals, and the highest death rate from cancer among all U.S. racial or ethnic groups in 2020 ( 5 ) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Accessed: July 5, 2023. . American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) individuals are a culturally and geographically diverse U.S. population group who experience a disproportionally high prevalence of several chronic illnesses, including many cancers, largely because of barriers to quality health care ( 15 ) Kratzer TB, et al. (2023) CA Cancer J Clin, 73: 120. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Cancer is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Hispanic population, the second largest racial or ethnic group in the continental United States and Hawaii, whereas heart disease is the leading cause of death in the non- Hispanic White population ( 16 ) Miller KD, et al. (2021) CA Cancer J Clin, 71: 466. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Researchers are increasingly recognizing the heterogeneity in cancer burden among individuals within each of the major racial or ethnic minority groups ( 13 ) American Association for Cancer Research. AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2022. Accessed: June 30, 2023. . As one example, the U.S. Asian population has ancestry in numerous countries of origin and the Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) population comprises more than 25 diverse subgroups with distinct variations in historical backgrounds, languages, and cultural traditions. Striking disparities in cancer death rates between NHOPI and Asian individuals have been identified since national death certificates included a new racial classification system which separated NHOPI individuals from Asian individuals, two populations that are frequently aggregated in cancer epidemiological data ( 17 ) Haque AT, et al. (2023) J Natl Cancer Inst. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . These findings highlight the vital importance of disaggregated cancer data to fully understand cancer disparities and develop effective strategies for achieving health equity.

In addition to racial or ethnic minorities, many other segments of the U.S. population shoulder a disproportionate burden of cancer (see Sidebar 2 ). These include residents in rural areas that lack access to cutting-edge cancer treatments and/or state-of-the-art health care facilities, sexual and gender minorities who experience bias and discrimination in health care settings, and low-income households where there is persistent poverty, and limited access to healthy food or the needed health care. It should be noted that patients with intersectional identities often experience multilevel barriers to cancer care that adversely impact screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. As one example, recent data have shown that Black and AIAN populations living in rural areas experience greater poverty and lack of access to quality care, which expose them to greater risk of experiencing poor cancer outcomes ( 22 ) Zahnd WE, et al. (2021) Int J Environ Res Public Health, 18. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Root causes of cancer disparities are multidimensional and multifactorial. Researchers have developed many models to understand and address health inequities. A key component of these models is the framework of social determinants of health (SDOH). According to NCI, SDOH are the social, economic, and physical conditions in the places where people are born and where they live, learn, work, play, and grow older that can affect their health, well-being, and quality of life (see Figure 2 ). It is increasingly evident that structural racism and systemic injustices are key adverse social factors, creating conditions that perpetuate health inequities, including cancer disparities, for racial or ethnic minorities and other medically underserved populations ( 23 ) Alnajar A, et al. (2023) JAMA Netw Open, 6: e234261. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] ( 24 ) Hoskins KF, et al. (2023) JAMA Oncol, 9: 536. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] ( 25 ) Zhang L, et al. (2023) JAMA Oncol, 9: 122. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] ( 26 ) Vince RA, Jr., et al. (2023) JAMA Netw Open, 6: e2250416. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Considering that a significant proportion of the U.S. population is affected by cancer disparities, it is important that public health experts intensify efforts designed to improve the understanding and mitigation of these inequities. Only with new insights obtained through innovative and inclusive research, such as basic research using biospecimens from diverse populations, clinical studies involving participants from all sociodemographic backgrounds, and health care delivery research that is representative of everyone in the communities, will we be able to develop and implement interventions that eventually eliminate cancers for all populations.

Among the current challenges in cancer science and medicine is the uneven progress against different cancer types and different stages of a given cancer type.

These challenges are illustrated by the fact that the 5-year relative survival rates for U.S. patients vary widely depending on both the type of cancer diagnosed and the stage at diagnosis ( 5 ) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Accessed: July 5, 2023. . For example, the overall 5-year relative survival rates of 94 percent for patients with melanoma and 97 percent for patients with prostate cancer stand in stark contrast to the overall 5-year relative survival rates of 23 percent for those with liver cancer and 13 percent for those with pancreatic cancer. In addition, among women with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer, those whose cancer is confined to the breast, or to the prostate, have 5-year relative survival rates of 99 percent and 100 percent, respectively, while those whose cancer has metastasized have 5-year relative survival rates of 31 percent and 34 percent, respectively ( 5 ) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Accessed: July 5, 2023. .

Variable progress among different cancer types can be partly attributed to the availability of novel cutting-edge therapeutic options, or lack thereof, that have moved rapidly from the laboratory to the clinic and are now available to patients. As one example, between January 1, 2011, and July 31, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved five immunotherapeutics and six molecularly targeted therapeutics for use alone or in combination for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma, a previously intractable cancer. Thanks to these innovative new therapeutics, melanoma mortality rates have declined rapidly between 2011 and 2020 by about five percent per year in adults younger than age 50 and three percent per year in those 50 and older ( 28 ) American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures. Accessed: July 5, 2023. . In contrast, progress has been slow for patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive form of brain tumor (see Tackling Difficult-to-Treat Cancers ). Since the approval of the chemotherapeutic temozolomide nearly 25 years ago, no new anticancer agents have shown promise in improving overall survival. Consequently, the 5-year relative survival rate for patients with GBM remains at a dismal seven percent ( 29 ) Ostrom QT, et al. (2022) Neuro Oncol, 24: v1. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Developing new and effective methods for early detection of more cancer types could help address the challenge of variable progress between types of cancer because the likelihood of cure is much higher when cancer is diagnosed at an early stage while it is confined to its original location than when it has spread to distant sites. Additionally, intensive research into the molecular underpinnings of cancer initiation and progression is vital in order to improve future therapeutic options for currently hard-to-treat diseases (see Tackling Difficult-to-Treat Cancers ).

The public health challenges posed by cancer are predicted to grow considerably in the coming decades unless we develop and implement more effective strategies for cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment ( 30 ) International Agency for Research on Cancer. Global Cancer Observatory. Accessed: July 31, 2023. . In the United States alone, the number of new cancer cases diagnosed each year is expected to reach nearly 2.3 million by 2040 ( 30 ) International Agency for Research on Cancer. Global Cancer Observatory. Accessed: July 31, 2023. . This is because cancer is primarily a disease of aging; 57 percent of diagnoses occur among those 65 and older ( 28 ) American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures. Accessed: July 5, 2023. , and this segment of the U.S. population is expected to grow from 54.1 million in 2019 to nearly 81 million in 2040 ( 31 ) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Administration for Community Living. 2020 Profile of Older Americans. Accessed: Jul 6, 2023. .

Also contributing to the projected increase in the number of U.S. cancer cases are the high rates of obesity and physical inactivity and the continued use of cigarettes by 11.5 percent of adults ( 32 ) Cornelius ME, et al. (2023) MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 72: 475. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . However, it should be noted that a significant proportion of lung cancers (16 percent in women and 10 percent in men) are diagnosed in individuals without a history of smoking ( 33 ) Siegel DA, et al. (2021) JAMA Oncol, 7: 302. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] and there is a need for more research to determine whether the incidence rate of lung cancer among those without a history of smoking is increasing ( 34 ) Pelosof L, et al. (2017) J Natl Cancer Inst, 109. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Identification of risk factors, characterization of disease, and development of evidence-based early detection and treatments are critical needs to lower the burden of lung cancer in the population of patients who do not have a history of smoking.

While overall cancer incidence in the United States has stabilized in recent years, the incidence of certain cancer types such as pancreatic cancer and uterine cancer ( 5 ) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Accessed: July 5, 2023. is steadily increasing. Additionally, many recent studies have reported an increase in the incidence of colorectal cancer among individuals younger than 50 years, a phenomenon referred to as early-onset cancer ( 35 ) Siegel RL, et al. (2023) CA Cancer J Clin, 73: 233. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] ( 36 ) Giannakis M, et al. (2023) Science, 379: 1088. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . According to a recent report, between 2011 and 2019, the colorectal cancer incidence rate increased by 1.9 percent per year in people younger than 50 years ( 35 ) Siegel RL, et al. (2023) CA Cancer J Clin, 73: 233. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Many of the early-onset colorectal cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Between 2010 and 2019, among 20- to 49-year- old individuals, incidence of advanced-stage colorectal cancer increased by about three percent per year ( 35 ) Siegel RL, et al. (2023) CA Cancer J Clin, 73: 233. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Understanding the reasons behind rising cases of early-onset colorectal cancer is an area of intensive research. To reduce the burden of early-onset colorectal cancer, the United States Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF) and many professional societies have modified their screening guidelines to recommend starting colorectal cancer screening at an earlier age (see Guidelines for Cancer Screening ). Researchers are also evaluating new and improved strategies including genetic testing and other approaches for prevention and early detection of colorectal cancer in the younger population ( 37 ) Sinicrope FA (2022) N Engl J Med, 386: 1547. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Another cancer for which U.S. incidence rate has been rising is cervical cancer ( 39 ) Francoeur AA, et al. (2022) Int J Gynecol Cancer. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] ( 40 ) Shahmoradi Z, et al. (2022) JAMA, 328: 2267. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . According to a recent analysis, the rate of advanced cervical cancer (that has spread to the bladder or rectum at diagnosis) increased by 1.3 percent per year from 2001 to 2018 ( 39 ) Francoeur AA, et al. (2022) Int J Gynecol Cancer. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . A second report showed that, among U.S. women ages 30 to 34 years, overall cervical cancer incidence increased by 2.5 percent per year between 2012 and 2019 ( 40 ) Shahmoradi Z, et al. (2022) JAMA, 328: 2267. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Considering that nearly all cervical cancers are caused by infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) and that HPV vaccination (see Prevent and Eliminate Infection from Cancer-causing Pathogens ) and cervical cancer screening are extremely effective in reducing the burden of the disease, these data emphasize the importance of public health measures to boost cervical cancer prevention and early detection in the United States (see Screening for Early Detection ).

