CRUK Cambridge Institute to get seven-year £173m investment in fight against cancer

Cancer Research UK has announced a £173million investment to support its Cambridge Institute over the next seven years – the largest single grant ever awarded by the charity outside of London.

It will bolster its world-class discovery science, unlock new insights into cancer, help examine how the immune system can be harnessed to combat the disease and enable technologies like machine learning to be fully exploited.

Professor Greg Hannon, director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, based on Cambridge Biomedical Campus, said: “In a golden era for life sciences, this funding bolsters Cambridge as a major global hub for cancer research on an increasingly competitive worldwide stage and will greatly aid the recruitment of top-tier international talent.

“Research from the institute has already made a positive impact for patients and their families, from the development of innovative technologies, diagnostic tests, and advanced imaging methods to the roll-out of personalised medicine programmes for those with brain, breast, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers.

“We believe that only by embracing the complexity of cancer and how the disease interacts with the normal cells of patients can we move the needle on the hardest-to-treat cancers.”

Established in 2007, the institute was the first major new cancer research centre in the UK for more than 50 years. In 2013, it became a department of the University of Cambridge’s School of Clinical Medicine, which strengthened its links with researchers across the university and at Addenbrooke's Hospital, helping translate research into clinical trials, and ultimately treatments.

Its 300 researchers focus on every stage of the cancer life cycle.

Prof Hannon added: “With this new funding, the institute aims to accelerate its impact for patients, with new schemes to integrate clinicians into every aspect of our research and to embrace new technologies, including the promise of machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance our discovery portfolio.”

The award follows a comprehensive review of the facility led by a panel of international cancer experts..

Cancer Research UK chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: “We are delighted to confirm this incredible investment which is a reflection of the world-leading research community at the CRUK Cambridge Institute.

“This kind of funding would not be possible without the generosity of Cancer Research UK supporters and philanthropists.”

There are 17 research groups at the institute. Their work includes:

- Understanding cancer: By exploring how tumours grow, adapt and interact, scientists aim to uncover why some cells become cancerous and learn how each tumour’s lifecycle can affect a patient’s response to treatment and prognosis. Prof Hannon’s team developed a diagnostic tool using virtual reality to explore every cell and aspect of breast tumours in unprecedented detail.

- Unravelling tumour interactions: Researchers are probing a tumour’s ‘microenvironment’, including its surrounding cells, blood vessels and immune cells and how they interact to help predict how well immunotherapy treatments will work.

- Cancer detection: New ways to detect cancer earlier, predict the best course of treatments and tailor therapies to individuals are being studied. Tumour DNA is being used to monitor the effectiveness of treatments and catch signs of cancer returning. Cambridge scientists are also working on a simple at-home test for patients.

- Personalised medicine: Examining genetic mutations in a person’s tumour, including how it responds to treatment, allows therapies to be matched. Prof James Brenton’s team discovered a specific mutation in the most common form of ovarian cancer that is now used across the NHS as a cancer marker to measure treatment response.

Studies seeking treatments for the deadliest cancers, like ovarian and oesophageal cancer will also be supported at the institute.

Research by Prof Florian Markowetz’s team includes predicting cancer weaknesses to treatment, and spotting cancers earlier using AI.

Cancer Research UK says research has helped cancer death rates to fall by 10 per cent per cent in the UK over the past decade. But it points out that in the East of England alone, around 37,400 people are still diagnosed and around 15,700 lose their lives to the disease every year.

The majority of non-commercial cancer research in the UK is funded by charities (62 per cent) compared to the government (38 per cent). And the UK government spends far less per capita on cancer research compared to the US. The charity says this is a major barrier to the UK’s competitiveness as a world-leading research nation.