The cancer revolution: Eight game-changing breakthroughs which show just how close we are to a cure

As Princess Beatrice reveals that Sarah Ferguson has been given the ‘all clear’ from cancer, Leah Hardy looks at how tantalisingly close science is to curing cancer and why miracle jabs and preventative treatments are already a reality for some…

UK researchers are testing a world-first blood test for brain cancer and the hope is there will then be a vaccine to cure it (Alamy/PA)

Last week, King Charles announced his return to work, just three months after the revelation that he had cancer. Buckingham Palace said that the King’s doctors were “pleased” with his progress. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales told well-wishers that Kate is also “doing well” after her cancer diagnosis and Princess Beatrice revealed that Sarah Ferguson has been given the “all clear” from cancer in a rare TV interview discussing her mother’s health.

The truth is, cancer has never been so survivable. The facts speak for themselves. In the 1970s, only one in four people in the UK survived their cancer for a decade or more. Today, at least half of cancer patients will do the same. Figures from 2020 show that more than 75 per cent of people with cancer survived at least one year after diagnosis. And thanks to astonishing scientific breakthroughs, things will only get better.

As one in two of us will face a cancer diagnosis in our lifetime, this is very good news. Professor Kristian Helin, chief executive of The Institute of Cancer Research London (ICR), says: “We are living in an era of incredible scientific and technological innovation. We can now see the disease in unprecedented detail, uncovering how it changes and evolves and discovering potential new routes to treatment.