Beyond the United States, cancer is an ongoing global challenge (see Sidebar 4 ). According to a recent analysis, there were an estimated 17.2 million new cancer cases (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) and 10 million cancer deaths globally, in 2019 ( 41 ) Global Burden of Disease Cancer C, et al. (2022) JAMA Oncol, 8: 420. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . The study evaluated cancer burden in terms of cancer-related deaths, as well as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years of life lost (YLLs), which are two measures of cancer morbidity. Researchers found that among the 22 groups of diseases and injuries analyzed, cancer was second only to cardiovascular disease in the number of deaths, DALYs, and YLLs ( 41 ) Global Burden of Disease Cancer C, et al. (2022) JAMA Oncol, 8: 420. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . The five leading causes of cancer-related morbidity among men and women combined were cancers of the lung, colon and rectum, stomach, breast, and liver.

There is a stark disparity in the cancer burden among countries with different levels of socioeconomic development. Researchers use various metrics such as human development index (HDI) or sociodemographic index (SDI), which are composite measures of social and economic development, to identify where countries or geographic areas fall on the spectrum of development. SDI quantification considers income per capita, average years of education, and total fertility rate for citizens younger than 25 ( 42 ) Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Accessed: July 5, 2023. ; HDI measurement considers income per capita, average years of education, and life expectancy at birth ( 43 ) United Nations. Human Development Index. Accessed: July 5, 2023. . While age-adjusted cancer incidence and mortality rates are declining in countries with high SDI, both rates are still trending upward in lower SDI countries ( 41 ) Global Burden of Disease Cancer C, et al. (2022) JAMA Oncol, 8: 420. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Based on a recent estimate, between 2010 and 2019, countries with the lowest SDI experienced the largest percent increase in the numbers of cancer cases and deaths ( 41 ) Global Burden of Disease Cancer C, et al. (2022) JAMA Oncol, 8: 420. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Considering the growth and aging of the global population and the negative impact of recent global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer research and patient care ( 45 ) United Nations. Ageing. Accessed: July 6, 2023. , researchers caution that the burden of cancer worldwide may rise significantly in the coming decades. One area in which progress is urgently needed is the establishment of population-based cancer registries in all countries because the collection of high-quality cancer surveillance data is essential for developing effective national cancer control plans. Notably, only one in five low- and middle-income countries has the necessary data to drive policy and reduce the burden and suffering due to cancer, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer ( 46 ) Editorial (2014) Lancet, 383: 1946. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Another emerging concern among public health experts is the dramatic rise since the 1990s in the incidence of early-onset cancers, including cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, kidney, liver, and pancreas, among others, around the world ( 47 ) Ugai T, et al. (2022) Nat Rev Clin Oncol, 19: 656. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . While improvements in early detection may be attributable, in part, to this rising cancer incidence, researchers hypothesize that early life exposures to certain cancer risk factors (see Reducing the Risk of Cancer Development ), including diets rich in highly processed foods, alcohol, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, environmental carcinogens, and an unfavorable microbiome, many of which have become more prevalent in recent decades, are playing a role in the increased incidence of early-onset cancers ( 47 ) Ugai T, et al. (2022) Nat Rev Clin Oncol, 19: 656. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Notably, 44 percent of cancer deaths worldwide are caused by modifiable risk factors, such as smoking and drinking alcohol ( 48 ) GBD 2019 Cancer Risk Factors Collaborators. (2022) Lancet, 400:563 [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

To ensure equitable progress against cancer worldwide, it is imperative that the global medical research community work together and shares best practices to implement newer and more effective strategies that incorporate local needs and knowledge into tailored national cancer control plans. Public health experts have identified several priorities based on present and future needs of low resource countries, including reducing the burden of advanced cancers; improving access, affordability, and outcomes of treatment; utilizing value-based care; fostering implementation research; and leveraging technology to improve cancer control ( 49 ) Pramesh CS, et al. (2022) Nat Med, 28: 649. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . The urgent need for robust worldwide investments in medical research is emphasized by recent findings that estimated the cumulative global economic burden of cancer to be at an enormous $25.2 trillion over the next 30 years ( 50 ) Chen S, et al. (2023) JAMA Oncol, 9: 465. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Cancer exerts an immense toll, both because of the number of lives it affects each year and its significant economic impact. The direct medical costs of cancer care are one measure of the financial impact of cancer, and in the United States alone, these costs were estimated to be nearly $209 billion in 2020, the last year for which these data are currently available ( 28 ) American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures. Accessed: July 5, 2023. . Unfortunately, these numbers stand in stark contrast to the NCI budget of $6 billion for the same year. Notably, the direct medical costs do not include the indirect costs of lost productivity due to cancer-related morbidity and mortality, which are also extremely high. As one example, the costs of lost productivity for U.S. adolescent and young adult patients with cancer (age 15 to 39) diagnosed in 2019 were an estimated $18 billion over their lifetime ( 54 ) Parsons SK, et al. (2023) J Clin Oncol, 41: 3260. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

Patients with cancer shoulder a large amount of economic burden associated with cancer care. In 2019, in the United States, patients with cancer lost nearly $5 billion due to time costs— value of time that patients spend traveling to and from health care, waiting for care, and receiving care—and paid an estimated $16.2 billion in out-of-pocket costs for cancer care ( 55 ) Kuehn BM (2021) JAMA, 326: 2251. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] .

With the number of cancer cases projected to increase in the coming decades, it is likely that both the direct and indirect costs will also escalate. According to a recent report the economic burden of cancer in the United States will reach $5.3 trillion over the next three decades ( 50 ) Chen S, et al. (2023) JAMA Oncol, 9: 465. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . The rising personal and economic burden of cancer underscores the urgent need for more research so that we can accelerate the pace of progress and curb the increasing burden of this disease.

Recent advances in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment, many of which are highlighted in this report, were made as a direct result of the cumulative efforts of researchers across the spectrum of cancer science and medicine. Much of their work, as well as that of FDA and CDC, is supported by funds from the federal government. Public sector funding from NIH and NCI contributes significantly to the development of novel anticancer drugs including molecularly targeted therapeutics and immunotherapeutics (see Advances in Treatment with Molecularly Targeted Therapy ) and Immunotherapy: Pushing the Frontier of Cancer Medicine ) ( 56 ) Nayak RK, et al. (2021) JAMA Intern Med, 181: 1522. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] ( 57 ) Galkina Cleary E, et al. (2023) JAMA Health Forum, 4: e230511. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . The rapid pace of approval of these cutting-edge treatments, many of which were evaluated in NCI-funded clinical trials, has transformed the treatment landscape and dramatically improved patient outcomes. A recent study that evaluated the population-level impact of NCI-funded clinical research concluded that over the past 40 years, patients with cancer in the United States gained 14 million years of additional life because of these trials ( 60 ) Shiels MS, et al. (2023) Cancer Discov, 13: 1084. [LINK NOT AVAILABLE] . Collectively, these findings highlight the importance of federal investments in medical research in saving and extending lives and driving progress against cancer.

The consecutive increases for the NIH budget in the last seven fiscal years have helped maintain the momentum of progress against cancer and other diseases (see Investments in Research Fuel a Healthier Future ). Additionally, NIH research grants help sustain the U.S. economy. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, the $36.68 billion awarded to researchers in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia supported more than 568,000 jobs and nearly $97 billion in economic activity ( 59 ) United for Medical Research. NIH’s Role in Sustaining the U.S. Economy. Accessed: August 1, 2023. .

NCI’s current success rate of 14.1 percent in FY 2021 has created a grant funding crisis and has left potentially lifesaving cancer science and medicine unfunded. There are also serious concerns that early-stage scientists and those from underrepresented racial or ethnic backgrounds might choose other career paths instead of academic research, which will impede progress against cancer.

If Congress lowers the NCI budget, it will force the Institute to reduce pay lines to even lower levels. Such actions will result in highly meritorious grants being unfunded and make it harder for the next generation of scientists to build promising careers in cancer research.

Therefore, it is imperative that in the years ahead, Congress continues to provide sustained, robust, and predictable increases in investments in the federal agencies that are vital for fueling progress against cancer, in particular, NIH, NCI, FDA, and CDC (see AACR Call to Action ). Such investments will help the medical research community sustain the momentum of scientific and technological innovation and accelerate the pace of progress against cancer to achieve the President’s Cancer Moonshot goal of reducing U.S. cancer death rate by 50 percent by the year 2047.

• A Message from AACR
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• Advancing the Future of Cancer Research and Care Through Evidence-based Policies
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• AACR President’s Vision: Future of Cancer Research and Care
• AACR Cancer Progress Report 2023: Steering Committee

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American association for cancer research 2019 annual report

American association for cancer research 2019 annual report

We are pleased to present the 2019 Annual Report of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The report highlights the AACR’s progress over the past year in support of our mission: to prevent and cure cancer through research, education, communication, collaboration, funding, and advocacy.

read full letter

Left to right: Elaine R. Mardis, PhD, FAACR; Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc); Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, FAACR

Table of Contents

PROGRESS AGAINST CANCER IN 2019

ANNUAL MEETING 2019

SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING

AACR INTERNATIONAL

HONORING SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENT

SCIENCE AND EDUCATION

SCIENTIFIC REVIEW AND GRANTS ADMINISTRATION

POLICY AND ADVOCACY

AACR FOUNDATION

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

THE AACR IN 2020: A LOOK AHEAD

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2021/22 in review: Charity looks to the future with ambitious new strategy

21 July 2022

Cancer Research UK is ready to seize new opportunities following the publication of its Annual Report and Accounts 2021/22 today.

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive at Cancer Research UK, said: “This year has been a turning point for Cancer Research UK. We pulled together, seized new opportunities and set an ambitious new long-term direction for Cancer Research UK. None of this would’ve been possible without the extraordinary generosity and commitment of our supporters, as well as the tireless work of our staff, volunteers, partners and cancer patients.”

Renewing our focus

This year we laid out our vision for the future with the launch of our new organisational strategy : Making Discoveries, Driving Progress, Bringing Hope.

The strategy renews our focus on making transformative and scientific discoveries, helping ensure some cancers are effectively eliminated and that many more are prevented from developing in the first place.

Key figures from our Annual Report and Accounts include:

• Cancer Research UK raised a total of £668m in 2021/22, £86m more than the previous year
• Cancer Research UK spent £471m on charitable activities over the last financial year. This includes £443m on cancer research, up £55m from 2020/21*
• Cancer Research UK’s annual research activity spend was £388m compared to £421m in the previous year, a reduction of 7.8%, due to the continued impact of funding cuts in 2020/21**
• Cancer Research UK is committed to spending at least £1.5bn on research over the next 5 years.

