Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! For our series finale, Sophie is joined by royal correspondent and best-selling author, Katie Nicholl. Katie has spent over 20 years writing about the British royal family, from A-levels to coronations, Katie has reported it all. But when King Charles III and Princess Catherine both announced their cancer diagnoses, their stories hit very close to home, as only a few months earlier Katie finished her own treatment for liver cancer. On this ...
Jul 04, 2025•54 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! Here in the UK, radiotherapy plays a part in treating more than 140,000 people with cancer every year. From infants to adults, radiotherapy is a precise and personalised tool used to target many different types of cancer. But how does it all work? In this episode Sophie speaks to Hayley Brown, a science engagement manager at Cancer Research UK to explain alongside breaking down the history and evolution of radiotherapy. Sophie also speaks t...
Jun 12, 2025•58 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! We're entering the summer season and hopefully expecting some sunny weather. But with warm weather approaching we're likely to spend more time outdoors, so it’s time to start thinking about protecting ourselves from those UV rays! Skin cancer is the 5th most common cancer in the UK, with almost 9 in 10 cases caused by exposure to too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and sunbeds . It's important we take care of our skin and Sophi...
Jun 10, 2025•53 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! In this episode Sophie delves into the big topic of food and cancer. She begins the conversation with her first guest, Professor Marc Gunter, a cancer epidemiologist who specialises in diet and obesity and is part of Cancer Grand Challenges team, PROMINENT . He talks all about how food can impact someone’s risk of getting cancer and unpacks some highly talked about foods, such as ultra processed foods, coffee beans and even the trending ‘gr...
May 13, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! We think of cancer as a primarily elderly disease but there’s a rising trend of cancer cases in younger adults (age 25 to 50), also known as early onset cancer. And in this episode we’re discussing what early onset cancer is and why it’s rising. To start the conversation, Sophie speaks to Dr Nisha Duggan, a former researcher and now science engagement manager at Cancer Research UK, to unpack what cancer is and why early onset cancer might b...
Apr 29, 2025•57 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! In this special episode, we’re celebrating the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK. The fund was set up by Dame Deborah James, also known as ‘Bowelbabe’, and her family in the last few weeks of her life. For this special episode of the podcast, Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, interviews four of Deborah’s family and friends. We have Ben James, Deborah’s brother and Sarah Wieczorek, Deborah’s sister. Emma Campbell (...
Apr 15, 2025•59 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! In our last episode, ‘What are cancer vaccines?’ , Sophie spoke to Dr Heather Shaw to learn about cancer vaccines and how they work. In this second episode, we continue to dive deeper into the world of cancer vaccines to find out when we might see cancer vaccines as treatments for cancer. To start the conversation, Sophie speaks to Dr Lennard Lee, Associate Professor at University of Oxford and Chief Medical Officer of the EIT Institute, as...
Apr 01, 2025•51 min•Season 3Ep. 2
We're back with the third season of That Cancer Conversation, the podcast from Cancer Research UK. Have you heard of cancer vaccines? Maybe you've seen a headline or two, but what is a cancer vaccine? In this episode, Sophie talks to Dr Heather Shaw, a skin cancer clinician and researcher at University College London, who is leading the first skin cancer (melanoma) vaccine trial in the UK. From what makes a cancer vaccine to discussing when we can see one in our clinics - we take a deep dive int...
Mar 18, 2025•47 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Our DNA is made up of 3000 million letters of code. They make up genes within our DNA and are responsible for how cells in our body grow and multiply. But what happens when something in that code goes wrong? Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation, a podcast from Cancer Research UK that brings together the science and the stories behind cancer. In this episode, Sophie will be looking at the human genome and explore how changes in our DNA can increase our risk of getting cancer. Pr...
Oct 30, 2024•34 min•Season 2Ep. 15
In the UK 4 in 10 cancer cases are preventable. But what can the government do to stop those 4 out of every 10 cancers before they even start? Welcome to the fourth episode of our mini-series, That Cancer Conversation Longer, better lives. In this episode, Sophie sits with Alizee Froguel who works on prevention policy here at Cancer Research UK. They discuss what’s causing most of these preventable cancers, the announcement of the general election and what's next for achieving a smokefree UK. Re...
