Trials staff join call for urgent investment in cancer research
Staff from the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit have joined scientists from across the world to call for urgent investment in vital cancer research.
SCTU Director, Professor Gareth Griffiths, is among more than 50 scientists and experts from around the world who have signed an open letter calling for a united global response to tackle cancer.
Also supporting the campaign is Senior Trial Manager Anna Song, who as well as working in cancer research has a very personal cancer story, describing her mum’s diagnosis of stage four breast cancer as a ‘ticking time-bomb’. She is appealing to the South’s philanthropists to invest in the life-saving research she carries out.
Anna is part of the team at the Cancer Research UK-funded Southampton Clinical Trials Unit who run clinical trials to identify the best new ways to detect and treat cancer and is backing the charity’s appeal calling for urgent support to overcome what her peers have penned as ‘the defining health issue of our time’.
Anna, who originally worked with young cancer patients as a clinical pharmacist, said: “When I was working with children on the paediatric oncology ward at University Hospital Southampton, it really pulled at your heart strings. Part of my role in checking and dispensing treatments was looking ahead to what future options there were available for these patients but sadly, there is a limit to what you can give them.
“It was then that I decided to work in research and focused on oncology because no matter what cancer people are facing, or who they are, we must have options.”
Anna was just a child herself when her mum, Janet, 62, was first diagnosed with breast cancer.
Anna said: “I watched her lose her hair and go through invasive surgery – a double mastectomy to reduce the risk of her cancer returning and it was a time that I grew up earlier than I perhaps would have done otherwise.
“Ten years later, when I was then working in clinical trials, she was re-diagnosed, this time with stage four breast cancer. My world fell apart and I booked a one-way ticket to America where she now lives, to be with her, not knowing when I would return.
“Thanks to the progress we have seen in treatment options and the access that she has to drugs in America, she is living well with her cancer and is regularly monitored, but it feels like a continual, ticking time-bomb.”
Latest analysis from Cancer Research UK reveals around 110,000 deaths could be avoided in the UK alone over the next two decades if cancer mortality rates are reduced by 15% by 2040.*
With cancer cases on the rise**, Cancer Research UK has launched the More Research, Less Cancer campaign, which aims to raise £400m to help accelerate progress in the fight against the disease.
Anna and a coalition of the world’s most renowned cancer researchers assert that we’re at a ‘tipping point’ that could transform how we understand and treat cancer – that requires a united and collective worldwide response on a par with COVID-19.
Having provided a hands-on role in the UK’s COVID-19 response herself, Anna has seen first-hand how investment can accelerate progress at a rapid rate.
Her current portfolio in thoracic oncology at the SCTU includes the Cancer Research UK-funded CONFIRM clinical trial, which led to practise changing results for mesothelioma patients - a hard-to-treat lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.
As a result of that trial, patients can now access an immunotherapy drug on the NHS and the findings are feeding into subsequent research in this area.
With so many incredible breakthroughs like this within our reach, Anna hopes future advances are not held back by a lack of funding.
Anna said: “We need earlier options for our cancer patients and we need them sooner because cancer affects everyone in some way. It might not right now, but it could be your friend, your relative or even you.”
Joining Professor Griffiths in the call for urgent investment in research is Professor Peter Johnson, professor of medical oncology at the University of Southampton.
Along with their fellow eminent scientists, they have penned a letter to the world to recruit those with “the means and vision to bring about a better world” to help tackle the disease.
Prof Griffiths said: “Ideas that were once science fiction, are becoming science fact. Now, we’re standing on the brink of discoveries like new blood tests that could detect cancer at an earlier stage, and algorithms that could predict someone’s cancer risk and stop it from developing in the first place. Discoveries that ultimately have the power to give millions in the South – and across the world – more time with their loved ones. That’s why I’m calling for more support and urging philanthropists to join the army of fundraisers and donors that power the charity’s life-saving research every day.
“Beating cancer will take scientists, researchers, clinicians and entrepreneurs joining forces across disciplines and continents. Together, we can go further and faster in the fight against the disease.”
The More Research, Less Cancer campaign will: support innovation that translates discoveries in the lab into revolutionary new tests and treatments; find and fund future leaders in cancer research; and unite global researchers to answer cancer’s toughest questions through the Cancer Grand Challenges initiative.
It comes at a time when philanthropists are being encouraged to give. Despite analysis by the Beacon Collaborative showing that generosity among wealthy people is increasing,*** a recent report by think-tank Onward pointed out that the wealthiest 10 per cent of households now donate half as much as a proportion of their income as those in the poorest 10 per cent, suggesting they could do much more to support charitable causes worldwide.****
Cancer Research UK says that, excluding research funded by industry, charities fund 62 per cent of cancer research in the UK, compared to government’s 38 per cent – reinforcing the critical importance of the public’s support.*****
Cancer Research UK spokesperson for the South East, Elisa Mitchell, said: “The more we understand about cancer, the more we understand the scale of the challenge. So, we’re grateful to Anna and Prof Griffiths for lending their voices to this ambitious campaign that could have far-reaching effects for people across the region.