Driving translation

We remain the largest charitable funder of cancer research, supporting over 4,000 researchers, doctors, and nurses in more than 130 global institutions.

Our investment into 4 core-funded research institutes in London, Cambridge, Manchester and Glasgow, as well as a national network of centres, clinical trials units and experimental cancer medicine centres helps to drive translation, ensuring that our research has a direct impact on people with cancer.

In April 2022 we launched Cancer Research Horizons . This unites all of our drug discovery capabilities and commercialisation expertise under one umbrella. This joined-up approach will translate more discoveries into treatments for patients, faster.

“We’ve made huge strides in our understanding of cancer this year. Findings from the Cancer Grand Challenges Mutographs team unearthed new information about the very early stages of cancer development, while the SPECIFICANCER team have discovered that cancers in different parts of the body develop their own ways to hide from the immune system. And the outcome of a study funded by Cancer Research UK shows that the UK’s HPV vaccination programme has resulted in an almost 90% drop in cervical cancer rates amongst those vaccinated. These findings have the power to bring about huge advances in the prevention and treatment of cancer,” said Mitchell.

Celebrating 20 years of Cancer Research UK

This year marks 20 years since Cancer Research UK was formed , and 120 years since the founding of the Imperial Cancer Fund.

This is a proud moment for the charity, and offers a chance to celebrate the impact of our work , such as our role in the development of more than 50 cancer drugs , radiotherapy, and the HPV vaccine.

The impact of COVID-19

After a few difficult years following the COVID-19 pandemic, the charity has performed better than expected in 2021/2022.

Cancer Research UK initially expected to see a £300m reduction in income over 3 years (2020-23) due to the pandemic. However, following better performance than expected over the past 2 years, the charity now predicts the impact of the pandemic will be roughly £200m.

“Despite the progress that we’ve made over the past 12 months, we know that the impact of the pandemic on people affected by cancer, and research, will continue to be felt for years to come,” said Mitchell

“There’s still a significant backlog of people waiting for tests and treatments, we aren’t making fast enough progress with early diagnosis and cancer survival, and we can’t be satisfied with the slow pace of recovery in clinical research.

“The next 12 months will be a critical time for us to put cancer back at the top of the agenda, positively influence cancer plans across all four UK nations and shape the UK Government’s 10-year cancer plan. We’re looking to the future with optimism – a future in which we bring about a world where everyone can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.”

For every £1 donated, 81p was available to beat cancer in 2021/22.

For further information about Cancer Research UK’s work and to view this year’s Annual Report and Accounts, visit our website .

*We spent £471m on charitable activities, an increase of £52m on the previous year. This was mainly due to a one-off adjustment to re-align the timing of our Institute and Clinical Training annual awards from April to March (£55m). Issuing the awards a month early gave the recipients certainty ahead of the start of their financial year in April 2022. It also means that our expenditure next year will not include these commitments and may appear lower as a result. 

**Annual research activity equates to research carried out in the financial year, much of which was committed in previous years. This is different to the £443m cancer research spend, which includes new research grants that will be paid out over several years.   

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Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer

Jointly issued by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer (ARN) is an update of rates for new cases and deaths as well as trends for the most common cancers in the United States. ARN provides rates and trends for the most common cancers among adults, children (aged 0-14), and adolescents and young adults or AYAs (aged 15-39). The report includes long-term trends (since 2001) and short-term trends with the most recent five years of data (2014-2018 for incidence and 2015-2019 for mortality).

Overall Cancer Statistics

Special Topic: Early Assessment of the COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on Cancer Diagnosis

Shareable Resources

• The Annual Report to the Nation provides recent trends in rates of new cancer cases (incidence) and death rates (mortality) in the United States.
• Overall, cancer death rates decreased 2.3% per year (on average) among males and 1.9% per year (on average) among females.
• Cancer death rates decreased an average of 0.9% per year among AYAs, and an average of 1.5% per year among children between 2015 and 2019.
• The most common cancer types among children included leukemia, brain and other nervous system, and lymphoma, with increasing incidence trends for all three from 2001-2018.

This year's Special Topic focuses on the relationship between cancer diagnoses in the U.S. and the disruptions caused by the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Between March and May of 2020, cancer registries recorded far fewer cancer cases than expected. April of 2020 had the lowest number of cancer diagnoses for all six cancer sites: breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, pancreatic, and thyroid.
• While the rate of new cancer diagnoses hovered around predicted levels in the second half of 2020, it did not make up for the drop seen between March and May.

Related Resources

• ARN Part I Press Release
• ARN Part II Press Release

• Archive of Previous Reports

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February 2024 

January 2024

Explore a selection of reports and publications from the Cancer Intelligence experts at Cancer Research UK, and through various collaborations.

Local Stats Data Hub

The local stats data hub gives provides information across the cancer pathway for each constituency area based on publicly available data. It includes information on smoking prevalence, childhood overweight and obesity, bowel screening, cancer waiting times, cancer incidence and cancer mortality.

Cancer Waiting Times and Diagnostic Activity Data Hub

The CRUK Cancer Intelligence Team’s Cancer Waiting Times and Diagnostic Activity Data Hub gathers the latest data from across the UK on cancer waiting times performance and diagnostic activity and waiting times. You can view breakdowns for some of this information by a specific cancer site and country.

Early Diagnosis Data Hub

The CRUK Cancer Intelligence Team’s Early Diagnosis Data Hub gathers information and statistics across a number of cancer early diagnosis measures including incidence and survival by stage at diagnosis, screening uptake, urgent GP referrals and routes to diagnosis. You can view breakdowns for some of this information by a specific cancer site and country.

Children and Young People’s Cancers Data Hub

The CRUK Cancer Intelligence Team’s Children and Young People Cancer data hub uses data from Public Health England to provide a dashboard for cancer incidence and survival for 0–24-year-olds in the UK and its constituent nations. You can view data for each country by sex, age, main ICCC-3 diagnostic group and diagnostic subgroups. 

Cancer Waiting Times

Performance measures across the cancer pathway: Key Stats

COVID-19’s effect on cancer patients is a key concern to the cancer community with delayed or decreased diagnosis, tests and treatment. To understand this variable and rapidly changing landscape the Cancer Intelligence team are regularly monitoring published data around the impact of the pandemic across the cancer pathway. We have prepared some key insights which reports latest data across the UK (and where possible for the devolved nations) on screening, urgent suspected referrals, diagnostic tests and treatment. 

Cancer Intelligence Team, Cancer Research UK. Performance measures across the cancer pathway: Key Stats  Updated January 2024

Covid-19 and Cancer

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer surgery and cancer mortality

This research report from Telstra Health UK and Cancer Research UK explores the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer surgery and cancer mortality, both at the very beginning and throughout 18 months of living with the disruption, fear, and strain. The analysis reveals a general decrease in patients undergoing cancer surgery at the start of the pandemic for all demographic groups, but shows that for the most part the recovery period of the COVID-19 pandemic has not exacerbated inequalities in access to cancer surgery. However we know that there are disparities in access to treatment particularly by age, as well as some evidence of variation by deprivation and region. The report also highlights changes in cancer mortality and place of death. Overall it is shown that there was a profound and sustained impact on cancer services and patients but the true extent of these effects is not yet fully understood.

View the report here

Cancer & COVID-19 Research Summit

Cancer Research UK (CRUK), The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) and Public Health England’s National Disease Registration Service (PHE NCRAS) hosted a Cancer/COVID-19 Research Summit with researchers from different disciplines to identify key research themes or questions around COVID-19’s impact on cancer prevention, early diagnosis and screening. Also, to discuss how the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients can be mitigated through effective research.

Several areas in which further research is needed were identified, as well as lessons from the pandemic to improve research, cancer care, and help prepare for future crises. These include understanding the biological and psychological effects of COVID-19 on cancer patients, risk factors associated with COVID-19 and cancer, the influence of COVID-19 on health-related behaviours and the impact of COVID-19 on cancer care pathways. The full meeting report can be found here.

The impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients’ experience

This report summarises the findings from the CRUK patient experience survey (PES), which collected data from 1st May to 28th May 2020. The findings indicate the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients, and their testing, treatment and care. For many cancer patients the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have had a significant impact on their testing and treatment, and most notably their care. This has resulted in a negative impact on the emotional well-being of many cancer patients whether they were hoping to finish their treatment, find out the results of their test, have their regular screening, or continue with care that could support them, in some cases for the remainder of their life.

Cancer Research UK. Cancer Research UK Cancer Experience Survey 2020: The impact of COVID-19 on Cancer patients in the UK . July 2020. 

Treatment and post diagnosis

Geographic variation in treatment of endometrial Cancer

Our CRUK-PHE partnership team have investigated the geographic variation in the use of lymphonodectomy and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) in the treatment of endometrial cancer. Significant variation was found between 19 Cancer Alliances using population level cancer registry data collected between 2013-2016, which is likely due to ambiguity in existing endometrial cancer management guidelines. 

White B, Nordin A, Fry A et al. Geographic variation in the use of lymphadenectomy and external‐beam radiotherapy for endometrial cancer: a cross‐sectional analysis of population‐based data. BJOG 2019 doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.15914

Risk factors and symptom awareness

Smoking prevalence projections 2021

Smoking is the leading cause of cancer and preventable death in the UK. Smoking prevalence has been declining across the UK for some decades, but remains higher in more deprived groups. The UK Government has set a smokefree ambition (to achieve 5% average adult smoking prevalence) for 2030 in England. There is currently no ambition to achieve smokefree in all deprivation groups.

In this report we estimate whether the smokefree 2030 ambition is likely to be realised based on recent trends, and when smokefree will be achieved for each deprivation decile. We have projected average adult smoking prevalence, and smoking prevalence by deprivation decile, for England until 2050. These projections use smoking prevalence data up to 2021, from the Office for National Statistics’ Annual Population Survey.

The results suggest that if recent trends continue, England will not reach smokefree until 2039, and to achieve the 2030 smokefree target, the pace of change needs to be around 70% faster than projected. The most deprived tenth of the population In England may be almost three decades behind the least deprived tenth, in achieving 5% smoking prevalence. This analysis suggests the pace of decline in smoking prevalence has slowed overall, and the deprivation gap has widened, since our previous projections using data to 2018.

