- Today the Science Museum has opened Cancer Revolution: Science, innovation and hope, a major free exhibition on the treatment and understanding of cancer;
- Cancer Revolution includes objects that have never been displayed before in the UK, including the recent discovery of the first malignant bone tumour to be identified in a dinosaur fossil and a cast from the 1950s developed to hold radium seeds for skin cancer treatment;
- Visitors can see the latest technologies and treatments transforming cancer care including the Cytosponge used in the early detection of oesophageal cancer and the Galleri test designed to detect 50 types of cancer from a single blood sample;
- The exhibition also features an array of incredible artworks from Luke Jerram, Katharine Dowson and Nudrat Afza that speak to the emotional experience of cancer treatment.
© Science Museum Group
Cancer Revolution: Science, innovation and hope
Free but tickets required, open now – January 2023
https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/cancer-revolution
Expert Partner: Cancer Research UK
Principal Sponsor: Pfizer
Supported by the John S Cohen Foundation
Supported by Julian Howard
Today the Science Museum opened Cancer Revolution; Science, innovation and hope, the world’s first major object-rich exhibition to reveal the past, present and future of how cancer is prevented, detected and treated. Cancer Revolution has been developed by the Science Museum Group, with support from expert partner Cancer Research UK, to explore the revolution in science that is transforming cancer care.
Opening to the public at the Science Museum’s popular after-hours event, Lates, the exhibition comes at a time when one in two of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime, yet with improved cancer treatment and care, more of us than ever before are living longer and better with the disease and beyond.
On display will be incredible historical objects, cutting edge treatment and research, new artist commissions and installations, interactive exhibits and a breadth of personal stories. Cancer Revolution will reveal how researchers, clinicians, policy makers and patients are fuelling progress in a powerful expression of shared hope and will present the stories of people affected by cancer, together with those who study and treat it.
Katie Dabin, Lead Curator of the exhibition and Curator of Medicine at the Science Museum, said: ‘After a successful run at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester I’m thrilled visitors to the Science Museum will get to see this ground-breaking exhibition. Through hundreds of objects and testimonies from clinicians and patients, Cancer Revolution tells the remarkable story of the advances in cancer treatment over the decades. Inside the exhibition visitors will encounter an array of incredible objects that explore our understanding of the disease: from a dinosaur fossil that provides the earliest known example of a cancerous tumour, through to the VR technology being developed to study the cells that make-up tumours. Visitors will also discover the latest research and innovations in cancer care and will be inspired by the incredible work being done to improve early diagnosis and develop treatments to help us to live longer and better with cancer.’
From busting myths about the causes of cancer, to exploring the history of the disease and how the latest cancer research, early detection technologies and immunotherapies are advancing cancer care today, Cancer Revolution shows how far we have come in tackling the disease. The exhibition reveals how cancer has been treated over the centuries, from high-risk surgeries to the discovery of the first chemotherapy drugs, and the important challenges that remain to be solved.
© Science Museum Group
Among the 125 objects and 30 personal stories included in the exhibition is an incredible object, the first dinosaur bone tumour to be identified, on display in the UK for the very first time. The history of cancer treatment is also explored, with visitors able to see the Radium teletherapy apparatus used at London’s Westminster Hospital in the 1930s by Ernest and Frank Carling. On display for the first time in 60 years, it was used as part of the first alternative treatment to surgery that could visibly shrink and treat tumours.
Within the exhibition there are a series of artworks that provide an insight into the emotional and psychological impact of cancer treatment. This includes the premiere of an atmospheric soundscape specially commissioned for the exhibition by Katharine Dowson featuring the voices of patients reflecting on the impacts of radiotherapy and cancer treatment ten years on—accompanying the artwork Silent Stories—where Dowson cast the radiotherapy masks used by the patients into glass. Visitors will see a photography series from Nudrat Afza on display for the first time, the series entitled Shadow and Light documents her sister’s breast cancer treatment journey. Also on display is a glass sculpture by Luke Jerram depicting the Papillomavirus, part of his Glass Microbiology series.
Cancer Revolution explores how advances in technology and research are helping to detect and treat the disease earlier and more effectively than before, helping to lessen the impact of cancer treatment on patient’s lives. On display are the latest technologies and treatments transforming cancer diagnosis, including the Cytosponge which is reshaping the early detection of signs of oesophageal cancer, and the Galleri test, which is designed to detect over 50 types of cancer from one blood sample and is currently being trialled by the NHS.
Cancer care has also evolved to incorporate the latest technological innovations, and visitors will discover how The Royal Marsden is using robotic surgery to remove tumours with greater precision; how scientists at Imperial College London are developing new surgical tools like the iKnife, that signals whether human tissue cut during surgery is cancerous; and how projects like TRACERx led by Cancer Research UK use the latest genetic mapping technologies to study the evolution of lung cancer in individual patients, helping to identify where they may benefit from new therapies, and predict which individuals are most likely to see their disease return.
Prof. Charles Swanton, Cancer Research UK’s Chief Clinician, said: ‘So much progress has been made in the way we prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer, but it’s rare that you get the opportunity to view these breakthroughs in such a visual, immersive way. As well as reflecting on the incredible advances and innovation in science, this exhibition also gives us the opportunity to celebrate the role that researchers, scientists, patients, clinicians, funders and communities have all played in making that possible. This is truly a golden era of cancer research, and with hope as a key theme of the exhibition, we'd like visitors to come away with a little bit more of it.’
