£47.5 million funding boost for experimental cancer treatments across the UK

Scientists and clinicians are set to receive £47.5 million over the next five years to help develop new cancer treatments.

As part of a partnership between Cancer Research UK, the NIHR and The Little Princess Trust, 17 adult Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs) across the UK will host clinical trials for these treatments.

Cardiff’s ECMC, based at the University Hospital of Wales, will receive a share of £40.8 million, along with the centres in Belfast, Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Southampton and five locations in London, to conduct these trials.

Meanwhile, an additional £2.2 million has been allocated to expand research at 12 paediatric ECMCs across the UK – with the total budget earmarked at £6.6 million over five years.

The increased funding for the paediatric network will help employ new research staff, including nurses and data managers who are critical for delivering these trials to patients, Cancer Research UK said.

Executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, Dr Iain Foulkes, said: “We are proud to be supporting an expansion of our successful ECMC network, bringing together vast medical and scientific expertise to translate the latest scientific discoveries from the lab into the clinic.

“The ECMC network is delivering the cancer treatments of the future, bringing new hope to people affected by cancer.

“The trials taking place today will give the next generation the best possible chance of beating cancer.”