Socio-economic deprivation and cancer incidence in England: Quantifying the role of smoking

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable cancer and death in the UK. Deprived populations typically experience higher rates of smoking and cancer incidence. We calculated the proportion and number of smoking-related cancer cases by deprivation quintile in England and modelled how smoking contributes to the deprivation gap for cancer incidence. We found a strong deprivation gradient for the proportion of cancer cases attributable to smoking in England. Our modelling suggests that more than half (61%) of the deprivation gap for cancer incidence could have been prevented if nobody smoked, indicating smoking to be the key driver for cancer incidence inequality in England.

Payne NWS, Brown KF, Delon C et al. Socio-economic deprivation and cancer incidence in England: Quantifying the role of smoking. PLOS ONE 2022 17(9): e0272202

Adult overweight and obesity prevalence projections for the UK

Overweight and obesity is a major risk factor for the leading causes of death in the world and is causally associated with at least 13 different types of cancer. Overweight and obesity prevalence has increased markedly in the UK in recent decades. We provide projections for overweight and obesity prevalence by sex and deprivation quintile in the UK (where possible) and its constituent nations. These projections, based on current trends in nationally representative health surveys, suggest that there could be more people who are obese than healthy weight in the UK by 2040. In England and Scotland, the deprivation gap for obesity between the least and most deprived is projected to increase by more than half.

Patients with non-specific symptoms

The CRUK-PHE partnership have published a paper comparing patients presenting with non-specific but concerning symptoms with patients presenting with more obvious symptoms. Cancer registration data was linked to the National Cancer and Diagnosis Audit (NCDA) data, which has information about primary care for over 17,000 cancers. The work found that patients with non-specific symptoms had longer primary care intervals, more complex diagnostic pathways and were more likely to be diagnosed at stage 4 and after an emergency presentation. This work supports the evaluation of Multi-Disciplinary Centres (MDCs) by the ACE Programme, an early diagnosis imitative supported by CRUK, MacMillan Cancer Support and NHS England.

Pearson C, Poirier V, Fitzgerald K, et al. Cross-sectional study using primary care and cancer registration data to investigate patients with cancer presenting with non-specific symptoms. BMJ Open 2020; 10: e033008. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033008

Cancers attributable to overweight and obesity by deprivation

This report investigates to what extent the proportion of overweight and obesity attributable cancer cases in the UK varies with deprivation. For females, the proportion of cancer cases attributable to overweight and obesity showed a 10-29% relative increase from the least deprived quintile to the most deprived. The deprivation gap was generally much smaller for males. There is a stronger deprivation gradient for obesity prevalence in UK females compared to males, and more overweight and obesity-associated cancer types in females compared to males, which explains the differences observed between sexes.

Cancer Intelligence Team, Cancer Research UK. The fraction of cancer attributable to overweight and obesity by deprivation quintile in the UK . October 2020.

Smoking prevalence projections

UK smoking prevalence has been declining overall for some decades, and ambitions to achieve 5% average adult smoking prevalence (‘smoke-free’) have been set by England for 2030, and Scotland for 2034. These projections, based on current trends in nationally-representative smoking surveys, suggest that 5% average adult smoking prevalence could be reached in 2037 for England and Wales, the late 2040s for Northern Ireland, and after 2050 for Scotland. There could be millions fewer UK smokers than projected in the 2030s, if smoke-free ambitions were achieved; however to do this the pace of change needs to increase markedly in all UK nations. Socioeconomic inequalities are a key concern: the projections indicate that in England, smoke-free could be achieved by the most deprived fifth of the population around 20 years later than in the least-deprived fifth; and in Scotland and Northern Ireland this deprivation gap may be markedly longer.

Cancer Intelligence Team, Cancer Research UK. Smoking prevalence projections for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland based on data to 2018/19 . February 2020.

Smoking trends by occupation group

The proportion of current smokers in the population (smoking prevalence) has been falling for decades in the UK, However a clear deprivation gradient remains: smoking prevalence is around twice as high in routine and manual (R&M) workers compared with managerial and professional (M&P) workers. That gap has widened in recent decades, because smoking prevalence has fallen more slowly among R&M workers compared with M&P workers. This reflects both higher rates of uptake and lower rates of quitting in R&M workers compared with M&P workers. Occupation group is associated with smoking behaviour independent of other characteristics like age, sex, region, education, marital status, ethnicity, alcohol consumption and general perceived health. If the R&M worker population had experienced the same pace of decline in smoking prevalence as the M&P population, there would now be almost a million fewer R&M worker smokers.

Cancer Intelligence Team 2019  Smoking prevalence trends by occupation group in health survey for England

Diagnosis and Screening

Relationship between ethnicity and stage at diagnosis

Our CRUK-NHS E partnership team have evaluated whether certain ethnic groups in England are more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage. Reviewing diagnoses of 6 cancer types from 2012-2016 in people belonging to one of 5 ethnic groups, we found that Caribbean, African and Asian women and Caribbean men had increased odds of late-stage disease for certain cancer types compared to the White British cohort. Reasons behind increased late diagnoses may include poorer symptom awareness, delays in seeking help and having to present to the GP multiple times before being referred for tests.

Fry A, White B, Nagarwalla D, et al. Relationship between ethnicity and stage at diagnosis in England: a national analysis of six cancer sites . BMJ Open 2023. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-062079

10-Year survival by stage for the East of England

In partnership with the National Cancer Registration Services (NCRAS), we have produced 10 year survival by stage estimates for the East of England. 10 year survival gives cancer patients a more accurate reflection of their long term survival experience and this work focuses on the differences in survival by stage at diagnosis. The work highlights the need for continued efforts to achieve diagnosis at earlier stages to improve longer term cancer outcomes. The results for lung, breast, bowel and prostate cancer are shown indicating 10 year survival is much poorer when diagnosed at the latest stage compared to the earlier stages. More information about the method used and wider range of site estimates produced can be found in this technical report.  

See the infographic here

Diagnostic Intervals in England

Our CRUK-PHE partnership team have calculated diagnostic intervals for the first time for patients of 25 different cancer sites diagnosed in 2014 & 2015. Significant variation in these intervals were found by stage of disease, route to diagnosis and comorbidity score. An online tool demonstrates variation by these and other factors  by cancer site and cancer alliance. A paper describing the methodology and results for colorectal and lung cancer was published in Cancer Epidemiology in June 2019. Two blogs detailed the project, one by CRUK and one at Public Health Matters. 

Pearson C, Fraser J, Peake M. Establishing population-based surveillance of diagnostic timeliness using linked cancer registry and administrative data for patients with colorectal and lung cancer . Cancer Epidemiology 2019.

Cancer in the UK

Cancer in the UK: Overview 2024

This report sets out the key challenges facing cancer services and people affected by cancer. We’ve made huge progress on cancer in the last 50 years, but new analysis indicates that improvements in survival have slowed. This next instalment in the Cancer in the UK series highlights the need for political leadership to deliver long-term solutions to the challenges facing cancer research and care. 

Devolved nation summaries are also available:

Cancer in the UK: Scotland Overview 2024

Cancer in the UK: Wales Overview 2024

Cancer in the UK: Northern Ireland Overview 2024

Cancer in the UK: Overview 2023

This report sets out the top line view of key challenges facing cancer services, and people affected by cancer today, looking at where progress is being made and the many challenges we face. With cancer cases projected to rise, ensuring we have a long term, comprehensive plan for cancer that tackles these challenges and harnesses the opportunities is vital.

This report is a call to action – all of us must come together to make progress in our ambition to beat cancer. People affected by cancer deserve no less.

Cancer in the UK: Scotland Overview 2023

Cancer in the UK: Wales Overview 2023

Cancer in the UK: Northern Ireland Overview 2023

Cancer in the UK: Deprivation and cancer inequalities in Scotland

This report focuses on the impact of deprivation across the cancer pathway in Scotland. Generally, populations with higher deprivation have greater risk factors for cancer, are less aware of symptoms of cancer and report more barriers to seeking help. Their participation in screening programmes is lower and they are more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage disease. People from more deprived populations have worse cancer outcomes, including survival. We need to make sure we push to achieve lower levels of cancer risk factors, better engagement with the health system and improved cancer outcomes for everyone and close the deprivation gap, because beating cancer must mean beating it for everyone.

Cancer Intelligence Team, Cancer Research UK. Cancer in the UK: Deprivation and cancer inequalities in Scotland . November 2022.

Cancer in the UK: socio-economic deprivation

This report brings together the available evidence across the UK of inequalities in cancer by socio-economic variation and shows the negative experiences and outcomes that people from more deprived groups experience. Generally, populations with higher deprivation have higher prevalence of cancer risk factors, are less aware of symptoms of cancer and report more barriers to seeking help. Their participation in screening programmes is lower and they have higher proportions of cancer diagnosed through routes with worse survival. People from more deprived populations report worse experiences of care and experience inequalities in treatment options. They have worse outcomes. This report presents the evidence for each part of the cancer pathway with examples from all four UK nations. 

Cancer Intelligence Team, Cancer Research UK. Cancer in the UK 2020: Socio-economic deprivation . September 2020.

Behavioural Science

Obesity Campaign Evaluation

Overweight and obesity’ is the second biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking. In 2018, Cancer Research UK launched an awareness raising campaign about the link between overweight and obesity and cancer risk. This study aimed to evaluate the reach and impact of the campaign.The campaign consisted of six elements including the main message that ‘Obesity is a cause of cancer’. UK adults and Members of Parliament (MPs) were surveyed before the campaign (W1; n = 2124 and n = 151), 1 month (W2; n = 2050 and n = 151) and 3 months after the campaign (W3; n = 2059 and MPs not surveyed). Outcome measures were campaign reach, awareness of overweight and obesity as risk factors for cancer, attitudes towards individuals who are overweight or obese, support for policies to reduce obesity and reactions to the campaign. This evaluation suggests that the campaign achieved the primary objective of increasing awareness of the link between obesity and cancer without increasing negative attitudes towards individuals who are overweight or obese.

The effect and cost-effectiveness of mass media campaigns on health behaviour change: A narrative systematic review

Mass media campaigns can reach a large number of people with health messages, but it is unclear how effective these are at changing health behaviours. We conducted a narrative review of systematic reviews to examine the impact of mass media campaigns on eight health behaviours, as well as their cost-effectiveness. Specifically, we explored the impact of mass media campaigns on tobacco use, dietary behaviours, alcohol use, physical activity, sun and UV-protection, HPV vaccination, cancer screening uptake, and symptomatic GP presentation. We concluded that mass media campaigns should be used as part of multi-component, community-based interventions and more research is needed to assess the cost-effectiveness of these types of campaign.