The exhibition features the work of ten pioneering scientific studies, brought together for the first time. This includes the CanBuild Project team from Barts Cancer Institute who are building tumours from scratch—engineering mini tumours that realistically grow and change like human cancers, with the aim of improving how new treatments are tested and to look for new therapies that target the cells that support tumour growth. Visitors will also discover the therapies being used to re-engineer immune cells to better recognise cancer and how virtual reality is being used to study cancer and shape treatments, as we explore the future of cancer care.
The expert partner for the exhibition is Cancer Research UK and at the Science Museum Cancer Revolution is supported by Pfizer (Principal Sponsor), the John S Cohen Foundation and Julian Howard.
ENDS
For more information please contact Freya Barry at freya.barry@sciencemuseum.ac.uk or on 020 7942 4327. You can download the image sheet with captions and images here.
Visitor information
The Science Museum is currently open Wednesday – Sunday from 10.00 until 18.00. During school holidays the museum is open seven days a week. From 1 July 2022, the museum will open seven days a week during term time and holidays.
Listings
Cancer Revolution: Science, innovation and hope
Opens 25 May 2022 – January 2023
Science Museum, London
Free, but tickets required
https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/cancer-revolution
Events
A series of unique public events have been programmed to mark the opening of the exhibition, including a special edition of the Science Museum’s adults-only Lates.
How Vaccines Can Help to Fight Cancer
17 August, 19.30 – 20.45, £10
Vaccination has had an enormous impact on our health, with infectious diseases including smallpox being eradicated. In this special panel discussion experts will discuss whether vaccines could be developed and deployed to help prevent and even reverse the effects of cancer. Discover more about cancer immunology and how advances in vaccine technology, like the HPV vaccine, are helping to reduce cases. The panel for the event includes; Professor of Experimental Oncology at the University of Southampton, Tim Elliot; Associate Professor of Experimental Cancer Therapeutics at the University of Oxford, Sarah Blagden; Visiting Professor of Experimental Medicine at the University of Southampton, Christian Ottensmeier; and Assistant Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia, Anna Blakney.
Genetic Scissors: Could CRISPR Cas-9 Cure Cancer?
13 December, 19.30 – 20.45, £10
At this special event in collaboration with the Crick Institute join an expert panel in exploring how gene editing technology could impact cancer treatment. In 2012 CRISPR Cas-9 was first developed and now a decade on, it promises to be a revolutionary tool to treat numerous diseases, including cancer. The panel for the event includes; Chief Executive Officer at the Crick Institute, Sir Paul Nurse; Senior Group Leader at the Crick Institute, Prof Kathy Niakan; Chief Clinician at Cancer Research UK, Prof. Charles Swanton; chaired by writer and broadcaster, Dr Aarathi Prasad.
Notes To Editors
About the Science Museum
The Science Museum is part of the Science Museum Group, the world’s leading group of science museums that share a world-class collection providing an enduring record of scientific, technological and medical achievements from across the globe. Over the last century the Science Museum, the home of human ingenuity, has grown in scale and scope, inspiring visitors with exhibitions covering topics as diverse as robots, code-breaking, cosmonauts and superbugs. 2020 marked a decade of transformation for the museum with the opening of the largest medical galleries in the world - Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries and Science City 1500-1800: The Linbury Gallery - the story of how London became a hub of discovery during 1550-1800. The Science Museum was named a winner of the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the Year prize for 2020. www.sciencemuseum.org.uk. Follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About Science Museum Lates
Bringing together a host of themed talks, workshops and activities, Science Museum Lates are free adults-only, after-hours theme nights that take place in the museum every month. Science Museum Lates began in September 2008, and the museum has since hosted over 120 Lates events with themes ranging from sexuality and medicine, zombies and Frankenstein, to Zombies and AI. Find out more about past Science Museum Lates events here.
About the Science Museum Group
The Science Museum Group is the world’s leading group of science museums, welcoming over five million visitors each year to five sites: the Science Museum in London; the National Railway Museum in York; the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester; the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford; and Locomotion in Shildon. We share the stories of innovations and people that shaped our world and are transforming the future, constantly reinterpreting our astonishingly diverse collection of 7.3 million items spanning science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine. Standout objects include the record-breaking locomotive Flying Scotsman, Richard Arkwright’s textile machinery, Alan Turing’s Pilot ACE computer and the earliest surviving recording of British television. Our mission is to inspire futures - igniting curiosity among people of all ages and backgrounds. Each year, our museums attract more than 600,000 visits by education groups, while our touring exhibition programme brings our creativity and scholarship to audiences across the globe. More information can be found at sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk.
About Cancer Research UK
- Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.
- Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
- Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.
- Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK’s ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years.
- Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
- Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.
For further information about Cancer Research UK's work, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/. Follow on Twitter and Facebook.
About Pfizer: Breakthroughs That Change Patients’ Lives
At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world's premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 170 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. In the UK, Pfizer has its business headquarters in Surrey and is a major supplier of medicines to the NHS. To learn more about our commitments, please visit us at www.pfizer.co.uk or follow us on Twitter (@Pfizer_UK), Facebook (@PfizerUK) and Instagram (@pfizeruk).