Our research into drug discovery and development
Cancer Research UK is committed to developing better, more targeted cancer treatments with fewer side effects. Our scientists and doctors have contributed to most of the world's top cancer drugs.
In recent years, scientists have learnt a great deal about how faulty genes and proteins contribute to cancer development. This has opened up new opportunities for converting key lab discoveries into exciting new approaches to cancer treatment.
Cancer Research UK is at the forefront of this ‘bench-to-bedside’ medicine or ‘translational research’. Many of our researchers are internationally renowned for their expertise in discovering new cancer drugs and taking these forward into early-stage clinical trials.
Below are some of the highlights of our drug development work, you can find out more about our progress and achievements in our drug discovery briefsheet.
On this page
Bowel cancer
Prof Chris Paraskeva
Colorectal Tumour Biology Research Group
University of Bristol, Bristol
Preventing and treating bowel cancer
Professor Chris Paraskeva is an international expert in bowel cancer. He leads the Cancer Research UK Colorectal Tumour Biology Research Group at the University of Bristol. His team is looking into many different aspects of bowel cancer including new ways to both prevent and treat the disease.
Brain tumours
Dr Chris Jones
Paediatric Oncology
The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton
Hitting cancer where it hurts: new ways to target childhood brain tumours
Dr Chris Jones at The Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton is investigating the faulty molecules found in a type of childhood brain tumour called glioblastoma. His aim is to understand the changes in the cancer cells that drive the growth of these tumours, and to find new drugs to treat them, saving more children's lives.
Children's cancers
Dr Chris Jones
Paediatric Oncology
The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton
Hitting cancer where it hurts: new ways to target childhood brain tumours
Dr Chris Jones at The Institute of Cancer Research in Sutton is investigating the faulty molecules found in a type of childhood brain tumour called glioblastoma. His aim is to understand the changes in the cancer cells that drive the growth of these tumours, and to find new drugs to treat them, saving more children's lives.
No specific cancer type
Professor Shankar Balasubramanian
Chemical Biology Laboratory
Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, Cambridge
Solving molecular puzzles
Professor Shankar Balasubramanian is based at our Cambridge Research Institute, where he is investigating some of the genes and molecules that play an important role in cancer.
Prof Richard Begent
Cancer Research UK Targeting and Imaging Group, Department of Oncology
UCL Cancer Institute, London
Developing and testing new treatments for cancer
Professor Richard Begent heads the Cancer Research UK Targeting and Imaging Group at the UCL Cancer Institute. He is currently working on new cancer treatments that are designed to specifically attack and kill the cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. Using this approach, Professor Begent hopes to develop effective new treatments with fewer side effects than existing drugs.
Prof Caroline Dive
Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology Group
Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Manchester
Developing new cancer treatments
Professor Caroline Dive leads the Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology Group at the Cancer Research UK Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester. Her team carry out lab studies and early clinical research into new cancer drugs. Professor Dive also carries out important research into drug resistance in bowel cancer.
Prof Gavin Halbert
Cancer Research UK Formulation Unit
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
Turning lab discoveries into cancer drugs
Professor Gavin Halbert heads up Cancer Research UK's cutting-edge Strathclyde Formulation Unit in Glasgow. At this facility, the scientists package up promising new candidate drugs into safe forms that patients can take as tablets, capsules or injections.
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 Steve Jackson
The Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute of Cancer and Developmental Biology
University of Cambridge, Cambridge
Understanding DNA repair
Professor Steve Jackson is an award-winning scientist, who has been funded by Cancer Research UK for over 15 years. He is Head of Cancer Research UK Laboratories at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, where he leads a research team making incredible progress in understanding the important role of DNA repair and its link with cancer. Some of Professor Jackson's discoveries have already been developed into new treatments for cancer, and others are being tested in clinical trials.
Prof Duncan Jodrell
Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute
University of Cambridge, Cambridge
Improving cancer treatments
Professor Duncan Jodrell is Professor of Cancer Therapeutics at the University of Cambridge. Professor Jodrell and his team are turning lab into improved treatments for a range of different cancers, including pancreatic cancer.
