Cancer Research UK has announced the largest investment to date into its network of Centres across the UK. £190 million has been committed to 13 Cancer Research UK Centres over the next five years.
Additionally, Cancer Research UK and the Departments of Health are investing £36 million over five years into 18 Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs) for adult patients and also a network of Centres for children.
The huge investment will draw together world class research and medical expertise to accelerate advances in research and support clinical trials essential to getting lifesaving treatments to patients. Cancer Research UK Centres bring together research teams from local universities, NHS hospitals and other research organisations. They operate as a network that focuses on translational research – getting cutting edge discoveries from the laboratory to patients and learning as much as possible from patients to initiate new research ideas and programmes.
The ECMCs aim to bring better treatments faster to cancer patients in the UK through both the adult and children’s network of Centres. They are hubs where promising cancer treatments –including small molecule drugs, surgery, immunotherapy, and vaccines – are safely tested for the first time in patients. These Centres help give people with cancer access to cutting-edge treatments and precision medicine by testing new ways of detecting and monitoring the disease and how it responds to treatment.
This investment will also train the next generation of cancer researchers by funding PhD students and cancer doctors at the start of a research career, and providing specialist training for ECMC staff involved in the development and delivery of clinical trials.
Centre status is awarded to locations performing the highest quality cancer research, and investment is made into infrastructure, funding for technical staff, equipment, training and running costs, developing the breadth and depth of research at each of these Centres. The applications are reviewed by an international panel of experts to make sure that only the best science is funded.
It is hoped that the funding will lead to more timely, life-saving treatments for patients.
