Our research in Oxford
Cancer Research UK funds some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research in Oxford. A major initiative is the Cancer Research UK - MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, which opened on the site of the Churchill Hospital in 2008. This brings together world-class scientists and doctors to transform the future of radiotherapy treatment for people with cancer.
Our Children's Cancer Trials Team co-ordinates groundbreaking trials in 21 centres across the UK and Ireland, including the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. These trials bring cutting-edge science from the lab to the bedside, making innovative new treatments available to children with cancer.
Below are some of the highlights of our research in Oxford.
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Bladder cancer
Dr Anne Kiltie
Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology
University of Oxford, Oxford
How does bladder cancer respond to radiotherapy?
Dr Anne Kiltie is an expert in the biology of bladder cancer. She and her team are investigating how bladder cancer cells react to radiotherapy, to explain why some people’s tumours respond to the treatment while others’ don’t.
Bowel cancer
Prof Ian Tomlinson
Population and Functional Genetics Laboratory
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford
Genes and bowel cancer
Professor Ian Tomlinson is Head of the Population and Functional Genetics Lab at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford. His main research interest is cancer genetics, focusing particularly on the genes involved in bowel cancer.
Breast cancer
Prof Valerie Beral
Cancer Epidemiology Unit
University of Oxford, Oxford
What affects a woman's lifetime risk of cancer?
Professor Valerie Beral directs the Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU) in Oxford. Her team is looking at how a woman's lifestyle, including her reproductive and family history, can influence her health and whether she is likely to develop breast cancer.
Lung cancer
Professor Richard Peto
Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit
University of Oxford, Oxford
Studying smoking and cancer, and improving clinical trials
Eminent cancer researcher Sir Richard Peto is co-director of the Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit in Oxford. He is a leading figure in both the prevention and treatment of cancer, and helped to run a pioneering 50-year long study that further established the links between smoking and cancer.
No specific cancer type
Professor Vincenzo Cerundolo
Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine
University of Oxford, Oxford
Boosting the immune system to treat cancer
Based at the University of Oxford, Professor Vincenzo Cerundolo is an expert in immunotherapy – treatments that harness a patient’s own immune system to destroy tumours. Immunotherapy has the potential to be a powerful treatment for cancer, but at the moment it is not as effective as it could be. Professor Cerundolo and his team are working on ways to improve immunotherapy, pushing forward this exciting new treatment to bring benefits to people with cancer.
Prof Adrian Harris
Cancer Research UK Medical Oncology Department
Churchill Hospital, Oxford
Targeting a cancer's blood supply
All cancers need to develop their own blood supply in order to keep growing. Professor Adrian Harris' research group based at the Weatherall Institute for Molecular Medicine is studying this process of new blood vessel growth, called angiogenesis, in great detail.
Prof Bass Hassan
Department of Medical Oncology
Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford
Blocking growth signals to beat cancer
Professor Bass Hassan at The Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine is investigating the faulty signals that drive cancer cell growth. He is also developing new cancer treatments that aim to block the action of these key growth signals.
Prof Yvonne Jones
Division of Structural Biology
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford
Studying the shape and structure of proteins
Professor Yvonne Jones is a leading expert in the field of 'structural biology' - studying the shape of molecules. She directs our Receptor Structure Research Group in Oxford, which is investigating proteins on the surface of cells that play key roles in cancer. This information will help researchers to develop new cancer drugs that target these proteins.
Professor Tim Key
Cancer Epidemiology Unit
University of Oxford, Oxford
How does your diet affect your cancer risk?
Professor Tim Key is untangling the many lifestyle factors that affect a person’s risk of cancer, focusing mainly on diet and hormones. He is one of the leading UK researchers on the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC), the largest study of diet and health ever undertaken. Professor Key is based at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit in Oxford, and his work is highlighting possible ways to prevent cancer and identify those who are most at risk.
Prof Gillies McKenna
Radiation Oncology and Biology
University of Oxford, Oxford
Improving radiotherapy treatment
Professor Gillies McKenna is a world expert in radiotherapy research. In 2006, he was recruited to the UK from the US to lead the Cancer Research UK - MRC Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology in Oxford. His research focuses on understanding the effect that radiation has on cells and how cancers can become resistant to radiotherapy. This knowledge will contribute to the improvement of radiotherapy techniques so that more people are successfully treated and experience a better quality of life.
Prof Kim Nasmyth
Department of Biochemistry
University of Oxford, Oxford
Lord of the rings - studying chromosomes and cancer
Professor Kim Nasmyth heads the Biochemistry Department at the University of Oxford, and has won many prestigious scientific awards in his career. He is a world-leading expert in chromosomes - the packages of DNA found within our cells - and the proteins that control them.
Dr Patrick Pollard
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics
University of Oxford, Oxford
Investigating a molecular mystery
Based at the University of Oxford, Dr Patrick Pollard is investigating a biological mystery. Researchers have known for several years that faults in a protein called fumarate hydratase can lead to several types of cancer, but it's not clear exactly how this happens. Dr Pollard suspects that a particular 'version' of fumarate hydratase is responsible for causing cancer, and is trying to prove it.
Professor Leonard Seymour
Department of Clinical Pharmacology
University of Oxford, Oxford
Using viruses to target cancer
Finding ways to target and kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue is the holy grail of cancer research. Professor Leonard Seymour and his team at the University of Oxford are doing exactly that by harnessing the power of viruses to infect and destroy cancer cells.
Skin cancer
Professor Mark Middleton
University of Oxford
Churchill Hospital, Oxford
Melanoma: cracking the code
Professor Mark Middleton is working on melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. He is based at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford where he is running several clinical trials testing new ways to treat the disease.
Prof Alan Storey
HPV Apoptosis and Cancer Group
Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford
HPV infection and non-melanoma skin cancer
Professor Alan Storey leads the HPV Apoptosis and Cancer Group at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. His research focuses on non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK. Although NMSC is rarely life-threatening, it is estimated that there are at least 100,000 cases in the UK each year making it a significant public health problem. Professor Storey's team is investigating how human papillomavirus (HPV) infection of the skin can contribute to the development of this disease.
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