Cancer Research UK and its European partners, Fondazione AIRC and Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC), will invest £27.4 million into seven new international projects to accelerate lifesaving cancer research.  

The Cancer Research UK Accelerator Awards programme, which provides five years of funding for international projects, reflects a longstanding link between the UK and Europe, working together to drive progress for people affected by cancer.

The successful teams will develop new research tools, resources and infrastructure to improve scientists’ understanding of cancer, including rare and hard-to-treat cancers, helping to find better ways to treat them. Projects include investigating how to best combine radiotherapy with the latest immunotherapies, and refocussing research efforts on mesothelioma, an asbestos related cancer, of which cases continue to rise globally.

Dr Iain Foulkes, executive director of research and innovation at Cancer Research UK, said: “If current trends continue, the world will see a 60% increase in cancer cases over the next two decades. Cancer is a global problem and no one country can tackle it alone.

“Now the UK has left the European Union, the need to retain collaborative cancer research between the EU and the UK has never been greater. This partnership will also strengthen UK cancer research by the sharing of expertise, new technologies and research talent.”

Professor Paul French, a physicist based at Imperial College London, will lead one of the projects to improve the way we develop and test anti-cancer drugs in the lab.

Traditionally, drug discovery research has used thin ‘2D’ layers of cells that can be easily controlled and imaged on conventional microscopes. However, such simplified disease models don’t adequately represent the complex 3D cancer environment within the body.

Professor French said: “The complexity of cancer is beyond our current understanding and existing therapies. By developing technology to investigate more sophisticated 3D cancer models, which allow us to explore how drugs work on tumour cells interacting with their local environment, we could find new ways to overcome challenges like drug resistance.”

Professor Kevin Blyth, a clinician scientist based at the University of Glasgow, will lead another of the projects, focussed on finding better treatments for mesothelioma, an asbestos related cancer that most commonly starts in the layers of tissue that cover each lung and is very hard to treat. 

Professor Blyth said: “It’s been difficult to build a network of scientists, with enough cases of the disease to build a thorough understanding of how to best treat mesothelioma. And this has left people with the disease very few treatment options.  

“In the future it’s likely that the global incidence of mesothelioma will continue to increase, as there are many countries that still don’t regulate the use of asbestos. So, it’s important to build a research community now and improve our understanding to help those affected by this cancer.”

The Accelerator Awards bring together world-class researchers who would not previously have been able to work together, without the unique structure of this grant scheme. Each collaboration aims to deepen the research community’s understanding of cancer and bring people with cancer closer to new treatments, making use of the expertise and diverse technologies of different partner organisations.

About Cancer Research UK

• Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research.
• Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
• Cancer Research UK receives no funding from the UK government for its life-saving research. Every step it makes towards beating cancer relies on vital donations from the public.
• Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 40 years.
• Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK’s ambition is to accelerate progress so that by 2034, 3 in 4 people will survive their cancer for at least 10 years.
• Cancer Research UK supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
• Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK's vision is to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

For further information about Cancer Research UK's work or to find out how to support the charity, please call 0300 123 1022 or visit www.cancerresearchuk.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

AIRC| Fighting cancer with courage, since 1965

AIRC Foundation for cancer research supports innovative scientific projects thanks to a transparent and efficient fund- raising activity, disseminates scientific information and encourages a culture of cancer prevention at home, in schools, and everywhere possible.

Today AIRC can count on 4.5 million supporters, 20.000 volunteers, 17 regional committees, all over the country, to ensure the necessary resources to more than 5.000 researchers - of whom 55% are under 40s and 61% are females- working to make cancer ever more treatable. In more than 50 years of activity, AIRC allocated over €1,5 billion to cancer research (as of 1 January, 2020).

For further information airc.it

The AECC, 66 years of experience in the fight against cancer

The Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) has been the reference entity in the fight against cancer for 66 years. It dedicates its efforts to show the reality of cancer in Spain, to detect areas of improvement and to launch a process of social transformation that allows correcting them to obtain a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to cancer. Being next to people is in its DNA, so its work is also aimed at helping them to prevent cancer, to be with them and their relatives throughout all the disease process if they are diagnosed and to improve their future with the impulse to cancer research. In this sense, through its Scientific Foundation, the AECC brings together the social demand for cancer research, financing by tender cancer research programs of quality. Nowadays, it is the social and private entity that earmark most funds to cancer research: €70 million in 380 research projects.

The Association integrates patients, relatives, volunteers and professionals who work together to prevent, sensitize, accompany affected people and fund cancer research projects that will allow a better diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Structured in 52 Provincial Headquarters and present in more than 2,000 Spanish locations, it counts on more than 23,000 volunteers, more than 388,000 members and almost 1,000 professionals.