Scottish Brain Cancer Scientists To Share In £8M

SCOTLAND is to share in £8m funding from Cancer Research UK to find new and better ways to tackle brain tumours.

The Cancer Research UK Glioma Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence will receive £4.7m to boost its work to understand the disease and find new treatments.

Around 12,700 people are diagnosed with a brain, central nervous system or intracranial tumour in the UK each year* including around 1,100 in Scotland.** With almost 2 in 10 surviving their disease for 5 years or more, finding new ways to tackle this type of cancer crucial.***

Cancer Research UK scientists

The Centre of Excellence, which is a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and University College London, was set up in 2018 with the aim of changing the landscape for adult and children’s gliomas.

Gliomas are cancerous brain tumours which start in glial cells, the supporting cells of the brain and spinal cord. A particularly devastating type of glioma is a glioblastoma, which currently has few treatment options, and which the researchers are particularly focused on finding new solutions for. Brain tumours have a low survival rate with little progress made in improving treatments over the last 50 years.

While children’s cancer survival has doubled in the last 50 years, there has been little progress for youngsters with brain tumours.

The new funding will allow the centre to focus on gaining a deeper understanding of what causes brain tumours to begin, to grow and how they become resistant to treatment as well as develop new treatments.

The University of Edinburgh is a world leader in neuroscience and cancer research and works closely with the Experimental Cancer Medicines Centre (ECMC) in the city, which Cancer Research UK, co-funds, to run clinical trials for patients.

Professor Steve Pollard at the University of Edinburgh, co-lead of the Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence, said:

“This new funding will be particularly important in helping to stimulate new collaborations, bringing teams with distinct expertise together, and training the next generation of brain cancer researchers.”

A further £3.2m will go to the Children’s Brain Tumour Centre of Excellence at the University of Cambridge and The Institute of Cancer Research, London, where the focus is on brain tumours which specifically affect children and young people.

The two centres were created in 2018 with Cancer Research UK funding to accelerate progress by building world-leading research communities in brain tumours and boost efforts to find new treatments.

Dr Catherine Elliott, Director of Research at Cancer Research UK, said:

“Brain tumour survival remains low and has changed little in over a generation which is why this cancer of unmet need is a key priority for Cancer Research UK.

“Progress has been made but more needs to be done to find new and better ways to tackle this devastating cancer.

“New treatments can’t come soon enough for both adults and children with brain tumours, so we're delighted to be sharing this positive news during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.  

“People across Scotland have every right to feel proud of the world-class research taking place on their doorstep, that they’ve helped make possible by their generosity and commitment to the cause.”  

*Based on the average annual number of new cases of brain, other CNS and intracranial tumours (ICD10 C70-C72, C75.1-C75.3, D32-D33, D35.2-D35.4, D42-D43, D44.3-D44.5) diagnosed in the United Kingdom in the years 2017-2019.

**Based on the average annual number of new cases of brain, other CNS and intracranial tumours (ICD10 C70-C72, C75.1-C75.3, D32-D33, D35.2-D35.4, D42-D43, D44.3-D44.5) diagnosed in Scotland in the years 2017-2019.

***Based on 5-year non-age-standardised net survival for brain and other CNS tumours, (ICD10 C70-C72, C75.1-C75.3) in people aged 15-99. https://crukcancerintelligence.shinyapps.io/CancerStatsDataHub/. Accessed September 2024