CANCER

Cancer Research U.K.

Cancer Research U.K.'s Lincoln's Inn Laboratories building used to be part of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. The withdrawal from Empire has continued apace with regard to the names of British institutions and companies. The last vestige appears to be in higher education (Imperial College).

In 2002 the Imperial Cancer organisation merged with the Cancer Research Campaign to form Cancer Research UK.

Website: www.cancerresearchuk.org

Sir Richard Doll

Prior to the Second World War it was argued that a rare form of cancer might be caused by smoking. During the Second World War cigarette smoking had been encouraged as a modest luxury. Following peace the tax smoking generated became an important stream of government income.

The Medical Research Council's Social Medicine Unit was set up in 1948. Two years later The British Medical Journal published a paper by Richard Doll (1912-2005) and Austin-Bradford-Hill (1897-1991) that argued that tobacco consumption was a factor in the incidence of lung cancer. The association of cigarette smoking and disease was appreciated by many. In 1962 the Royal College of Physicians published a Charles Fletcher-written report that statistically made the link far closer than had been appreciated. The document suggested public education, restrictions of advertising, and increased taxes. All the government did in response was to communicate some instructions to local councils.

In 1964 The B.M.J. published a paper by Doll that linked smoking by doctors to their dying of lung cancer. It was appreciated that physicians were dying as well as patients. As a result, the rate of tobacco consumption by members of British Medical Association fell dramatically. In 1967 the statistician Richard Peto joined him. His analyses helped reveal that the mortality rate amongst those doctors who had given up was falling and that therefore there were clear benefits to stopping smoking in middle age.

Location: Central Middlesex Hospital, Acton Lane, NW10 7NS

Maggie's Centres

Maggie Keswick Jencks came from one of the families that had long been involved in Jardine Matheson. She was diagnosed with cancer that ultimately proved to be fatal. In 1995 she asked Sir David Landale (1934-2016), who was the Secretary of the Duchy of Cornwall and the member of another Jardines family, to set up a charity that aid other cancer sufferers. In 1996 he became the inaugural chairman of Maggie's Centres.

Maggie s Centres provide terminal cancer sufferers with an opportunity to engage with other people who are in the same situation. The buildings were designed by architects with global reputations. Maggie Keswick Jencks (1941-1995) was a garden designer. She died of cancer in 1995. Her widower was Charles Jencks (1939-2019) was a noted architectural critic.

In 2008 the first English Maggie's Centre opened on the site of Charing Cross Road. The 3000 sq. ft. building had been designed by Richard Rogers's practice.

Location: Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, W6 8RF

Website: www.maggies.org www.maggies.org/our-centres/maggies-west-london

The Teenage Cancer Trust

In 1989, while Myrna Whiteson was fundraising for a children's intensive heart unit at Guy's Hospital, she a mother whose teenage son had cancer. He was receiving treatment both in a children's ward and in an adult oncology ward. He was having no contact with people who were the same age as himself who were undergoing a similar experience. Together, the women decided they should try to see whether teenage environments could be established. Mrs Whiteson together with her husband Dr Adrian Whiteson set up the Teenage Cancer Trust. The following year the charity first's specialist unit opened in the Middlesex Hospital.

Dr Whiteson's patients included Roger Daltrey, The Who's singer. The vocalist became a patron. In 2000 he started the annual Royal Albert Hall fundraising shows.

Location: The Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, SW7 2AP (red, brown)

The Middlesex Hospital, 8 Mortimer Street, W1T 3JJ. The hospital has been demolished. The only part that survives is its chapel. (blue, pink)

Website: www.teenagecancertrust.org www.royalalberthall.com www.fitzroviachapel.org

Undetected Cancer

It had been calculated through a series of medical studies that at any given time between 2% and 9% of the population have an undiagnosed cancer or a pre-cancerous abnormality. This high proportion derives from the fact that cancer can be so slow growing that it never causes any medical problem to the person in which it is growing. Something else will cause the person's death.

David Backhouse 2024