£5.5m successful funding award for Centre for Trials Research

Researchers are set to receive a major cash boost for pioneering research into cancer.

Cancer Research UK is investing more than £5.5m over the next five years in ground-breaking work at the Centre for Trials Research.

The grant will allow doctors and scientists to continue researching and testing better and kinder treatments for patients.

The Centre for Trials Research combines world-class research and medical expertise to provide the best possible results for cancer patients.

The Centre for Trials Research at Cardiff University is home to leading academics including researchers, trial managers, data managers and statisticians and has the largest group of academic clinical trials staff in Wales.

Research includes the AML19 trial for young adults with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) – an aggressive type of blood cancer.

Every day, around 52 people are diagnosed with cancer in Wales.

Cancer Research UK’s Cancer Trials Units specialise in the design, delivery and analysis of trials that bring the latest scientific developments to patients all over the UK. They are a vital part of the charity’s research network, helping shape the clinical research landscape in the UK and internationally.

The Cancer Trials Units aim to bring better treatments to cancer patients in the UK faster through both adult and children’s networks.

The latest funding announcement follows a major review by the charity of all its Cancer Research UK Cancer Trials Units. This has resulted in £45million being invested into eight units across the UK, one of the charity’s largest investments in clinical research to date.

The review was conducted by an international panel of experts and the competition was fierce.

Ruth Amies, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Wales, said: “This crucial investment recognises the fantastic research taking place in Cardiff. It ensures researchers can take full advantage of our most promising scientific discoveries and translate them into new tests and treatments for patients.

“One-in-two of us will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lives - so it’s reassuring to know that, thanks to our supporters, Cancer Research UK is able to fund some of the best and most promising research here in Wales, to help more people survive.

Ruth continued: “There are so many ways to support Cancer Research UK’s lifesaving work, from signing up to Walk All Over Cancer in March to entering Race for Life, with events taking place at locations all around Wales from May through to September; or giving time to volunteer in our shops.”

“Survival has doubled since the early 1970s and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress – but every step our doctors, nurses and scientists take relies on donations from the public and the tireless fundraising of our supporters.”

Public lecture - all welcome

Professor Richard Adams will be delivering his inaugural professorial lecture about evolving clinical research in bowel cancer on 22 March 2018, which is free and open to all members of the public. For more information and to register, please visit https://richardadams.eventbrite.co.uk