Study to look at why some people with aggressive cancer are ‘super-survivors’

A radiologist pointing at a lung scan. ‘Super-survivors’ with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer are among those being sought. Photograph: Pascal Pochard-Casabianca/AFP/Getty Images

Doctors have launched a major study to understand why a small percentage of cancer patients beat the odds and survive long after being diagnosed with some of the most aggressive forms of the disease.

Eight NHS cancer centres are joining dozens of hospitals around the world to find patients who had extraordinary responses to cancer treatment and lived much longer than expected.