Experimental cancer treatments funding boost

King's Health Partners (KHP) Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) has had its funding renewed for the next five years.

ECMCs are funded by Cancer Research UK and the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). They deliver early phase clinical trials, with the aim of generating new treatments for cancer patients. 

The unit, based in the NIHR Guy's and St Thomas' Clinical Research Facility, has been awarded a total of £2.5m. Recent ECMC trials have tested therapies discovered in King's College London laboratories.

The awarding panel concluded that King’s Health Partners ECMC is “performing impressively in all areas.” The ECMC enables more people to join trials that might help them, bringing new hope where standard treatment hasn’t worked.

In total - £40.8 million will be provided for clinical trials and associated translational research into adult cancers at 17 adult ECMCs in Belfast, Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Southampton and five locations in London – Barts NHS Trust, Imperial NHS Foundation Trust, King’s Health Partners, University College London and a joint centre between the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

Since 2007, when the ECMC network was first established, 30,000 patients have taken part in 2,100 clinical trials of promising new cancer treatments.

Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK, Dr Iain Foulkes, said:

We are proud to be supporting an expansion of our successful ECMC network, bringing together vast medical and scientific expertise to translate the latest scientific discoveries from the lab into the clinic. 

The ECMC network is delivering the cancer treatments of the future, bringing new hope to people affected by cancer. The trials taking place today will give the next generation the best possible chance of beating cancer. 

The adult and paediatric ECMC networks will offer clinical trials for many different types of cancer. Researchers will be working to find new treatments and tackle the unique challenges presented by cancers in children and young people. Working with our partners, this new funding will bring hope for more effective, personalised therapies for everyone affected by cancer.

Chief Executive of the NIHR, Prof Lucy Chappell, said: 

The ECMC Network is a vital strategic investment in the UK’s cancer research community, bringing together top scientists and clinicians to tackle some of the biggest scientific challenges in cancer and improve outcomes for patients.

Through this route, we enable more people to join trials that could help them. The ECMC Network will give access to brand new experimental treatments for patients, including children and young people, paving the way for these treatments to be used in the clinic one day. This is a crucial part of NIHR’s work, and enables more people to join trials that might help them. We are proud to be partnering with Cancer Research UK and the Little Princess Trust in funding this network.

The UK has considerable strengths in cancer research. We will continue to back life-saving research for the thousands of adult and children patients affected by cancer every year.

Minister of State for Health, Helen Whately, said:

A cancer diagnosis can be devastating but the earlier the diagnosis, the better the chance to treat it and beat it. We are already picking up more cancers early by screening but we can do even better. 

This partnership between Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Little Princess Trust will fund innovative trials that could lead to new life-saving treatments.  

Every life lost to cancer is devastating and I’m pleased that across the country, people will be given renewed hope – especially children and young people – that we can beat this awful disease.