View the full report

Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer screening project

This report presents the data from the 2022 Lung Cancer Screening survey, led by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), conducted by YouGov and with the costs of the project covered by ScottishPower.

This piece of research aims to inform CRUK’s work in the lung cancer space. This may include taking action to support possible widespread introduction of targeted lung cancer screening by the NHS. It could also include work to mitigate any unintended consequences of targeted lung screening – such as impact on perceptions of the risk of lung cancer amongst people who have never smoked.

A bespoke survey was conducted to explore public perceptions around lung cancer and its risks, as well as knowledge and perceptions of screening, including eligibility and the impact of screening. This project built on previous work conducted by CRUK in order to optimise development of targeted lung cancer screening and ensure success of any future programme with minimised unintended consequences.

View the report

Cancer Awareness Measure move to online

The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) is a survey designed to assess public awareness of cancer warning signs/symptoms, cancer risk factors and barriers to help seeking. Data has been collected every two years from 2008 to 2014 from a representative face to face sample of Great Britain via the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.

In 2017, we analysed the extent to which public awareness of cancer and attitudes toward seeking help vary by online and face-to-face data collection methods. Results showed that online participants were more likely to recall cancer warning signs and risk factors and were also more likely to endorse barriers to help seeking than face to face responders. As a result of this analysis CRUK moved the CAM survey online and the first survey wave took place in 2019.

Cancer Intelligence.  Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) Key Findings Report: Comparing data collected online and face-to-face . October 2019.

Connor K, Hudson B, Power E. Awareness of the Signs, Symptoms, and Risk Factors of Cancer and the Barriers to Seeking Help in the UK: Comparison of Survey Data Collected Online and Face-to-Face. JMIR Cancer 2020;6(1):e14539.

Evaluation: e-cigarette relative harms pilot campaign 2018

An advertising campaign piloted by Cancer Research UK in 2018 aimed to promote quit attempts by increasing awareness of the relative harms of e-cigarettes compared with smoking. A cross-sectional survey evaluation was conducted surveying adults (≥16 years, n = 2217) living in the campaign region and the comparison/control regions. We tested interactions between time (pre, post) and region (campaign, control).

Compared with the control region, the campaign was associated with an increase in smokers’ motivation to quit but a smaller increase in adults’ perception of e-cigarettes as an effective cessation aid. It was identified that using mass media to communicate accurate information about the relative harms of e-cigarettes compared with smoking may be an effective strategy in increasing smokers’ motivation to quit. Further research is needed to evaluate effects on quit attempts and success.

Harry Tattan-Birch, Sarah E Jackson, Charlotte Ide, et al. Evaluation of the Impact of a Regional Educational Advertising Campaign on Harm Perceptions of E-Cigarettes, Prevalence of E-Cigarette Use, and Quit Attempts Among Smokers. Nicotine Tob Res 2019. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntz236

Image of standard packaging on cigarette boxes

In the United Kingdom, standardised packaging for cigarettes was phased in between May 2016 and May 2017. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with current smokers aged 16+ in two regions of England when both standardised and fully-branded packs were available. The study found that standardised packaging was associated with increased warning salience and thoughts about risks and quitting. Specifically, compared with never users, current users were more likely to have noticed the warnings on packs often/very often, read them closely often/very often, thought somewhat/a lot about the health risks of smoking and thought somewhat/a lot about quitting. These findings provided support for standardised packaging during the transition period.

Moodie C, Brose LS, Lee HS et al. How did smokers respond to standardised cigarette packaging with new, larger health warnings in the United Kingdom during the transition period? A cross-sectional online survey .  Addiction Research & Theory 2019.

Cancer awareness training evaluation

CRUK's training (“Talk Cancer”) aims to increase awareness of screening programmes and risk factors, promote more positive beliefs about cancer and increase confidence to discuss cancer with members of the public, among people working across the health service, local government, community and voluntary sectors who are appropriately placed to have these discussions with the public.

The evaluation found that the trainees' more positive beliefs about cancer, their increased confidence in discussing cancer and their increased awareness of bowel cancer screening were all maintained at 2 months.

Roberts A, Crook L, George H etc al. Two-month follow-up evaluation of a cancer awareness training workshop (“Talk Cancer”) on cancer awareness, beliefs and confidence of front-line public health staff and volunteers . Prev Med Rep 2019. 

Exploring public views about delays in cancer screening

This report summarises the findings from an online survey (n=2,115), which contributes to discussions about the ethics of cancer screening in a pandemic situation. It aims to build an understanding of public attitudes towards cancer screening and any potential delays in cancer screening. The majority of participants (86%) wanted to know about any potential delays, and nearly half (48%) would prefer to experience a delay to their invitation over other parts of the screening pathway. The earlier in the pathway a delay is experienced the less anxiety participants anticipated. 

This report supports a strategic delaying of cancer screening invitations under the proviso it ensures a shorter wait for follow-up tests and treatment. Ethical considerations about screening should include an emphasis on allowing the public to make an informed decision on their participation.

Exploring public attitudes towards the new Faster Diagnosis Standard for cancer

An exploration into public attitudes towards the new Faster Diagnosis Standard for cancer, due to be introduced in England in 2020, within the context of a patients’ recent referral experiences.

It found that waiting for test results and responsibility for meeting the standard were the main concerns and it was concluded that patients should be asked what they would like to know about their referral and that GPs should be more transparent about the referral process and the potential for a lack of clarity around next steps.

Piano M, Black G, Amelung D et al. Exploring public attitudes towards the new Faster Diagnosis Standard for cancer: a focus group study with the UK public . Br J Gen Pract 2019.

Want to generate bespoke preventable cancers stats statements? Download our  interactive statement generator.

A theory and evidence-based redevelopment of a tool to support behaviour change

Research shows that leading a healthy lifestyle can help prevent cancer. Further, diagnosing cancer at an early stage can increase survival rates. Cancer Research UK (CRUK)'s nurse-led outreach activity supports cancer prevention, early diagnosis and screening in deprived community settings. CRUK developed a habit-based behaviour change tool to support this activity and better enable conversations about behaviour change. 

Cancer Research UK’s Patient Survey 2021

Mass media campaigns can reach a large number of people with health messages, but it is unclear how effective these are at changing health behaviours. We conducted a narrative review of systematic reviews to examine the impact of mass media campaigns on eight health behaviours, as well as their cost-effectiveness. Specifically, we explored the impact of mass media campaigns on tobacco use, dietary behaviours, alcohol use, physical activity, sun and UV-protection, HPV vaccination, cancer screening uptake, and symptomatic GP presentation. We concluded that mass media campaigns should be used as part of multi-component, community-based interventions and more research is needed to assess the cost-effectiveness of these types of campaign. This report summarises the key findings from the CRUK Patient Survey, which collected data from December 2020 to March 2021. Findings are from patients who share their stories and experiences and give an indication of the impact COVID-19 has had on their testing, treatment and care. New data on remote consultations and COVID-19 safety measures have been collected.

The barriers to timely cancer diagnosis and treatment identified by people affected by cancer in this report are not an entirely new phenomenon that have emerged only in the pandemic. Even before COVID-19, cancer services were on the verge of crisis, and the vast majority of patients surveyed supported governments taking steps required to make expanding capacity in cancer services a reality.

Evaluating the impact of a community-based cancer awareness roadshow on awareness, attitudes and behaviors

Improving public awareness of cancer and encouraging health behavior change are important aspects of cancer control. We investigated whether a community-based roadshow was an effective way of communicating with the public about cancer and encouraging behavior change. Data were from 1196 people who completed questionnaires at a Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Roadshow in 2013. Of these, 511 (43%) completed questionnaires immediately before their visit (pre-visit group) and 685 (57%) completed questionnaires immediately after their visit (post-visit group). Among the post-visit sample, 217 (32%) were retained after two months. Self-reported data were available on risk factor and symptom awareness, help-seeking barriers, use of healthcare services and health behaviors. Compared with the pre-visit sample, the post-visit group had greater awareness of cancer risk factors and was more positive about aspects of help-seeking but awareness of potential symptoms was similar. Most effects were maintained over two months. Intentions to eat more fruit and vegetables and to exercise more were comparable between the groups but more people in the post-visit sample intended to quit smoking. At 2-month follow-up, smoking prevalence had significantly reduced but fruit and vegetable consumption decreased and there was no change to physical activity. User of weight loss services and general practitioner visits were high at follow-up and largely attributed to the Roadshow. The Cancer Research UK Roadshow appears to improve risk factor awareness, promote positive attitudes towards help-seeking and increase smoking cessation. This approach could be a useful building block for additional cancer prevention and control strategies.

View the full report 

What Drives Public Perceptions of E-cigarettes?

Despite growing evidence that e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes, perceptions of equal or more harm have increased worldwide. This study aimed to identify the most common reasons behind people’s perceptions of the (i) relative harm of e-cigarettes compared with cigarettes and (ii) effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.

View the full report here

Cancer symptom experience and help-seeking behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

Objectives  To understand self-reported potential cancer symptom help-seeking behaviours and attitudes during the first 6 months (March–August 2020) of the UK COVID-19 pandemic.

Design  UK population-based survey conducted during August and September 2020. Correlates of help-seeking behaviour were modelled using logistic regression in participants reporting potential cancer symptoms during the previous 6 months. Qualitative telephone interviews with a purposeful subsample of participants, analysed thematically.

Read the full report 

Intentions to participate in cervical and colorectal cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic

Worldwide, cancer screening faced significant disruption in 2020 due to the COVID-19  pandemic . If this has led to changes in public attitudes towards screening and reduced intention to participate, there is a risk of long-term adverse impact on cancer outcomes. In this study, we examined previous participation and future intentions to take part in cervical and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening following the first national lockdown in the UK.

Read the full report

Cancer Awareness Measure September 2022 Findings

The most recent CAM that we have results for is the September 2022 CAM. The next CAM data will be collected in February 2023 and results will be available later in the year.

Key findings from September 2022 CAM

*Note that some figures in the slides have been updated since they were presented at the spotlight session.

