Major Achievements of The Institute of Cancer Research

The breadth and excellence of The Institute's work are demonstrated by its exceptional record of successes. These include:

• The discovery that the basic cause of many cancers is DNA malfunction
• The identification of the suspected link between smoking and lung cancer
• Taking 10 drugs into clinical trials in 10 years: an achievement unmatched
  anywhere in the world
• The synthesis of busulphan, chlorambucil, melphalan, important anti-cancer
  drugs used world-wide
• The development of carboplatin, a major and widely used anti-cancer drug for ovarian, lung, testicular, head and neck, and bladder cancer. It has made a substantial contribution to the current 96% cure rate of testicular cancers. In 1991 The Institute won the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement for this development as part of a unique 3-way collaboration
• The development of Tomudex for colon cancer
• The isolation of the breast cancer gene, BRCA2, enabling families with a history of the disease to be tested to eliminate the need for treatment for those not at risk
• The characterisation of the melanoma gene, BRAF, in 2002
• The isolation of more cancer-related genes than any other organisation in the world
• The elucidation of the mechanism which Ras, the most commonly activated gene in cancer, uses to make normal cells into tumour cells
• Making major contributions to modern, highly focused, and therefore lower-risk radiotherapy techniques
• Being ranked third in the world for institutions publishing research papers in molecular biology and genetics research with the biggest impact on science between 1990 and 1998

The Institute of Cancer Research works with all the major cancer charities in the UK and continues to be at the cutting edge of cancer diagnosis and treatment.