MPs learn about charity’s work

Belper MP Pauline Latham has sponsored a Cancer Research UK event to help MPs in Westminster find out more about the charity’s plans to save more lives in the East Midlands.

Mrs Latham said: “It is undeniable that there is still much to be done. I think we all dream of a day when all cancers can be cured.”

Mrs Latham, who sponsored the event, wished to show her fellow Members of Parliament the part

they could play in helping to achieve Cancer Research UK’s ambition that within 20 years three in four of all cancer patients diagnosed will survive at least ten years.

MPs had the opportunity to participate in interactive experiments with cancer researchers, learning about the biology of cancer and cutting-edge work to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

There have been major advances in the fight against cancer over the last 40 years and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress.

Two in four people diagnosed with cancer today in the UK will survive their disease for at least ten years, compared to just one in four in the early 1970s.

In the East Midlands, this means that around 12,000* people each year can now expect to survive the disease for at least ten years.

But despite the successes, Cancer Research UK believes much more can be done to help more people in the East Midlands and across the UK beat cancer sooner.

Mrs Latham, MP for Mid Derbyshire said: “I was of course delighted to sponsor this event for such a worthy cause.

Whilst I am pleased that the Government is committed to ensuring that cancer survival rates increase; which it will do through improved care and screening, it is undeniable that there is

still much to be done. I think we all dream of a day when all cancers can be cured, and Cancer Research UK’s work has made great progress in that regard.”