“Momentous” is a word that should, rightly, be used sparingly but the successful comp-letion of the Telegraph & Argus Bradford Crocus Cancer Appeal is one of those occasions which seems absolutely fitting.

Not only is it a triumph in itself but it sets another landmark in the relationship between the people of Bradford and our determination to fight that most invidious of all diseases, cancer.

It’s a story that began at the turn of the millennium, when we launched the Bradford Can... Appeal to raise £1 million to fund a new University chair of cancer research and which led to the birth of the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics.

About 10 years later, the Institute and its head, Professor Laurence Patterson, were at the heart of a breakthrough - the anti-tumour “smart bomb” - which made worldwide headlines on day one of the British Science Festival when it made its debut in the city.

The Crocus Appeal, conceived in discussions between Prof Patterson and this newspaper, was a direct result of that announcement and it seems entirely appropriate that it should reach its target in the same year that the British Science Festival returns to Bradford.

It could not have been achieved without the generosity of Sovereign Health’s Charitable Trust, Yorkshire Cancer Research and the support of so many of the University’s alumni and students. As usual, the people of Bradford and district played their part by taking the appeal to their hearts, with their kind donations and their amazing, creative and exhausting fund-raising ideas.

It has been an incredible, magnificent effort - and the battle against cancer has taken an important step forward as a direct result.