“Nearly 1 in 2 of us will be diagnosed with cancer in our lifetime****** so, now more than ever, we need the support of every person and every pound. As the scientific community has underlined, beating cancer requires a collective effort. We’re grateful to all our supporters, fundraisers and donors for their generosity and the vital part they play in helping us to ensure more people can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.”
Visit cruk.org/more-research to find out more.
'More Research, Less Cancer' campaign video
Watch the Cancer Research UK More Research, Less Cancer campaign video, introduced by BBC journalist and breast cancer survivor, Victoria Derbyshire.
Notes for editors
The full ‘letter to the world’ can be found below and online here along with the other campaign website links.
* Calculated by the Cancer Intelligence team at Cancer Research UK, January 2024. Total deaths avoided for all cancers combined (ICD-10 C00-C97), UK persons, between 2023-25 and 2038-40. This figure is calculated as the difference between number of deaths estimated for this period and population a) if age-standardised mortality rates fall by 6% over the period as projected, and b) if age-standardised mortality rates fall by 15% over the period as per our Longer, better lives ambition (versus 2023-25 baseline: 4% fall by 2028-30, 9% fall by 2033-35, 15% fall by 2038-40).
** https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/worldwide-cancer/incidence
*** https://www.beaconcollaborative.org.uk/philanthropy-grows-again-in-2023/
**** See full report here: https://www.ukonward.com/reports/giving-back-better-unlocking-philanthropy/
***** cruk.org/manifesto
****** cruk.org/lifetimerisk
Scientists’ Letter to the World (See here for full list of signatories)
To those with the means and vision to bring about a better world,
Cancer is a defining health issue of our time. Globally, 18 million people are diagnosed with cancer every year. And 10 million die from the disease.*
The threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic required a massive global response. Cancer warrants the same urgency, focus and attention.
By 2040 – just 16 years from now - the number of cancer diagnoses globally is predicted to increase by 50%.* This represents an untold amount of pain and suffering to families across the world. Your help can change that.
As leading representatives of the global scientific and research community, we know we’re standing at a tipping point that could transform how we understand and overcome cancer.
Fuelled by advances in AI and technology, the next decade presents a unique opportunity to transform the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer for millions. That’s why we’ve come together to ask you to help accelerate a new golden age of cancer research.
With your support, we could develop new blood tests that detect cancer at an earlier stage. We could develop new algorithms that predict your cancer risk so we can halt cancer before it’s already begun. And we could develop new and better treatments for children's and young people's cancers so more young patients survive and do so without debilitating, life-long side effects.
Worldwide, the research and scientific community stands ready to make breakthroughs that are within our reach. But a lack of funding is holding us back.
This will take a united and collective effort. It will take scientists, researchers, clinicians and entrepreneurs working together across disciplines and continents. It will take constant technological innovation. It will take radical thinkers who are determined to fast-track progress. But to make this a reality: we need your help.
Philanthropic support allows us to be bolder and to take ideas from lab to clinic faster. It means we can take risks, challenge, innovate, seize opportunities and capitalise on international collaboration to improve and save millions of lives.
More support means more research. And more research means less cancer.
*ICD10 C00-C97 excl. C44, https://gco.iarc.fr/en Accessed January 2024
The Southampton Clinical Trials Unit is housed within the University of Southampton’s Centre for Cancer Immunology, the UK's first centre dedicated to cancer immunology research and which was funded entirely through generous philanthropic donations.
The University of Southampton (UoS) drives original thinking, turns knowledge into action and impact, and creates solutions to the world’s challenges. We are among the top 100 institutions globally (QS World University Rankings 2023). Our academics are leaders in their fields, forging links with high-profile international businesses and organisations, and inspiring a 22,000-strong community of exceptional students, from over 135 countries worldwide. Through our high-quality education, the University helps students on a journey of discovery to realise their potential and join our global network of over 200,000 alumni. Visit the University's website.
About Cancer Research UK
· Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading cancer charity dedicated to saving lives through research, influence and information.
· Cancer Research UK’s pioneering work into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer has helped save millions of lives.
· Cancer Research UK has been at the heart of the progress that has already seen survival in the UK double in the last 50 years.
· Today, 2 in 4 people survive their cancer for at least 10 years. Cancer Research UK wants to accelerate progress and see 3 in 4 people surviving their cancer by 2034.
· Cancer Research UK supports research into the prevention and treatment of cancer through the work of over 4,000 scientists, doctors and nurses.
· Together with its partners and supporters, Cancer Research UK is working towards a world where people can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
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.