Abstract

How is it that cancer still resists us?  Although survival rates are now 50% on average, the problem is not solved and some cancers have survival figures much lower than 50%.This talk will attempt to provide some answers to this question and explore some of the ways in which the huge variability of cancer could be understood.  We will look at how variability demands a more personalised treatment and how we might set about matching the right treatment to the right patient. The session will explore some of the biology of cancer and touch on the uses of MRI and PET imaging and look at other ways of using biomarkers to understand what's driving the individual patient's tumour so that we might respond to these drivers.The talk will assume no prior knowledge, plain English will be spoken throughout and questions encouraged.  The session will be suitable for anyone with an interest in knowing our enemy better and understanding some of the weapons we might have to combat it.