“A cancer ‘whodunnit’ – clues in your DNA” at New Scientist Live

Over 300,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer every year. We know some causes of cancer, such as smoking, but many factors remain a mystery. Peter Campbell and his team identify patterns of DNA changes found in tumours, uncovering the tumour’s ‘life story’ and building a picture of how these DNA changes occurred. This gives clues to the causes of cancer and how we can prevent it from developing. This talk will cover what we know so far about the DNA changes in tumours and how these changes are linked to potential causes and risk factors for cancer. It will also discuss how recent technological advances in DNA sequencing are revolutionising cancer research and how we can use this knowledge to better diagnose, prevent and treat the disease.

Peter Campbell is Head of Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation, and Senior Group Leader at Wellcome Sanger Institute. He researches the genetic changes our cells acquire as we go through life, and how these mutations are related to ageing, cancer and other disease processes. His major interest is in analysing tumours to understand more about how changes to DNA – called mutations – occur. His work focuses on discovering new cancer genes, how DNA mutations affect cancer cells and non-cancer cells and how we can translate our knowledge of cancer to better care for patients.