Cancer52 was established in 2007 in response to the disproportionately high death rate of those diagnosed with rare and less common cancers - the name comes from the fact that, at that time, 52 per cent of UK cancer deaths were from the rare and less common cancers (those that fall outside the 'big four' of lung, bowel, prostate and breast). More recent statistics suggest that the situation has worsened to 54%. Cancer52’s overarching objectives are: (a) to advance and promote the understanding, awareness, research and learning about rare and less common cancers. (b) to act as a collective voice and advocate for the needs of individuals affected by a rare or less common cancer. (c) to support, represent and empower not-for-profit organisations working in the field of rare and less common cancer (d) to provide a platform to bring together all those affected by rare and less common cancer in order to improve the outcomes of diagnosis, treatment and long-term support. Cancer52 now has more than 90 organisations in membership, working together as an alliance to address inequalities and improve outcomes for patients with these highly challenging diseases. A few of these organisations are relatively large and quite well known; but the majority are small specialist patient support groups with little or no staff capacity. Individually most of these organisations have limited public profile, and cannot influence national policy in their own names. Collectively, however, Cancer52 has earned a reputation as a reliable and responsible voice for rare and less common cancers, and represents its membership at the highest levels of cancer policy development. That representation and policy development has a direct link with the experiences, understanding and specialism of those involved with those member organisations, including significant numbers of people personally affected by a rare or less common cancer diagnosis. Cancer52 now has a 10 year track record of building trust and communication between patients, their representative organisations, and policy influencers and decision makers and occupies a unique space in the cancer community.