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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Patrick Greenfield

Monday briefing: Are we any closer to a cure for cancer?

A scientist in a white lab coat looks through a microscope while viewing cell images on a monitor
The search for better cancer treatments is of high priority globally. Photograph: Phanie/Sipa Press/Alamy

Good morning. Israel has returned fire on Iran following a wave of missile strikes, the first attacks between the two countries since April’s ceasefire, despite Donald Trump reportedly urging Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate. The escalation threatens to drag the Middle East back into a regional war and raises fears that peace talks between Washington and Tehran could be derailed. But today we are looking at another – and possibly more hopeful – topic.

News of cancer, whenever it arrives, is never welcome. For most of human history, a diagnosis has been a death sentence. But increasingly, better drugs, better care and better testing mean that this is no longer true for many. Survival chances have radically improved for several cancers in recent decades. More than 50 million people are alive today after a cancer diagnosis in the last 5 years, according to the World Health Organization. Cancer mortality rates have decreased by almost a quarter (23%) in the UK since the early 1970s.

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