World Cancer Research Fund UK (WCRF UK)

World Cancer Research Fund UK (WCRF UK) was founded in London in 1990 and was the second charity to become part of our WCRF global network.

When WCRF UK was first set up, the idea that diet could influence cancer risk was considered controversial, since scientific research into the diet and cancer link was very much in its infancy. Today, thanks to an increasing body of scientific evidence that has developed over the years, all mainstream scientists now accept that what we eat and how physically active we are affects our cancer risk.

Members of the WCRF global network have, together, raised millions of pounds for cancer prevention research and education programmes. Together, we have funded more than £84 million of cutting-edge research projects around the world that have helped to further our understanding that cancer is a largely a preventable disease, with experts estimating that about a third of the most common cancers could be prevented. WCRF UK also provides wide reaching UK-based education programmes for health professionals, children and the general public.

As a result, WCRF UK has grown into the principal UK charity focused on cancer prevention through the promotion of healthy eating, physical activity and the maintenance of a healthy weight. WCRF UK plays a key role in fulfilling WCRF International’s strategic objectives for the WCRF global network.

Read about our current research grants in the UK.

Read a message from Marilyn Gentry, President of the WCRF global network.

Our published Expert Reports

As part of the WCRF global network, WCRF UK has played a key role in the publication of important scientific reports on cancer prevention:

In 1997, the WCRF global network published our first landmark Expert Report, ‘Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective’ (WCRF/AICR, 1997), on how cancer risk is affected by the choices we make each day. This Report confirmed beyond doubt that our lifestyle choices have a big impact on cancer risk and was a catalyst for change that inspired further scientific research in this field.

Over the next few years, more and more research was carried out into the link between lifestyle choices and cancer risk. By 2002, it was clear that there was so much new evidence that a new Report was needed, so the WCRF global network set ourselves the challenge of producing a Second Expert Report. WCRF International instigated and co-ordinated the six-year process of compiling the scientific data to publish ‘Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a global perspective’ (WCRF/AICR, 2007) was launched in November 2007.

Our Second Expert Report is the most comprehensive book ever published on the links between food, nutrition, physical activity and cancer prevention and is based on the in-depth analysis of over 7,000 scientific studies published on cancer prevention over the last 50 years. A panel of 21 world-renowned scientists reviewed the research evidence and drew conclusions that led to our current Recommendations for Cancer Prevention.

In addition to our two Expert Reports, in February 2009, the WCRF global network published ‘Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention’ (WCRF/AICR, 2009), a companion publication to the Second Expert Report that addresses why people practice particular eating and physical activity habits over a lifetime. This Policy Report provides advice and guidance for key groups, such as governments and workplaces, on what can be done to influence and change the lifestyle choices that people make, as they relate to their risk of cancer.

Find out more about the WCRF global network’s future science and research plans and WCRF UK’s cancer prevention work.