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Annual Reports

The publication of our annual report each years summarizes CRAB’s progress and milestones in fighting cancer—One Clinical Trial at a Time. Within each annual report you will find a Letter from the President, a summary of our research achievements, key highlights, and a comprehensive financial statement. Please contact us if you have questions or would like more information about CRAB’s publications or annual reports.

2022 Annual Report

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We start cures for

Reflecting on the past year with our chair, welcome to our 2022 annual report..

Firstly, I’m delighted to share that in 2022 Worldwide Cancer Research funded 30 new research projects worldwide, worth an incredible £6.2 million. That’s almost £1m more than in the previous year, thanks to your generosity and the kindness of all of our Curestarters.

I’m proud to report that the charity is in a strong financial position. By reserving funds and spending cautiously over the past six years, we’ve been able to remain stable through some very challenging times. When you look back, we've also had some pretty existential headwinds to fight against. The cost-of-living crisis, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, inflation - all of these have an impact on charitable giving. Some of our strategic plans had to be delayed as a result, but we can now commit to more research, alongside investing in fundraising, to create sustainability in the long term.

The Curestarters strategy, which unites people who believe no life should be cut short by cancer, is now in place and it is beginning to bear fruit. Over the past year, we saw strong growth in our fundraising income, including regular giving, cash, events and philanthropy. At the same time, we’ve been able to invest in some innovative new research projects. This includes the work of Dr Tomer Cooks in Israel, who has been investigating how cancers spread, and of Dr Loredana Saveanu in France, who is finding ways to make immune cells target cancer cells more effectively, with co-funding from Fondation ARC.

In total, over 70 new scientific advances were published in 2022, thanks to research funded by our Curestarter community.

Every year at our Bold Ideas Gathering, our Scientific Advisory Committee chooses the most innovative projects that they think have the most potential. It’s enormously humbling to have such incredible intellectual horsepower all together on the same day, voluntarily, showcasing projects which capture their imagination in such an energising way. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re here to do: we’re here to fund really exciting, bold projects to start cures for cancer.

We punch above our weight in many respects, and the past year has been no exception to that. One of the most exciting things for me is our ability to collaborate with other charities.

For example, partnering to co-fund research projects, so that we can make our money go further. The charity also recently delivered an innovative new peer review service, utilising the organisation’s rigorous and respected project selection process to generate income.

Meanwhile, the charity has been investing in building its Curestarter community. There’s a lot of great work going on, including a commitment to growing regular giving, which is our lifeblood. Our powerful vision to end cancer by starting new cures worldwide has already attracted 27,000 new supporters.

The charity recognises that it underperforms in legacy giving, however focused effort has created more enquiries and pledges. Meanwhile, there are early signs of growth in the competitive space of trusts and foundations, where the team did exceptionally well, exceeding their targets with a values- matching approach that’s literally paying dividends. This increased investment in fundraising underpins the charity’s 10-year strategy. And while we’re very happy with the increased number of projects we’re funding, it’s still not enough. There are around 120 projects every year that we’re unable to fund, which could have led to new cures.

It is a sad inevitability that 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. By generating greater income, we can deliver sustained, higher levels of research funding and gradually move towards supporting 100 projects per year, providing more opportunities for life-changing developments.

The more research that’s undertaken, the more we can accelerate progress in finding new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

I can’t close this note without mentioning the fantastic group of people at Team Worldwide, who are 100% committed to our cause and purpose. It’s a small team, with big ambition. And I know that if we can collectively continue to perform as well as we can, then that’s going to make a real difference.

Our vision to end cancer by starting new cancer cures worldwide starts with you. We all want to see an end to cancer, and being a Curestarter is the very first step on that journey.

Yours sincerely,

David Sole OBE Chairman of the Board of Trustees

We are Worldwide Cancer Research and we start cures for cancer

“I try to stay positive, and the more years go by, the more hopeful I am that new treatments and cures will be found. But those breakthroughs can’t happen without funding as much new cancer research as possible.”

Suzanne had just celebrated her 36th birthday when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour the size of a golf ball and given just one year to live. Suddenly everything that she had planned with her husband and two children seemed so far out of reach. Incredibly, Suzanne defied the odds and is still here today. But like many people with cancer, she lives every day knowing that it could be her last.

We are committed to increasing the volume of high-quality discovery research that we fund every year – so that more families like Suzanne’s have more time together.

This report outlines the progress that we have made in 2022 towards a day when no life is cut short by cancer.

Bringing forward cancer discoveries by funding world class research - our 2022 impact.

New research projects

Partnering to start more cures 

We believe working together is key to conquering cancer., of the 30 new projects, 8 are funded jointly with another organisation, helping to make our curestarters’ donations go even further.  .

Guts UK are supporting a project in Cambridge about oesophageal cancer.

Leukaemia UK are helping to fund a project in Edinburgh looking for new ways to treat infant leukaemia.

The French Foundation for Cancer Research (Fondation-ARC) are partnering with us to fund three projects in France.

The Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC-FC) are helping to fund a project in Spain about head and neck cancer.

Cancer Australia are helping to fund two new ideas, one about brain tumours and one focusing on leukaemia.

Working together with other organisations could mean we make big breakthroughs sooner. Thanks to all our partners we hope to end the suffering caused by cancer sooner.

Outputs and breakthroughs

Over 70 new scientific advances were published in 2022 thanks to research funded by our curestarters. this included a number of important breakthroughs that have helped us understand more about cancer:.

Our scientists in Italy discovered a previously unknown way that breast cancer cells survive treatment.

One team of researchers in Spain have found a new way to spot if someone is at higher risk of pancreatic cancer, and even diagnose patients at an early stage of the disease.

Our scientists in Germany discovered that they could prevent head and neck cancer spreading by stopping it from getting the extra energy it needs to do so.

Another team in Spain made a breakthrough that could help treat people with cancer that has spread to the brain.

Scientists in Italy have made a breakthrough that could lead to better, more effective immunotherapy options for cancer patients.

Breakthroughs like these are vital if we hope to see a day when no life is cut short by cancer.

Understanding mantle cell lymphoma - a rare and difficult to treat cancer

Identifying potential targets for new cures through ground-breaking research.

Mantle cell lymphoma develops in blood cells and lymph nodes and, devastatingly, the vast majority of patients cannot be cured. The average survival for mantle cell lymphoma is just 3-5 years. However, there are a small number of patients who have a stable form of the disease and manage without treatment for long periods of time.

Back in 2011, Worldwide Cancer Research funded Dr Beà, a cancer researcher in Spain, who had a bright idea about how to find new cures for mantle cell lymphoma. She wanted to look for the differences in the more stable form of this disease and hoped to reveal more about the molecular and genetic nature of the disease.

“Currently only around 40% of patients with mantle cell lymphoma survive for 5 years or more after diagnosis.”

Dr Beà’s research provided insights into the causes and evolution of this complex type of cancer and identified potential targets for new cures. Ibrutinib is a targeted cancer drug used to treat mantle cell lymphoma but, unfortunately, cancer can often evolve resistance to ibrutinib and the treatment stops working.

Dr Beà's breakthrough helped find ways to overcome this resistance. Her research led to several future discoveries and, most excitingly, to a clinical trial testing a new combination treatment for mantle cell lymphoma. If this extensive patient study is successful, the new approach will hopefully be approved and used to treat many more patients in the future.

All new cancer cures start with discovery research, carried out by researchers like Dr Beà. We know that by funding more world-class researchers who think outside the box, we can stop the suffering caused by cancer - including rarer cancers like mantle cell lymphoma.

“I would like to say to Curestarters that their donations can be instrumental in the early stages of scientific research that otherwise would not even have started.”

Curestarter Fiona’s Story

“i was devastated and didn’t think i would have any future – but a lifesaving new drug gave me hope.”.

Fiona and her husband looked forward to retiring together and often talked about their plans. But out of nowhere Fiona was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer, and their lives were turned completely upside down.

“I live with my husband in a lovely village in south Perthshire. We love to go walking together, visit family and friends across the country and, when we can, travel further afield. Another passion of mine is singing – I sing in a local choir and my secret ambition is to perform at an Edinburgh jazz club one day!”

“I worked in the NHS for forty very rewarding years in a huge variety of different roles – as a nurse, a midwife, a health visitor, an occupational health nurse, a researcher, and finally a further education lecturer. I didn’t intend on retiring for at least another four or five years, but sadly I had to take ill-health early retirement when I became unwell. It was a very strange way to finish my career.”

"I was on annual leave when I had the appointment that changed everything."

“I had been experiencing some nagging symptoms, but I was convinced that it would all be down to something very minor that could be easily dealt with – so convinced that I had postponed my appointment for a week, because of our holiday plans.”

“But as soon as I saw the gynaecologist, I knew she suspected something much more serious. A whirlwind of tests followed – an internal ultrasound, blood tests and then a CT scan. My husband and I tried to fill the time waiting for the results by visiting local areas and going for long walks, but my overwhelming memory is of being full of anxiety.”

“Soon it was confirmed – I had ovarian cancer. Then, not long after, a biopsy revealed the cancer was advanced. It was devastating to get that news and we were both so scared. All I could think about was of my experience working in gynaecology and of the people I had met on the ward.”

“I knew all too well how few treatments had been available for ovarian cancer for such a long time, and I had seen far too many patients sent home with the unthinkable knowledge that there were no options left. It was always absolutely devastating to see them leave, knowing that there was nothing more that could be done for them.”

"And now I was facing that same dread and uncertainty. It felt impossible to make any plans for the future because I was convinced that it was a future I wouldn’t be here for."

“I was booked in for surgery just two weeks after the biopsy results, which was a scary prospect as the operation was a major one. Then, after I recovered, I started six months of chemotherapy. I coped with it quite well and remained as positive as I could, but I found it quite traumatic to lose my hair – I’m a redhead, so it was such a big part of my identity. Still, I remember smiling as I entered the chemotherapy unit, as I was so glad to be starting more treatment that would hopefully knock out the cancer cells.”