Jun 10, 2024•19 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Welcome back to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! We’re kicking off Volunteers’ Week 2024 with the second of our special episodes celebrating our inspiring volunteers. Last time, we chatted to Penny, one of our campaigns ambassadors. This week, we’re moving into the world of events with Rhian. Rhian has been volunteering at Race for Life and Pretty Muddy events across London since 2021. She was inspired to get involved after her own diagnosis of ovarian cancer. If you're looking for a...
Jun 03, 2024•10 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Welcome back to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! Here at Cancer Research UK, we’re grateful to benefit from the support of more than 25,000 incredible volunteers, who donate their time to help us beat cancer. So, in the lead up to Volunteers’ Week on the 3rd of June, we want to say a huge thank you to our brilliant community of volunteers, whose support makes our life-saving research possible. To celebrate their stories, we’re diving into the world of volunteering across 2 special ep...
May 24, 2024•17 min•Season 2Ep. 12
You can’t beat cancer without scientists. Without research the progress we've made in beating cancer wouldn’t be where it is today. But that progress is at risk of stalling. To keep up and to plug the funding gap, we would need to find an additional £1 billion pounds over the next decade. In this episode, Sophie sits down with Owen Jackson, head of policy at Cancer Research UK to understand what challenges scientists in the UK are currently facing and what the UK Government needs to do to help. ...
May 21, 2024•23 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! While bowel cancer is relatively rare for people in their 30s and 40s to get bowel cancer, cases are rising. At 39 years old Dr Anisha Patel ( @doctorsgetcancertoo ), a practicing GP, was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. Now, 6 years on, Anisha is dedicated to raising awareness of cancer, especially in adults under 50. In this episode we talk to Anisha discussing her diagnosis, her book and helping the Cancer Grand Challenges team, PROS...
Apr 30, 2024•22 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! April is Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Awareness Month, where charities and the young people we support come together to raise awareness of the unique challenges of having cancer during some of the most intense years of your life. In this episode Sophie speaks to Shaumya, who was 18 years old and getting ready to go to medical school when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma, right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since joining t...
Apr 26, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 9
We’re back with another episode of our subseries, Longer, better lives! This series unpacks our recently published manifesto, Longer, Better Lives: A Manifesto for Cancer Research and Care . You might recognise our next guest, as she was part of our ‘Together We Are Beating Cancer’ campaign featuring on a TV advert as well as billboards and posters on display across the UK, during September. Dr Mei-Ling Lancashire is a GP who was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer 2 years ago. In this ...
Apr 02, 2024•17 min•Season 2Ep. 8
We’ve made huge progress on cancer in the last 50 years. But not all of it has been felt equally. People’s experience of the healthcare system, and ultimately how likely they are to be successfully diagnosed and treated, varies massively. These are known as health inequalities and can be caused by a range of factors. In this episode of That Cancer Conversation, we’re exploring how deprivation impacts cancer inequalities and what we can do to narrow the gap. We speak to Cancer Research advocate a...
Feb 26, 2024•36 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Welcome to another episode of That Cancer Conversation! We’re launching a new subseries which unpacks our recently published manifesto, Longer, Better Lives: A Manifesto for Cancer Research and Care . At Cancer Research UK, we know that huge strides have been made in beating cancer – with survival in the UK doubling over the last 50 years. But this hard-won progress is at risk of stalling. The cancer crisis is urgent. Every day, people affected by cancer face anxious waits for tests and treatmen...
Jan 29, 2024•13 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Clinical trials are a vital step in the development of new medicines of any kind, and that includes new cancer treatments. They aim to find out whether new treatments are safe and effective and work better than current treatments. In this episode of That Cancer Conversation, we're going to take you into the world of clinical research and walk you through the pathway, from how we design trials in the first place, right through to taking part, to give you the full picture of what a clinical trial ...
Nov 27, 2023•40 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Our latest podcast is about how families cope with cancer, and the scientific progress helping them through. Austin was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was 2 years old. In 2016, scientists took some cells from Austin’s immune system. Dr Sara Ghorashian, from the Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, changed them so they could recognise cancer cells as a threat. Then they were put back into Austin’s body. Since then, Austin has been canc...
