How gifts in Wills help Cancer Research

There are 2 main types of lymphoma. They are called Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). It is important that doctors can tell the difference between them as they are two different diseases and the treatment for them is not the same.

Mantle cell lymphoma is a type of NHL. It develops when the body makes abnormal B-cells – the white blood cells that fight infection. Treatment for mantle cell lymphoma is usually intensive chemotherapy followed by a transplant using their own stem cells. But this is tough treatment and many people are not able to have it. People who can’t have this treatment will have chemotherapy. But doctors are always looking to see if they can improve treatment. At the University of Plymouth, Professor Simon Rule is leading a clinical trial comparing two treatments; Ibrutinib and rituximab, or Rituximab and chemotherapy. The main aim of this study is to see which treatment keeps the lymphoma under control the longest.

This is only one of the projects you could contribute to by leaving a gift in your Will to Cancer Research UK. Gifts in Wills breathe life into researchers’ work by funding over a third of their life-saving research. Legacies enable long-term research projects that allow scientists to achieve breakthroughs every day. Each breakthrough inspires the next until the day comes when everyone survives cancer.

Cancer Research UK has made a pledge to their supporters. 82p in every £1 they receive goes towards funding vital research like Professor Rule’s, while the other 18p helps raise more funds to support research.

In the past 40 years, survival has doubled in part thanks to Cancer Research UK’s pioneering research, funded by the generosity of their supporters. Cancer Research UK is committed to ensuring 3 in 4 people in the UK who are diagnosed with cancer survive their disease for 10 years or more by 2034. None of this will be possible without the help of their supporters.