“Seven weeks after I had completed my chemotherapy, I began taking olaparib. I was considered a good fit for this treatment option as it had been determined that I had the BRCA2 mutation – something that surprised me at the time, as I had no history of breast or ovarian cancer in my family. I remember my oncologist explaining that a clinical trial had very recently shown significant benefits of treatment with olaparib in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.” “It does make me feel very lucky in a way, that my diagnosis happened when it did – after this clinical trial had taken place and olaparib had been approved for use by the NHS. Sadly, I know that for many people, this wasn’t the case. Prior to the development of olaparib and other drugs like it, there had been no real change in the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer for decades, and the outlook was grim for most patients.”

“But olaparib was a complete game-changer. It’s been revolutionary for the treatment of ovarian cancer.“

“I have done well on olaparib and incredibly I have now reached a stage where most of the time I can put cancer to the back of my mind. I turned 60 recently and my husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. It’s difficult to put into words how extremely grateful I am that I now feel like I have a future.”

“So many people were involved in the development of olaparib, from Professor Steve Jackson and all the scientists carrying out the research, to the Curestarters like you who helped fund it. To every single person, I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have given me more time to live my life, with the people I love – and given me hope for the future."

Diversity and inclusion

Cures start thanks to opportunity without barriers – our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Worldwide Cancer Research was founded with one mission – to conquer cancer – and the charity has always been centred on the inclusive principle that lifesaving cancer research ideas can start anywhere, with anyone.

But we sit within two worlds, the charity sector and the medical research sector, that we know are not diverse enough either in the UK or globally. Cancer affects people of every nationality, ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, level of wealth and state of physical and mental health. Yet neither sector reflects the diversity of the millions of people around the world, including hundreds of thousands of people in the UK, who are diagnosed with cancer every year.*

In 2022 we have been focusing on the promotion of diversity and inclusion in our recruitment and research grant processes, so that we can ensure that our funding and hiring decisions are unbiased and fair. Steps that we have taken have included:

1. Pledging to ‘show the salary’ and reviewing the use of language in all our job descriptions. 2. Actively working towards our gender balance target on our Scientific Advisory Committee. 3. Introducing our new hybrid working policy to help facilitate inclusion. 4. Ramping up our grant round marketing so that more pioneering researchers around the world know about our funding opportunities. 5. Continuously seeking and sharing knowledge and best practice to provide support to our wider team.

This is just the start, and it is something that we will continue to work at every single day. We have a responsibility to ensure that diversity and inclusion is at the heart of our work and everything we do if we truly want to see a day where no life is cut short by cancer. We know that it is actions, not words, that make a difference, and we commit to being open, transparent, and reflective as we continue to work to create meaningful change.

*In 2020 18.1 million people were diagnosed with cancer worldwide and 409,000 of those were in the UK.

A note from Worldwide Cancer Research’s Diversity & Inclusion Steering Group: 

“Evidence shows that diversity increases creativity and funding exciting and creative cancer research is our priority – because that’s how we will reach a day when no life is cut short by cancer.”

How our Curestarters raised grant funding in 2022

The kindness and generosity of our supporters means the world to us, to our researchers, and to people affected by cancer all around the world..

In 2022 our Curestarters once again stood united by a common purpose to stop cancer by starting new discoveries worldwide. From making a regular gift or playing our Lottery, to taking part in an event or pledging to leave us a gift in their Will - they all helped us to champion discovery research with their Curestarter spirit. While we saw some post-pandemic stability in 2022, the impact of the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis have affected households. This is something we have seen reflected in our donations because we have traditionally had a reliance on individual giving, which means that we can be particularly affected by pressures on household incomes. This reaffirmed the need for us to be ready for the fundraising challenges of the future and for our fundraising strategy to be focused on income diversification, so that we can achieve our objective of growing sustainable net income every year – allowing us to continue to fund more crucial research. By giving more Curestarters more opportunities to support Worldwide Cancer Research in the way that works best for them, we have been able to overcome the challenges we faced in 2022 and together we have been able to overcome the challenges we faced in 2022, achieving a total fundraising income of just over £10m. We brought our fundraising and philanthropy team together for the first time in 2022, committed in our strategy to grow and diversify Curestarter relationships. And as well as continuing to grow our individual giving programme, we also expanded our reach in philanthropy and legacies.

To increase the quality and quantity of discovery research funded globally every year we need to grow income, and this requires a level of investment which we were pleased to be able to undertake in 2022, increasing fundraising expenditure to £3,984,920.

In particular we focused on investment in:

The Collective: We are excited to launch our new giving club for those who are able to donate over £1,000 each year, giving exclusive access to events and insight.

Legacy fundraising: Allowing us to establish long-term relationships with those who are able to leave us a gift in their will. Developing a marketing approach and the skills needed for legacy administration.

Face to face fundraising: enabling us to engage with the public in a compelling way to reach new supporters and increase the numbers of regular givers we can acquire each year.

To every single Curestarter, we can’t thank you enough. We are so grateful for the progress we made together in 2022 and we can’t wait to see what we achieve in 2023.

2022 in numbers

Our dedicated curestarters donated to fund more lifesaving discovery cancer research in 2022, raising over £10 million to start new cures worldwide..

The charity reported strong fundraising income with growth across all key income lines with the exception of legacy income which in 2021 benefited from an an unexpected number of high-value bequests. This performance was delivered despite the challenging fundraising environment, where the cost-of-living crisis presented headwinds in both retaining and recruiting supporters.

Fundraising expenditure

Charitable expenditure increased by 12% to £7.5m (£6.7m in 2021) driven by the increase in the level of new research funded. Fundraising costs in 2022 were £4m, (£3m in 2021) as the charity made significant investment in new supporter acquisition, attracting 27,000 new Curestarters.

Our reserves

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Board of Trustees adopted a conservative and cautious approach to reserves. Reductions in both the number of new research projects funded and operational expenditure in 2020, continued prudence in 2021 and unexpected levels of legacy income in late 2021 resulted in a strong reserves position at the end of 2021.

In planning for 2022, the Board reviewed the strategic approach to reserves and made the decision to commit to higher levels of research funding for the year, and an increased investment in fundraising. This decision was made with a view to securing significantly higher levels of research funding in the medium term.

The Board’s strategy is to continue this approach, running with an annual deficit for the next two to three years. In support of this strategy, the Board has designated £4m of the charity’s reserves to support higher levels of research funding over the next two to three years. Delivery of this strategy, alongside significant unrealised investment losses, reduced the total reserves held by the charity by £3.8m (33%) in 2022

Reserves were split between restricted, designated and general reserves as follows:

• Restricted Reserves £19k (2021: £nil) This represents funds that are subject to restrictions including to specific research projects or cancer types.
• Designated Reserves £4.0m (2021: £nil) This represents unrestricted funds ringfenced by the Directors for future research projects.
• Unrestricted Reserves £3.6m (2021: £11.4m)

These funds are expendable at the discretion of the Directors in furtherance of the objects of the charity. Each year the Directors assess the level of reserves and the use of these funds when the annual budget is prepared and approved.

For more on income, expenditure and reserves, download the full PDF copy of the annual report.

Download a copy of the report (PDF file)

Looking ahead to 2023 with our chief executive, it’s been another incredible year, thanks to you, our curestarter community..

Together we’ve been able to fund 30 new research projects - that’s 20% more groundbreaking research than in the previous year. And by funding more projects, we can potentially start more cancer cures.

Alongside funding even more research, we’ve been developing our organisation strategy, which you will see come to life in the year ahead. We remain focused on our vision, which is to see a day when ‘no life is cut short by cancer’. For me, this sums up what most of us fear about cancer: The fear of losing time or a life that we really should have had. This includes the way cancer turns lives completely upside down. By 2030, cancer will be the world’s leading cause of death.

Worldwide Cancer Research will deliver on its purpose, ‘to stop cancer by starting new discoveries worldwide’, by ambitiously expanding our global search, funding more bold ideas and increasing our impact in prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This means encouraging scientists around the world to keep asking the right questions. Questions that could improve and save countless lives.

Our research strategy is focused on innovation, and there are some exciting and creative ideas emerging. For example, immunotherapy has been part of our portfolio for a very long time and it’s an absolute game-changer. When we began funding immunotherapy, it was very early days, so there was an element of holding our nerve. We are so glad we did, because today, it’s working. In fact, in some cases you can stop giving patients immunotherapy and they continue to be in remission, because you’ve retrained the immune system. And that’s what we want, isn’t it? To actually stop cancer.

It feels like we’re finally in the first full year post pandemic. Like every other organisation, for three years we’ve been on a slightly defensive footing. The great news is that we ended 2022 with a strong cushion of financial reserves that we will invest gradually over the next two to three years. There are still significant risks on the horizon, so we are prudently managing our finances to ensure growth is sustainable long term - because cancer isn’t going away anytime soon. However, we’re ready to start thinking much more proactively about the future of our research programme.

For the past few years we’ve also been steadily building the partnerships side of our work, match-making projects we want to fund, to further our potential impact. For the first time, the upcoming 2023 Grant Round is co-badged with five other charities, and over time, I’d like to see this evolving into something even bigger - perhaps a network funding groundbreaking discovery research worldwide.

We’re also challenging ourselves to scrutinise the impact the charity has made for cancer patients, and one thing we’ve got planned for 2023 is an impact report. I’ve seen some initial data and it’s really, really exciting... So watch this space!

Everyone who supports Worldwide Cancer Research is a Curestarter, and we always strive to keep this community at the heart of the charity, offering many different ways to get involved - from doing an event to leaving a legacy to fund future research. In the past few months we’ve also launched The Collective, our philanthropic giving club, and we look forward to seeing this grow.

While funding for discovery research has declined by 25% in the past 15 years, we know there are still many more essential discoveries to be made. It remains important to diversify our investment and fund as many new projects in as many different fields of cancer research as we can. We allow science to follow where the science leads, by being open-minded, focusing on innovation and never restricting scientists by our own imagination. Discovery is a vital part of the research journey that starts with new ideas in the lab and ends with new cures for cancer, so I thank you wholeheartedly for being a part of it.

Over the year ahead, I hope that you and the rest of the Curestarter community will see ever more clearly the impact that your generous support makes. Together we are creating incredible global change, for people affected by cancer now and in the future

Dr Helen Rippon Chief Executive

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Cancer Research Catalyst The Official Blog of the American Association for Cancer Research

Home > Cancer Research Catalyst > AACR Annual Meeting 2024: A Global View on Cancer 

AACR Annual Meeting 2024: A Global View on Cancer 

With more than 23,200 registrants, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024 not only set a record number of registrants but witnessed the highest international participation to date.  

