￡4m funding renewal for lung cancer research in Manchester and London

By Sophie Wedekind .

Scientists at our Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence (LCCE) in Manchester and London will continue their groundbreaking research with up to ￡4m of funding support from ScottishPower.?

Our renewed funding will sustain the LCCE for the next five years, generously supported by ScottishPower, who have already raised more than ￡40m to support our work. That means our researchers across?Manchester and at UCL in London will be able to keep up their focus on how best to prevent, diagnose and treat lung cancer, which is the third most common cancer in the UK.

"We’re thrilled ScottishPower will support the CRUK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence. It’s a privilege to have them as one of our longest standing corporate partners. We’re incredibly proud of what our work together has achieved over the last 12 years and what have big ambitions for what it will achieve in the future." - Michelle Mitchell, our chief executive

The LCCE, led by Professors Caroline Dive and Charles Swanton, was established in 2014 as a key component of our renewed focus on tackling the unique complexities of lung cancer. Over the past decade, it has become a hub of incredible research developments, playing a role in findings like those of our TRACERx study,?which showed that air pollution can cause inflammation leading to non-small cell lung cancer, a discovery which will have significant implications for public health and prevention strategies.?

And, since funding for the LCCE was last renewed in 2019, its researchers have developed more than 15 computational tools to help understand how tumours evolve over time. These include blood tests to analyse the immune system and reveal the genetic changes driving lung cancer. Advances like these could help save lives by allowing doctors to diagnose the disease earlier, when treatments are most likely to be effective.

The LCCE’s research builds on and intersects with longstanding expertise in Manchester and London, including teams based at the Cancer Research UK National Biomarker Centre, the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, The University of Manchester, The Christie, University College London, and the Francis Crick Institute.?

"We are thrilled that the Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence’s funding has been renewed. It’s fantastic recognition of the hard and tireless work of researchers in Manchester tackling a disease which remains a significant cause of cancer death in this region. Lung cancer patients nationwide are now benefitting from the world class research and medical expertise which will lead to better ways of early detection and more effective treatment which saves lives." - Professor Caroline Dive, interim director of the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute

Collaboration is key

Lung cancer is a global issue, and the LCCE also works with international partners to power advances that help people in the UK and around the world. For example, researchers at the centre have been at the forefront of Europe’s efforts in lung cancer screening, influencing national policies on early lung cancer detection. ?

The LCCE has also made it possible for our researchers to collaborate with experts from the USA, Germany, Canada and Australia on clinical trials, data sharing and new approaches to lung cancer diagnosis and treatment. ?

“From uncovering the causes of lung cancer to pioneering drugs to treat it, we are powering progress in the fight against the disease,” said Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK.?

“But we must go further and faster. This latest cash injection for the Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence will help to increase the pace of research, unlocking lung cancer’s secrets and offering hope to the many thousands of people diagnosed with this devastating disease.”?

Rebecca’s story

Rebecca, who lives in Salford, Greater Manchester, has welcomed the renewed funding. She understands the devastating impact of lung cancer, having lost her mum, Lesley, to the disease just two months after she was diagnosed.?

“It was devastating to lose my mum to lung cancer. Particularly as she died so quickly after being diagnosed,” she said.?

“As someone who has supported Cancer Research UK by fundraising at events like Race for Life, I am so heartened to see considerable investment in tackling the disease which killed my mum.?

“The research expertise in Manchester [and London] sounds amazing and gives my family such hope for the future.”?