THE following is a message from Cancer Research UK:

Thanks to research, more people than ever are surviving their cancer.

In the 1970s, just one in four people in the UK survived cancer for 10 years or more. Today, that figure has doubled.

But, we have so much more to do. We need to go further, and faster.

In the South West, around 36,300 people are diagnosed with cancer every year, and sadly around 15,600 of them do not survive their diagnosis.

We urgently need to advance research to improve survival for people with cancer.

Together, we can support ground-breaking science that will help to save and improve lives for generations to come.

Our pioneering work across the UK, including in the South West, benefits from the generosity of supporters leaving a gift to Cancer Research UK in their will.

In fact, legacy gifts fund a third of our research.

One of the exciting research projects happening right now is led by Dr Susana Godinho.

Her team is investigating key mechanisms inside our cells that are involved in how our cells grow.

Most of our cells grow and divide through a highly regulated process.

In cancer, this process becomes unregulated and leads to the uncontrolled growth of cells, which can form a tumour.

A key mechanism in cell division is called the centrosome. Defective centrosomes can cause cell division to go wrong.

Dr Godinho’s team are using state-of-the-art imaging techniques to observe the inner workings of the cell division process as it goes wrong in cancer cells and hopefully find a way to intervene and stop tumour growth.

Dr Godinho hopes this research will lead to the development of new treatments that could target centrosomes in cancer cells, improving survival for people with cancer.

She said: "I’m an optimist, and I’ve seen so many advances in cancer treatment.

"I remain hopeful that better more effective treatments will continue to be developed that will save millions of lives."

Dr Godinho knows that leaving a gift to Cancer Research UK in your will can make a real difference to people living with cancer.

She added: "Gifts in Wills is the best example that when it comes to cancer we are all in this together.

"I cannot thank those who leave a gift in their will enough, but want them to know that we are working tirelessly to help find treatments for this disease."

Join us to help fund pioneering researchers such as Dr Godinho and make cancer a thing of the past.

Together we will beat cancer.

To get your free Gifts in Wills Guide, visit cruk.org/pledgesouthwest