As the world’s largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research, the AACR has members in 141 countries and territories around the world and offers numerous opportunities to help investigators in the international community. 

In fact, 62 out of 67 grants at the AACR are open globally including the AACR Scholar-in-Training Awards , the Global Scholar-in-Training Awards (GSITA), Women in Cancer Research (WICR) Scholar Awards , the Beginning Investigator Grant for Catalytic Research (BIG Cat) , and Maximizing Opportunity for New Advancements in Research in Cancer (MONARCA) . Additionally, education and training opportunities include AACR on Campus and several conferences around the world. 

Even domestic conferences like the Annual Meeting provide international researchers with the opportunity to exchange knowledge and new ideas with other scientists dedicated to cancer research. This year’s meeting welcomed more than 8,000 international registrants—representing 36% of participants—from 78 countries and multiple territories.

“We are proud to highlight cutting-edge research from groups of scientists from around the world,” said Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, FAACR , chair of the AACR Global Affairs Committee. “Global collaboration enables strong scientific contributions to research, and we trust that the Annual Meeting provides a platform for researchers globally, to absorb and share new knowledge on emerging research, therapies, and treatment with colleagues and communities at home.”  

The Annual Meeting also offers a platform to shine a light on cancer researchers and journalists through a number of awards with several international attendees among this year’s recipients. We asked a few of these award recipients about their experience attending the meeting and the importance of global collaboration in the conquest of cancer. 

Exploring the International Perspective    

Hellen Shikanda from Kenya became a journalist because she wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. 

“Speaking to people who would not ordinarily get an opportunity to have their stories out there helps in empowering communities that they come from,” Shikanda said. “I have learnt that their stories, if told well, always have an impact on the policies that are enacted after those in leadership positions realize that there has been a gap that urgently needed to be filled.”   

One of her stories was honored with the AACR June L. Biedler Award for Cancer Journalism , which was given to five journalists in four categories. Her article, “New Drug Promises Better Treatment for Cancer Patients,”  relays a patient’s journey through five countries to get properly diagnosed with colon cancer and ultimately find hope for treatment in a clinical trial.  

“I was happy to work on a story that explored clinical trials for a new drug that tackles a specific gene mutation—and the research was done in Africa for the first time,” she explained. “Global collaboration means that there will be funding opportunities for all researchers who can share insights on how they can help defeat cancer.” 

Anshika Chauhan, PhD , from India, is the recipient of one such funding opportunity as one of the many international winners of the AACR-WICR Scholar Awards. This award is given to members of WICR, a constituency group focused on women scientists within the AACR that celebrated its 25th anniversary at the meeting , who are scientists-in-training and presenters of meritorious scientific papers at AACR Annual Meetings. She presented her research on increased mitochondrial DNA copy number via EPOR signaling as a potential mechanism for metastatic dissemination in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. 

“The AACR gives women from different backgrounds, different geographical regions, and different phases of their career the platform to work together, learn from each other, and make a difference in fighting cancer,” Chauhan said. “So, it’s important to welcome women from all over the world into cancer research. By working together and sharing our ideas, we can make a big impact in the fight against this disease.” 

Seifegebriel Feleke Teshome, from Ethiopia, was one of 15 early-career scientists from nine countries who were offered the chance to attend the meeting and present their work as a 2024 GSITA recipient . His poster focused on profiling the CpG methylation patterns of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in lymphoma patients from Ethiopia. 

“During the meeting, numerous scientific researchers and young scientists from different parts of the world gathered to share their findings, achievements, and innovative approaches in cancer research,” he said. “This diverse community of attendees created a vibrant atmosphere conducive to engaging discussions and fruitful interactions.” 

Many of these award recipients will share what they learned about the AACR’s global programs and initiatives with their colleagues back home as they work to overcome the worldwide challenge of cancer through scientific research. 

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Tempest reports first quarter 2024 financial results and provides business update.

Advancing TPST-1120 into a pivotal Phase 3 trial in first-line HCC and TPST-1495 into a Phase 2 in FAP

Reported new preclinical data for TPST-1120 in kidney cancer at the AACR Annual Meeting

Published positive data from the Phase 1 Trial of TPST-1120 in patients with advanced solid tumors in the Journal of Cancer Research Communications

Presented new data at the SITC 2024 Spring Scientific Meeting elucidating the mechanism of TPST-1120 and supporting its potential in multiple cancers

BRISBANE, Calif., May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tempest Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TPST), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class i targeted and immune-mediated therapeutics to fight cancer, today reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, and provided a corporate update.

"The positive data and mechanistic analysis presented in the first quarter build on the positive preclinical and clinical data package for TPST-1120, further confirming and reinforcing our excitement about the potential of TPST-1120 in liver and kidney cancers, as well as other indications, and our confidence in the program as it moves closer to a pivotal Phase 3 study in first-line HCC,” said Stephen Brady, president and chief executive officer of Tempest.

Recent Highlights

TPST-1120 (clinical PPARα antagonist):

Reported new preclinical data at the 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting demonstrating that TPST-1120 reduces kidney cancer (RCC) growth as a monotherapy, while also showing increased inhibition when combined with frontline chemotherapy and immunotherapy. These data further support the clinical benefit observed in the TPST-1120 Phase 1 data presented in an oral presentation at ASCO 2022.

Published positive data from Phase 1 Trial of TPST-1120 in patients with advanced solid tumors in the Journal of Cancer Research Communications . Data showed that TPST-1120 demonstrated clinical activity, including tumor shrinkage, even in PD-1 inhibitor-refractory and immune-compromised cancers, and was well tolerated both as monotherapy and in combination with nivolumab. These data complement the positive Phase 1b/2 data reported in October 2023 from a global randomized study of TPST-1120 in combination with atezolizumab and bevacizumab in first-line patients with advanced HCC.

Presented new preclinical data showing potent anti-tumor activity in several cancer models treated with TPST-1120 alone or with immune checkpoint inhibitors at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 2024 Spring Scientific Meeting. The presentation also covered experimental results that corroborated clinical biomarker data from patients with advanced solid tumor cancers treated in the Phase 1 clinical trial of TPST-1120 in multiple solid tumor indications, which showed statistically significant, exposure-dependent elevations in expression levels of multiple immune-related genes, and patients exhibiting objective responses displayed increased circulating free fatty acids (FFA), both of which are in-line with the proposed TPST-1120 mechanism of action.

Potential Future Milestones

TPST-1120 (clinical PPARα antagonist)

Expect to announce updated data from the ongoing randomized study in first-line HCC patients in 2024.

Plan to advance TPST-1120 into a registrational Phase 3 study in first-line HCC patients, subject to obtaining feedback from the FDA.

TPST-1495 (clinical dual EP2/4 prostaglandin receptor antagonist)

Plan to advance TPST-1495 into a Phase 2 study in patients with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (“FAP”) in 2024 under the auspices of the Cancer Prevention Clinical Trials Network and funded by the National Cancer Institute (“NCI”) Division of Cancer Prevention, subject to final approval of NCI.

Expect to report data from the combination arm at the two highest TPST-1495 doses in patients with advanced endometrial cancer, where prostaglandin signaling is implicated, in 2024.

Financial Results

First Quarter 2024

Tempest ended the quarter with $32.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $39.2 million on December 31, 2023.

Net loss and net loss per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, were $7.9 million and $0.36, respectively, compared to $7.6 million and $0.55, respectively, for the same period in 2023.

Research and development expenses for the quarter were $4.3 million compared to $4.7 million for the same period in 2023. The $0.4 million decrease was primarily due to a decrease in costs incurred from contract research organizations and third-party vendors.

General and administrative expenses for the quarter were $3.6 million compared to $2.9 million for the same period in 2023. The $0.7 million increase was primarily due to share-based compensation expenses and consulting services.

Based on its current cash and operating plan, Tempest expects to have sufficient resources to fund operations into the second quarter of 2025.

About Tempest Therapeutics

Tempest Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing a diverse portfolio of small molecule product candidates containing tumor-targeted and/or immune-mediated mechanisms with the potential to treat a wide range of tumors. The company’s novel programs range from early research to later-stage investigation in a randomized global study in first-line cancer patients. Tempest is headquartered in Brisbane, California. More information about Tempest can be found on the company’s website at www.tempesttx.com .

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”)) concerning Tempest Therapeutics, Inc. These statements may discuss goals, intentions, and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the management of Tempest Therapeutics, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management of Tempest Therapeutics. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “could”, “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” and other similar expressions. All statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding: the design, initiation, progress, timing, scope and results of clinical trials; anticipated therapeutic benefit and regulatory development of the Company’s product candidates; the Company’s anticipated cash runway; the Company’s ability to deliver on potential value-creating milestones; the Company’s ability to advance into a late-stage clinical company; and the Company’s ability to achieve its operational plans. Forward-looking statements are based on information available to Tempest Therapeutics as of the date hereof and are not guarantees of future performance. Any factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including: unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during preclinical or clinical trials; clinical trial site activation or enrollment rates that are lower than expected; changes in expected or existing competition; changes in the regulatory environment; and unexpected litigation or other disputes. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied are discussed in greater detail in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 and other documents filed by the Company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by applicable law, Tempest Therapeutics undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Tempest Therapeutics’ views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as prediction of future events. In light of the foregoing, investors are urged not to rely on any forward-looking statement in reaching any conclusion or making any investment decision about any securities of Tempest Therapeutics.

Investor Contacts:

Sylvia Wheeler Wheelhouse Life Science Advisors [email protected]

Aljanae Reynolds Wheelhouse Life Science Advisors [email protected]

_______________ i If approved by the FDA

Vehicle recovered following ‘shots fired’ report in New London

NEW LONDON, CT (WFSB) - A shots fired report is under investigation in New London, police said.

New London police said they responded to the area of Blackhall and Prest streets in New London around 5:35 p.m. on Thursday.

When they arrived, they said they found evidence that supported there was a shooting.

They said they recovered a vehicle that was involved.

They canvassed the area and processed the scene.

No other details were released.

Police said the incident did not appear to be random.

Their investigation remained active as of Friday morning.

Anyone with information was asked to contact New London police at 860-447-1481.

Copyright 2024 WFSB. All rights reserved.

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Technical Discussion: Warmer today, then some midweek rain is possible

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