Cardiff
Helping increase the number of people taking part in clinical trials
The Wales Cancer Trials Network (WCTN), directed by Professor Tim Maughan, is based at the University of Wales Department of Medicine in Cardiff.
It was launched in 1998 to increase recruitment of patients into clinical trials. It will ensure that more people in Wales have the opportunity to benefit from participating in research on the latest cancer treatments.
Before its launch, only about 350 of Wales’ 15,000 cancer patients were entered into trials each year. In 2006, more than 1,200 patients were enrolled in trials, and there are now over 90 trials open throughout Wales.
Understanding how thyroid cancer develops
Also at the University of Wales in Cardiff, Professor David Wynford-Thomas is investigating the changes in cells that drive the growth of cancer. His work focuses on thyroid cancer, although the studies are relevant to many other tumour types too.
Professor Wynford-Thomas has already successfully identified some of the genes and proteins that drive the early stages of thyroid cancer in the laboratory, by manipulating the proteins in normal thyroid cells.
This work could lead to improvements in diagnosis, by helping doctors tell the difference between pre-cancerous and cancerous growths in the thyroid. The research could also provide leads for the design of new treatments.
Understanding how bowel cancer develops
Many bowel cancers contain a defective version of a gene called Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC). Often referred to as a 'cellular gatekeeper', the normal APC gene is thought to control many fundamental processes in the cell that safeguard us from cancer.
Professor Alan Clarke at Cardiff University has been researching the APC gene for many years. He and his team are studying a number of genes that come under the control of, or work with, APC. All of these genes are known to be important players in the development of bowel cancer but scientists want to understand their precise roles.
They have developed a powerful laboratory technique, which they are using to selectively switch on or off APC and these other genes. This will help them understand the role that each gene has in the cell.
Professor Clarke's research aims to provide a valuable insight into the genetic basis of bowel cancer and could reveal a series of potential new drug targets.
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 the Children's Hospital for Wales in Cardiff.
Find more of our research in Wales.
