It has been an incredible year for Worldwide Cancer Research scientists around the globe, who have all been busy making exciting new discoveries that will help us reach a day when no life is cut short by cancer. Here are the top breakthroughs in cancer research made possible by our Curestarters in 2025.
What is considered to be a breakthrough in cancer research?
As a cancer research charity, our amazing researchers are asking brand new questions about cancer, like:
- How does it develop?
- Why does it spread?
- Who might be at higher risk?
Through their experiments (and a lot of determination and hard work) they can discover new information about how cancer behaves.
This information is what drives new cancer cures, steering us towards new targets for cancer drugs or ways to improve treatments. If we don’t understand cancer we can’t cure it. That’s why we call this new information a cancer breakthrough.
How a high-fat diet could influence cancer spread:
A very high-fat diet could make it easier for cancer to spread through the body. Recent cancer research has uncovered a surprising link - that special molecules that help our blood to clot also seem to play a key role in how cancer spreads. This discovery by Dr Héctor Peinado and his team at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) could help scientists unlock new ways to treat and manage cancer - by understanding not just how tumours grow, but how what we eat could influence their spread.
We hope that this research can be used to improve therapeutic responses against metastasis and help identify new risk factors to reduce its lethality. Your support is truly making a difference in the fight against cancer.
Crucial progress for a rare childhood brain cancer:
Professor Adrian Bracken at Trinity College Dublin is part of an international team who are making strides in finding new ways to treat Diffuse Midline Glioma, an aggressive brain cancer that mainly affects children. The team have made new discoveries about the specific genetic mutation that causes nearly all DMG cases, and found a weak spot in DMG cells that could be a critical target for new treatments.
Our hope is that this discovery will lead to the development of more precise treatments for DMG - treatments that directly target the tumour’s weak points while sparing healthy cells, which is especially important in children. We are truly grateful for your support. Breakthroughs like this are only possible because of the generosity of people like you.
Using the science behind antidepressants to spark a new cancer cure:
We love researchers that think outside the box to find new cancer cures and in 2025 Dr Simona Polo in Italy did just that. Exploring how an antidepressant interacts with a certain protein led to her making an exciting breakthrough about how cancer drugs could also target that molecule. The team have developed a new drug molecule that could one day become a new cancer cure.
These findings offer great premises for the development of new therapeutics targeting tumors sensitive to NEDD4 expression and activity.
A step closer to improving immunotherapy for melanoma:
Dr Adam Hurlstone and his team in Manchester have made a crucial breakthrough about how melanoma cells become resistant to immunotherapy, and how to stop it. They hope these findings will bring us closer to a new cure for patients who have advanced melanoma and have few other treatment options.
This funding has allowed us to think ambitiously, pursue high-risk, high-reward projects, and contribute to a field where every breakthrough brings hope to patients worldwide…we are deeply grateful for the confidence and support of Worldwide Cancer Research, which continues to inspire us to push the boundaries.
Hope at the end of the rainbow for new breast cancer cures:
Professor Johanna Ivaska and her team in Finland have been able to look at breast cancer cells moving in more detail than ever before thanks to a powerful new tool named after an old Finnish fairy tale about rainbows. Understanding how breast cancer cells spread is vital to help more people survive this disease. The innovative tool helped make a new cancer breakthrough about the exact molecules involved in breast cancer metastasis. Professor Ivaska hopes this will lead to new cures to block breast cancer spread.
We are deeply grateful to all the Curestarters who have generously supported Worldwide Cancer Research. Without your donations, our important research into breast cancer would not be possible. Thank you for helping us make a stand against such a devastating disease.
How do cancer breakthroughs lead to real-world treatments?
All new cures begin with curiosity. By asking questions about cancer, and finding out the answers, our researchers make breakthroughs in our understanding of the disease. This discovery research is the first step in the research journey.
Once a breakthrough is made and we have some new information about cancer, the next stage is translational research where that knowledge is used to create something new, such as a new cancer treatment. Finally that new cure needs tested in clinical trials to make sure it works and is safe for patients.
This whole pipeline is critical, but a breakthrough marks a pivotal moment in the journey from the lab to the clinic. It can be the “Eureka” moment that takes research in a new direction or shows the path towards a new cure.
Thanks to Curestarters like you...
Dr Laura Soucek was able to make an incredible breakthrough about a molecule called MYC that is involved in over 70% of cancers. This knowledge about how to target MYC kick-started a new cancer cure called Omomyc which is now in clinical trials.
Even more cancer breakthroughs are on the horizon
In 2025 we started 30 new international cancer research projects with your support:
Have we found the new composer of the immune system?
Immunotherapy doesn't work for all cancer patients so with your support Dr Eduardo Bonavita is exploring a new way to boost our immune system to help therapy work for more people around the world.
Is a particular mutation driving treatment resistance?
Dr Papa in Australia wants to find a new way to treat breast cancer, that could work in combination with current treatments. This will help tackle treatment resistance.
Will stopping a tiny protein improve pancreatic cancer treatment?
Our pancreatic cancer research project in Qatar is investigating a possible new way to improve treatment success for patients. Dr Khan and his team are hoping to make cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy.
Your cancer breakthrough FAQs:
What is a cancer breakthrough?
A cancer breakthrough is when researchers discover something new about cancer – how it grows, how it spreads or how it could be stopped. This new information drives new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
What cancers have seen the biggest research progress recently?
At Worldwide Cancer Research we fund projects about any type of cancer so that we can reach a day where no life is cut short by any form of the disease. We are delighted to see breakthroughs in some rarer cancers including diffuse midline glioma as well as the more common cancers such as breast cancer.
How is artificial intelligence used in cancer research?
Artificial intelligence is popping up all over the place and cancer research is no exception. It is being used to help screen and diagnose several types of cancer and to help find new cures faster than ever before. Dr Daniel Lietha in Spain is using innovative AI technology to target previously undruggable proteins and hopes this could lead to a whole new way to treat cancer patients.
Are there breakthroughs for rare or hard-to-treat cancers?
Yes, thank to you lots of our Curestarter researchers have made breakthroughs for rare or hard-to-treat cancers. New cancer research led by Professor Adrian Bracken in Dublin has led to an exciting breakthrough about diffuse midline glioma, a rare and aggressive childhood brain cancer. Professor Ruth Ganss in Australia found a new approach to drug dosage could help some hard-to-treat cancers including pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma.
How can I support cancer research breakthroughs?
Curestarters are helping to start new cancer research breakthroughs around the world. By supporting Worldwide Cancer Research however you can - hosting a bake sale, leaving a legacy gift, or running a marathon - you can help give researchers the tools they need to make their next exciting discovery.
Join our united effort to stop cancer.
There are so many different ways to support our search for new cures. Will you join the 90,000+ Curestarters who are already helping us get closer to a day when no life is cut short by cancer?