Tag: Cancer Research UK

Content on this post is produced by Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated towards saving lives, and the second biggest funder of cancer research worldwide. In the last 40 years, we’ve helped double the cancer survival rate so that two in four people now survive their disease. But this is just the beginning. We have now set ourselves a target that within 20 years, three in four people will beat cancer.

We will only achieve this by working in partnership with healthcare professionals. Primary care provides the first point of contact for nine out of 10 patients in the healthcare system. It is in primary care that potential cancer symptoms are first assessed and it is therefore essential that we give GPs and the primary care community the support they need to help spot cancer earlier.

Rebecca Banks, the senior primary care engagement manager at Cancer Research UK (CRUK), tells us about how the charity is working with the primary care community to help increase the number of people who survive their cancer.

“Much of CRUK’s work involves researching new, more effective treatments that will become the therapies of the future,” she says. “We also fund research into cancer awareness, prevention and early diagnosis and use all of this information to inform the public and influence cancer policy and clinical practice for patients’ benefit. Our facilitator programme takes this research and translates it into practice to make a positive impact on people’s lives immediately, in local areas.

Even though cancer touches each and every one of us, the average GP sees fewer than eight cancer cases a year. And spotting the earliest signs of cancer is not always easy, there are more than 200 types of cancer and symptoms can be vague. Spotting cancer earlier could save 5,000 lives a year, so if we are to save lives now, then supporting doctors to improve early diagnosis is key.”

“We are committed to working with the NHS to support GPs and other primary care health professionals to do this,” says Banks. “We work hard to provide the latest information, practical tools and education to help these key frontline professionals to identify the earliest signs of cancer. The earlier a cancer is detected, the better the chance a person has of beating their disease.”

Banks’ team are embarking on ambitious plans to expand the programme across the UK.

“The aim is that by 2018, we’ll have CRUK facilitators in every region across the country,” she explains. “Each facilitator will visit GP practices in their area and work in partnership with local NHS professionals to improve cancer prevention, early diagnosis and survival. Essentially they will be catalysts for change.”

“Ideal candidates will have firsthand experience of the challenges facing primary care and relish working with others to make a difference. They thrive on knowing that no two work days are ever the same. Facilitators also need to build and maintain successful relationships. It is through mutual trust and understanding that we will be able to help GPs and their practice in their work, diagnosing cancer earlier and giving more people, more time with their families. Without this work we will not be able to succeed in our goal of beating cancer.”

This large team of dedicated CRUK facilitators will not just support GPs and practice staff, they will also provide a valuable feedback network to the charity’s research arm, allowing us to respond to emerging healthcare needs.

Banks says: “Already, feedback from our facilitators has led to CRUK working on resources that will help local areas increase their bowel screening uptake, an important element in the early diagnosis of bowel cancer. We heard what the need was and have responded on this.”

Content on this post is produced by Cancer Research UK

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives, and the second biggest funder of cancer research worldwide. In the last 40 years, we’ve helped double the cancer survival rate so that now, two in four people survive their disease. But this is only the beginning. We have now set ourselves a target that within 20 years, three in four people will beat cancer.

If we are to achieve this goal, then new, more effective treatments are required. This is why we are working to accelerate the development of novel therapies, bringing them to patients as quickly as possible.

Dr Nigel Blackburn leads Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development (CDD), a centre of excellence in early phase cancer drug development, focusing on novel technologies that wouldn’t progress without the charity’s support.

“We are unique,” says Blackburn. “No other charity does anything like this; we are the only charitably funded drug development group in the world – and that’s an exciting place to be.”

“Industry is naturally driven by the market, and is therefore risk adverse. Because we are free of this profit burden we get to be more innovative, we can try new things and take more risks, and so the rewards are potentially greater. The ideal project for CDD will be one that is first in class, first in man, novel – in short we want exciting science. If you love drug development and are interested in oncology, this is a great place to be.”

With a portfolio of 28 projects, CDD’s cancer portfolio ranks alongside those of the top five pharmaceutical companies in terms of cancer drugs in development. These drugs range from small molecules, immunologicals and cell therapies through to imaging agents and vaccines.

Blackburn adds: “At the moment we are working on the world’s first therapeutic IgE antibody, called MOV18. Originally no companies were interested in this as it was deemed too new, too risky. But now we are showing that it is viable, several companies are interested in licensing it. As another example, we are also developing a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) immunotherapy which will be the third ever CAR trial in the UK (and CDD will have run two of them). Being a charity we can be brave and take risks that no one else will. And if it one day results in new treatments that might give more people more time with their families, then that is a fantastic result.”

As part of Cancer Research UK’s new strategy, CDD is expanding, aiming to increase its portfolio to around 35 projects. These are sourced from both industry and academia, picking up on good projects that are not being taken forward, either because of a lack of funding, being outside a company’s strategic priorities, or deemed too novel for pharma giants to adopt.

“We recently took on a cancer vaccine called IMA950 from a small German biotech,” says Blackburn. “They lacked the resources to carry out phase one trials on a glioblastoma treatment, so we ran it for them. After successfully meeting all our end points, the biotech company were in a place to buy the data back from us and continue its trials. Should the drug progress, not only will we receive milestones payments and royalties, but most importantly we will have helped a potential life-saving therapy to reach the people who need it. Without our work this vaccine may have remained on the shelf indefinitely.”

As well as carrying out early stage trials, CDD also runs Combinations Alliance, a matchmaking service for investigators seeking novel drug combinations. “Here, we don’t fund trials,” explains Blackburn. “Industry partners open up their portfolios of phase 2 and 3 drugs, and we act like a dating agency, providing the framework, resources and knowledge to help partners find potentially exciting new matches. We also offer preclinical funding to help investigators acquire the data they need to carry out a new combination trial. This service could really help advance cancer therapy, and is only possible because we are a charity.”

He adds: “We are now recruiting for new researchers for our team. As we typically focus on smaller, phase one projects, our researchers get to work on five, six, even seven projects, all with different modalities. There is an incredible breadth of research here. If you are interested in becoming an expert in oncology, in working on novel and exciting science, and in helping to beat cancer, then there is nowhere better to work.”