Cambridge cancer researchers to get £22.5m boost

Prof Richard Gilbertson, from Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Centre, said the funding could make "the biggest difference" to patients

Scientists working on new ways to diagnose cancers are being given £22.5m from Cancer Research UK to help fund their work.

The money will be given to the charity's Cambridge Centre over the next five years.

It is intended to support the centre's advanced imaging capability, letting scientists look inside cancer cells in more detail and find new treatments.

Cambridge is one of seven centres each receiving substantial funding.

The charity said it was investing £100m over five years into the seven centres.

They will form what the charity describes as "a unique chain of cutting-edge research hubs around the UK".

The centres in the new network will be Cambridge, City of London, Convergence Science, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford and Scotland.

"The seven funded centres are central to our ambition to beat cancer, providing a key link between laboratory research and patient-focused studies," Michelle Mitchell, Cancer Research UK's chief executive officer, said.

The money will be used to accelerate work into diagnosing a wide range of cancers in children and adults at a much earlier stage, including pancreatic, ovarian and children's cancers.

Prof Richard Gilbertson, director of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, said: "We've had a challenging year and Covid-19 has slowed us down.

"But we will not stop working hard to find new treatments for cancer, and this investment will give us the tools we need to deliver high quality research that will make the biggest difference for patients."

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