Cancer patients will have more access to clinical trials of personalized treatments after increased funding for specialized medical centers designed to make new treatments available as quickly as possible.
Physicians and scientists at 29 Experimental Cancer Medical Centers (ECMCs) in the UK will receive £43m in new funding over the next five years to test new treatments for children and adults. These include drugs that encourage the immune system to attack tumors or prevent cancer cells from growing.
The center-wide trial will analyze the genetic makeup of patients’ tumors and test therapeutics that target disease-causing mutations to assess how effective more individualized therapy might be. increase.
Cancer Research UK’s Dr Iain Foulkes said the expansion of the ECMC network will bring together “a vast amount of medical and scientific expertise” to translate the latest scientific discoveries into clinical treatments.
“The ECMC network is delivering cancer treatments of the future and bringing new hope to people living with cancer. Let’s go,” he said.
Twelve of the centers specialize in cancers that affect children and adolescents, presenting “unique challenges” for clinicians, Foulkes said. “Working with our partners, this new funding brings hope for more effective and personalized treatments for everyone with cancer,” he added.
About 4,200 children and young people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer each year. If early clinical trials show the efficacy of a new drug, it could become a future treatment for younger generations.
Among the potential treatments lined up for testing are drugs that unleash the power of the immune system. Some tumors produce proteins that disable T cells that can destroy cancer. But drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, which are already used to treat skin and lung cancers, prevent this and allow immune cells to engage the tumor again. By sequencing the genetic makeup of a tumor, doctors can identify which patients are most likely to benefit from treatment.
Another group of drugs being tested at the center are known as mTOR inhibitors. In some cancers, the mTOR protein is switched on, causing cell proliferation and the generation of new blood cells needed to nourish the growing tumor. An industry-supported Phase 2 trial of vistusertib in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, supported by CRUK and ECMC and managed by the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden, London, is ongoing.
Adult cancer centers in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Birmingham and London have £40.8 million in clinical trials over the next five years through a partnership with the UK’s National Cancer Institute. health Care Research (NIHR) and Little Princess Trust.
A further £2.2m will go to 12 pediatric ECMCs across the UK, increasing the total budget to £6.6m over five years. The funding will help centers in Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and more hire new researchers, including nurses and data specialists.
NIHR Chief Executive Professor Lucy Chappell said ECMC is a “significant strategic investment” in the UK cancer research community. “Through this route, more people will be able to participate in trials that can help them,” she said. and paves the way for these treatments to one day be used in clinics.”
Phil Brace of The Little Princess Trust said: Since 2016, the Little Princess Trust has funded research aimed at improving outcomes with targeted, less toxic treatments for children and adolescents with cancer. We’ve made progress, but we still have work to do. ”