Prof Nicol Keith
Experimental Therapeutics, Institute of Cancer Sciences
University of Glasgow, Glasgow
Developing new anti-cancer therapies
Nicol Keith is Professor of Molecular Oncology at the University of Glasgow. He and his team are investigating how cancer cells become immortal and are using this information to develop new anticancer treatments. In particular, Professor Keith is investigating ways to target telomerase, an "immortality gene" that is switched on in eight out of ten cancers.
Prof Herbie Newell
Northern Institute for Cancer Research
University of Newcastle, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Developing new cancer treatments
Herbie Newell is Professor of Cancer Therapeutics at the Northern Institute for Cancer Research in Newcastle upon Tyne. His expertise is in cancer pharmacology - understanding how cancer drugs work inside the body. His research focuses on developing new cancer drugs and he has over 30 years experience in this area.
Professor David Thurston
The London School of Pharmacy
University of London, London
Discovering new cancer drugs
Finding new drugs is a crucial area of research in the fight to beat cancer. Professor David Thurston at the London School of Pharmacy is searching for molecules that block signals encouraging cancer cells to grow and spread. He hopes to discover new drugs with fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapies, improving survival and quality of life for people with cancer.
Prof Paul Workman
Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics
The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton
Developing targeted cancer treatments
Professor Paul Workman is one of the UK's leading experts in the discovery and development of new cancer drugs. He coordinates teams of chemists, biologists and pharmacologists to take new drugs through into clinical trials. He is Director of the Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at The Institute of Cancer Research, which provides researchers with the very latest technologies for drug discovery.
Ovarian cancer
Prof Gordon Jayson
Translational Angiogenesis Laboratory
Christie Hospital NHS Trust, Manchester
New cancer treatments that block blood vessel growth
Gordon Jayson is Professor of Medical Oncology at the Christie Hospital in Manchester. His world-class research focuses on new cancer treatments that block blood vessel growth, starving tumours of essential nutrients and oxygen. Ultimately, his work is helping more women survive ovarian cancer.
Prof Stan Kaye
Section of Medicine
The Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton
Developing new cancer treatments
Professor Stan Kaye is Chairman of the Section of Medicine at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). He also leads the Drug Development Unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital. These two roles allow Professor Kaye to take new drugs discovered in the lab and test them in clinical trials in patients. In particular, his research focuses on ovarian cancer.
Pancreatic cancer
Prof Duncan Jodrell
Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute
University of Cambridge, Cambridge
Improving cancer treatments
Professor Duncan Jodrell is Professor of Cancer Therapeutics at the University of Cambridge. Professor Jodrell and his team are turning lab into improved treatments for a range of different cancers, including pancreatic cancer.
Professor Michael Shipman
Department of Chemistry
University of Warwick, Coventry
New drugs to treat pancreatic cancer
Professor Michael Shipman is developing a new type of drug to treat pancreatic cancer. He is Professor of Synthetic Chemistry at the University of Warwick.
Dr David Tuveson
Tumour Modelling & Experimental Medicine
Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute, Cambridge
New ways to treat pancreatic cancer
Dr David Tuveson is a leading expert investigating the biology and treatment of pancreatic cancer. He is and his team at Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute are using the latest genetic techniques to find new ways to treat the disease. Pancreatic cancer has been recognised by Cancer Research UK as an area that urgently needs more research, and Dr Tuveson’s work will help to meet our goal of improving survival.
Prostate cancer
Prof Gareth Williams
Cancer Research UK Chromosomal Replication Research Group
Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College London, London
Understanding how cells divide, and improving cancer treatment and detection
Based at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research in London, Professor Gareth Williams and his team are investigating how a group of proteins work together to allow DNA to be copied, a process called DNA replication. His research could also help to find new ways to diagnose cancers such as prostate and bladder cancer.
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