Cambridge
The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute
Together with the University of Cambridge and many generous donors, Cancer Research UK has opened The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute (CRI) . The Institute, at the Addenbrooke’s Hospital site, is one of the largest cancer research facilities in Europe.
Cancer Research UK has given substantial funding to equip the new Institute and will provide around £20 million each year to support research at this state-of-the-art facility.
The Institute, which is directed by Professor Bruce Ponder will house more than 300 scientists in around thirty research groups.
The CRI brings together doctors and scientists with a broad range of expertise to help beat cancer. More than 4,000 cancer patients pass through the doors of Addenbrooke’s Hospital every year. Being located on the site of a major cancer hospital will ensure that laboratory advances are translated into tangible benefits for patients as quickly as possible.
Here are some examples of the research at CRI:
Professor Bruce Ponderis a world leader in the investigation of inherited risk of breast and ovarian cancer. He is searching for common inherited gene variants that can subtly increase the risk of breast cancer. He and his colleagues have studied over 200,000 regions of DNA in hundreds of women with and without the disease. This study has found five regions of DNA that increase the risk of breast cancer. This groundbreaking study could have far-reaching benefits, from prevention through to identifying potential new targets for treatment.
Dr David Tuveson is an international expert in pancreatic cancer, who moved from the USA to work at CRI. Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage, and so is difficult to treat. We urgently need to find better ways of detecting the disease earlier and new and better treatments. Dr Tuveson and his team are investigating the key genes involved in pancreatic cancer to identify molecular markers that could help doctors diagnose the disease at an earlier stage. His work could also pave the way for more effective treatments, saving many lives in the future.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in UK men. Professor David Neal is working to improve the outlook for men affected by the disease. Professor Neal co-ordinates ProMPT, a national coalition of prostate cancer experts that is part-funded by Cancer Research UK. By bringing together scientists and doctors with diverse expertise but a common goal, it aims to translate laboratory findings into new treatments as quickly as possible. Professor Neal is also involved in a Cancer Research UK-funded study evaluating whether screening all men aged between 50 and 69 for prostate cancer using the PSA test saves lives or leads to more men being treated unnecessarily.
Professor Kevin Brindle is developing new scanning methods that can detect early on if a new cancer treatment is working. He is using a technique called magnetic resonance imaging in different ways to monitor the response of cancer cells to treatment. These exciting techniques will allow researchers to analyse new drugs more quickly and could ultimately guide doctors on the best treatment to give their patients.
Find out more about the research at the CRI.
In addition to the CRI, we currently spend over £13 million each year in other centres in Cambridge on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.
The genetics of breast cancer
Some cancers are due to inherited faults and variations in particular genes, while others result from genetic damage that accumulates during a person’s lifetime. Researchers at the CRI and other institutes across Cambridge are working hard to reveal more of the secrets in our DNA. They are investigating both inherited and accumulated gene faults that lead to breast cancer, and have a superb track record in this field.
Professor Doug Easton and his team at the Strangeways Research Laboratory, are searching for genes that increase the risk of breast cancer. They are also investigating how the effects of the genes combine with lifestyle factors to cause breast cancer. Work co-ordinated by Professor Easton has confirmed that inheriting a faulty version of the gene CHEK2 doubles a woman’s risk of breast cancer. The next step is to evaluate whether genetic testing for this faulty gene may be useful for women with a strong family history of this disease.
Dr Paul Pharoah, also at the Strangeways laboratory, is running a large-scale study including around 6,000 breast cancer patients in East Anglia. He is testing tumour samples to identify key molecules that could help to diagnose and treat different forms of the disease.
Professor Carlos Caldas at the Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, is screening thousands of genes in breast cancer samples to discover which ones are faulty. He and his team have identified a region of DNA containing four key genes that cause up to 8,000 cases of the disease every year.
Understanding DNA repair
Award-winning scientist Professor Steve Jackson, is studying the ways in which DNA can be damaged and repaired. He and his team at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology have discovered a protein called MDC1, which helps cells to detect and repair radiation damage. Some people with cancer are naturally more resistant to radiotherapy, so blocking the action of MDC1 in the cancer cells could make their treatment more successful.
Diet and cancer
What we eat can affect our risk of cancer. Cancer Research UK is helping to fund the two UK arms of the largest study of health and diet ever undertaken. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) is a long-term study of over half a million people in ten European countries.
Professor Kay-Tee Khaw and her team at the University of Cambridge are managing the Norfolk arm of EPIC, which has recruited more than 30,000 middle-aged people in the region. The study has already shown that eating lots of fibre can help protect us from bowel cancer while eating lots of red and processed meat increases the risk of developing the disease.
Improving treatment of children's cancer
Childhood cancer is quite rare, affecting around 1 in 500 children under the age of 15 in Britain. The small numbers of patients, particularly those with rare childhood cancers, mean that collaborative clinical trials are essential if treatment is to rapidly improve.
We fund the clinical trials work of the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG). The group co-ordinates the care of virtually all the UK’s children with cancer, ensuring they receive the most up-to-date treatments. Children involved in clinical trials tend to do better and the CCLG has greatly improved recruitment in recent years. The CCLG runs trials at 21 paediatric centres throughout the British Isles, including Addenbrooke's Hospital.
Find more of our research in southeast England.