Sep 22, 2023•36 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In our new podcast series, That Cancer Conversation: One to One, we’re talking to the people who make Cancer Research UK what it is. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and in this first episode we’re hearing from Dr Laura Danielson, our research lead for children’s and young people’s cancer. Laura moved across the Atlantic to make sure her work had the best chance of helping patients. And, since arriving in the UK, she’s gone from testing a neuroblastoma treatment as one of our funded...
Sep 01, 2023•16 min•Ep. 1
Beating cancer means beating it for everyone. And crucial to doing that is tackling health inequalities, unfair and avoidable differences in health across the population and between different groups within society. In this episode, we're diving into the inequalities faced by one group in particular, the LGBTQ+ community, and what we can do to make cancer care more inclusive for everyone. To get some insight into the inequalities in cancer care in the LGBTQ+ community and what needs to change to ...
Jun 27, 2023•38 min•Season 2Ep. 3
When thinking about cancer treatment, our first thoughts may be about surgery or chemotherapy. But what about what we eat? In this episode, we hear from Dr Clare Shaw, a lead cancer dietician and therapy researcher who has written multiple books with the Royal Marsden Hospital, including The Cancer Cookbook. And Professor Karen Vousden, co-founder of Faeth Therapeutics, a company looking at how diets could help beat cancer. From taste changes to the keto diet, we sit down with our knowledgeable ...
May 30, 2023•27 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Kicking off the second season of That Cancer Conversation, we talk about sex, intimacy and cancer. From chemotherapy to sex shops, we sit down with three amazing guests to discuss sexual wellbeing for those living with and beyond cancer. Cancer nurse and psychosexual therapist, Dr Isabel White speaks about the various ways cancer can impact our sexual wellbeing and shares some tips on how to have conversations about sex with health professionals. Sex with Cancer co-founder, Brian Lobel tells us ...
Apr 28, 2023•38 min•Season 2Ep. 1
That Cancer Conversation is back for season 2! Join our digital news team, Amy, Jacob, Sophie, and Tim, as they bring together the stories and the science behind cancer every month. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 19, 2023•2 min0
Cancer has inhabited earth for longer than humans have, but we don’t have a one-fits-all, silver-bullet cure. From Egyptian mummies and medieval wolves, to precision medicine and microscopic evolution, we take a look at the past to find out why curing cancer is more complex than we think, and what is needed next to get us closer to a future without cancer. In this latest episode of That Cancer Conversation, we hear from Dr Alanna Skuse, Dr Mariam Jamal-Hanjani and Sir Leszek Borysiewicz to help ...
Jun 14, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Last year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced an ambitious plan: to create a ‘cervical cancer-free future’. The potential reward is huge. If we succeed, cervical cancer will become the first cancer to be ‘eliminated’ on this scale. Globally, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women - 99% of cases worldwide are caused by a few high-risk strains of a common virus called human papillomavirus and in many countries around the world, people are given a vaccine to prevent HP...
Dec 09, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 4
This episode, we're joined by Sigourney Bell , a researcher at the University of Cambridge , whose work looks to find new treatments for supratentorial ependymoma , a rare children's brain cancer. Outside of the lab, Sigourney is the co-founder of Black in Cancer , a global organisation that aims to strengthen the network between Black people in the cancer space whilst highlighting Black excellence in cancer research and medicine. During Black History Month, Black in Cancer runs a week of events...
Oct 08, 2021•23 min
From malaria to multiple sclerosis, plants have given us compounds which help treat countless conditions. But could a tree growing on your street hold the next life-changing drug? From Madagascar to a Kew Gardens in London, we explore how scientists across the globe use indigenous knowledge and pharmaceutical science to help develop the treatments of tomorrow. And in a world-first, a cannabis-derived drug, known as Sativex, is being trialled in combination with chemotherapy to see if it could be...
Sep 02, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
For the first episode of That Cancer Conversation, we explore infertility and cancer. From teenage body worries to an intercontinental surrogacy story, we chat to Max, Kreena and Eleanor – 3 people whose cancer journeys affected their fertility in some way. Is freezing sperm and egg cells the only option? Not necessarily. We sit down with Professor Richard Anderson, deputy director of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Reproductive Health, to explore options that are available and what the...
May 12, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 1
