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) will host clinical trials for these treatments.
The ECMCs in Belfast, Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Southampton and five locations in London will receive £40.8 million 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.”
Minister of State for Health Helen Whately said: “A cancer diagnosis can be devastating but the earlier the diagnosis, the better the chance to treat it and beat it. We are already picking up more cancers early by screening but we can do even better.
“This partnership between Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Little Princess Trust will fund innovative trials that could lead to new life-saving treatments.
“Every life lost to cancer is devastating and I’m pleased that across the country, people will be given renewed hope – especially children and young people – that we can beat this awful disease.”
