That Cancer Conversation
Cancer Research UK 39 episodes May 7, 2026
That Cancer Conversation explores the stories of people affected by cancer and the research working to unravel its mysteries. Episodes range from chemotherapy appointments to artificial intelligence, connecting personal experiences with cutting-edge science. The podcast is produced by Cancer Research UK.
Episodes
What does the new tobacco and vapes law mean for smoking?
The UK is on the path to a smokefree generation. Under the new Tobacco and Vapes Act, the age of sale of tobacco in the UK will now start rising by one year each new year, making it illegal to ever sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. It’s a world-leading law, and one we’ve been calling for as part of our ongoing S
Can you trust cancer advice online?
When cancer touches your life, it’s natural to look for answers. But online, those answers can be overwhelming, and sometimes dangerously wrong. In this episode, we explore the rise of cancer misinformation and why false claims about “miracle cures” spread so quickly on social media. From viral myths like “sugar feeds cancer” to extreme diets, supplements&nb
A new way to prevent cancer?
In this episode of That Cancer Conversation, we’re joined by Cancer Research UK science expert Dr Claire Bromley to explore the future of cancer prevention. We dive into the surprising clues hidden in the animal kingdom, the mystery of human “super avoiders,” and the cutting-edge research that could make cancer prevention more targeted and personalised than
The Ancient History of Cancer: From Fossils to Modern Medicine
Cancer isn’t a modern disease – it’s an ancient biological phenomenon that has existed for hundreds of millions of years. In this episode, we trace cancer’s origins from the dawn of multicellular life, explore how it affected ancient animals and break down the major scientific and medical advances that shaped modern cancer research. We’re joined by 
Can a blood test identify cancer?
What if our blood could help us detect cancer earlier than ever before? In this episode, we’re exploring liquid biopsies, cutting-edge blood tests that can pick up the smallest signs of cancer swirling through the blood. We sit down with Professor Nitzan Rosenfeld, Director of Barts Cancer Institute and a pio
What do weight loss drugs mean for cancer?
Welcome back to That Cancer Conversation! Drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy are helping millions of people across the UK lose weight faster and more effectively. That’s important for us, because obesity is one of the leading preventable causes of cancer. So, with obesity and cancer on the rise around the world, could weight loss drugs be a way for us to ta
Could AI help us beat cancer?
Welcome back to That Cancer Conversation! Artificial Intelligence is no longer science fiction. It's here and it's becoming part of our everyday lives. But what happens when AI steps into the world of healthcare? Could it actually help us beat cancer? In this episode we’re joined by Lara Lewington, a technology journalist and au
Can exercise help treat cancer?
Welcome to series 4 of That Cancer Conversation! We kick off the first episode of the new series discussing the power of exercise. We all know exercise is good for our health. It can make a huge difference to our overall wellbeing and recovery, but could it go even further? Could it help us survive cancer? In this episode we’r
What happens when royalty get cancer?
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 hi
What is radiotherapy?
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 Res
Are we looking after our skin?
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 ultra
Can foods be cancerous?
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 u
Why are more younger adults getting cancer?
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
The Bowelbabe Fund special
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 f
When will we get cancer vaccines? (Part 2)
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 D
What are cancer vaccines? (Part 1)
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
Can I inherit cancer?
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,
Longer, better lives: Ep.4 Can government policies prevent cancer?
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 p
One to one with Rhian: Volunteering Special Part 2
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 Lon
One to one with Penny: Volunteering Special Part 1
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-s
Longer, better lives: Ep.3 Why is there a £1 billion research funding gap?
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
One to one with Dr Anisha Patel
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 ep
One to one with Shaumya
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
Longer, better lives: Ep.2 Why did a doctor have to wait for cancer treatment?
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, d
What's causing the cancer care gap?
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 depriv
Longer, better lives: Ep.1 What is Cancer Research UK's manifesto?
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 st
The world of clinical trials
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
How does cancer affect a family?
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 canc
One to one with Dr Laura Danielson
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 hel
How can we improve LGBTQ+ cancer care?
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. 
Could food improve cancer treatment?
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
Sex, intimacy and cancer
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 h
That Cancer Conversation is back!
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.
Why haven't we cured cancer?
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
The vaccination of a generation
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 hu
Black in Cancer
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
Can we grow the treatments of tomorrow?
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-derive
Will cancer make me infertile?
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
Welcome to That Cancer Conversation
Join our new podcast, That Cancer Conversation, where we explore some of the most fascinating personal stories and cutting-edge innovations that you probably didn’t know about a disease that most people don't want to talk about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
