| Dear Voornaam, Welcome to your June newsletter. I hope you and your families are keeping well during this time. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, our mission to beat cancer remains our top priority. Cancer patients across the country have been severely affected by COVID-19, and we as a charity will not be able to fully focus on our mission until COVID-19 is under control. We have the skills and expertise to assist with the national effort and we are proud to be partnering with LifeArc on the phase II/III SPIKE1 clinical trial to test whether camotstat, licenced for chronic pancreatitis, can be repurposed to treat COVID-19.
This trial, fully funded by LifeArc, is a collaboration between our Centre for Drug Development (CDD), Latus Therapeutics and The University of Edinburgh. CDD has contributed logistical and clinical expertise to support the management of this trial. CDD’s involvement demonstrates how we can actively contribute to the pandemic without compromising cancer patient care, with all cancer patients continuing treatment on CDD’s phase I trials.
This month, we celebrate the success of the 4 inaugural AACR-CRUK Transatlantic Fellows, read about the most recent publications from the TRACERx consortium and finally, warm congratulations to Axel Beherns on his appointment as the new Scientific Director of the CRUK Convergence Science Centre.
Kind regards, Iain Foulkes Executive Director, Research & Innovation Cancer Research UK |
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| | | EARLY CAREER RESEARCHER, ESTABLISHED INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER, MID-CAREER RESEARCHER, NON-CLINICAL RESEARCHER, CLINICIAN, INDUSTRY RESEARCHER 30 July 2020 |
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| | | MID-CAREER RESEARCHER, ESTABLISHED INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER, CLINICIAN, NON-CLINICAL RESEARCHER 20 August 2020 |
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| | | ESTABLISHED INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER, CLINICIAN, NON-CLINICAL RESEARCHER 20 August 2020 |
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 OUR CLINICAL EXPERTISE SUPPORTS A COVID-19 TRIAL The phase II/III SPIKE1 clinical trial will test whether camostat, a drug used for chronic pancreatitis, can help control symptoms in people with COVID-19 and prevent them going to hospital. This trial, which is fully funded by LifeArc, is a collaboration between our Centre for Drug Development (CDD), Latus Therapeutics and The University of Edinburgh. The SPIKE1 partners have used the CDD’s logistical and clinical trials expertise to expedite trial development and get it off the ground. |
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|  TRACERx COLLECTION LAUNCHED ON NATURE WEBSITE TRACERx, CRUK’s largest single investment in lung cancer research, is revealing remarkable insights into tumour evolution. The study compares molecular changes in tumour and immune cells, across multiple tumour regions, as the tumour progresses. The collection in Nature compiles a suite of the TRACERx consortium’s most recent papers, presenting insights and analyses from the first 100 people enrolled in the study. |
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 THE INAUGURAL AACR-CRUK TRANSATLANTIC FELLOWS Four exceptional early-career researchers have been awarded the prestigious AACR-CRUK Transatlantic Fellowship - a great opportunity to accelerate their independence and fast-track their research careers. Over the next 4 years, they will establish their own postdoctoral research programme at world-leading research institutions in the UK and US. The recipients of the award are: - Alejandro Jiménez-Sánchez (CRUK Cambridge Institute)
- Geylani Can (The Gurdon Institute, Cambridge)
- Hadley Sheppard (Baylor College of Medicine)
- Justin (Ching Ting) Loke (The University of Birmingham)
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|  SUPPORTING CLINICAL ACADEMIC TRAINEES AFTER COVID-19 Clinical academic training has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 1,500 trainees in the UK responding to the national effort by returning to full-time clinical duties.
To support trainees' return from the front line and ensure they achieve optimal career progression, we have signed up to the principles set out by the Clinical Academic Training Forum's subgroup which provides a set of practical approaches for institutions and organisations. |
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| | SURVEY: COVID-19 IMPACT ON RESEARCHERS The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Vitae are surveying researchers on the implications of the pandemic on research. They are particularly interested in the perspective of principal investigators and leaders of research groups. Results from the survey will inform potential interventions to protect researchers, research institutions and facilities, and in the longer term sustain research and innovation activity in the UK.
Please take 15-20 minutes to share your experience by completing the survey by Tuesday, 9 June. |
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 CANCER DETECTION SCIENTISTS INNOVATE COVID-19 TESTING In a recently published article, we spoke with 2 researchers who have pivoted from working on early detection of cancer to developing tests for COVID-19.
Elizabeth Soilleux – senior university lecturer and honorary consultant pathologist at Addenbrooke’s and the University of Cambridge – and Geylani Can – new recipient of an AACR-CRUK fellowship and researcher at Harvard Medical School – discuss the molecular detection techniques they’ve used and how research into COVID-19 might benefit cancer research in the long term. |
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|  LINEAGE THERAPEUTICS PROCESSING CDD PROJECTS Lineage Cell Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has exercised its option to acquire data from CDD’s phase I clinical trial of VAC2 (an allogeneic dendritic cell therapy platform) in non-small cell lung cancer. The phase I cancer study will continue, and, in addition, we will provide input on the potential use of the VAC platform in the infectious disease space to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. |
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 TUMOUR HETEROGENEITY IN OVARIAN CANCER Treatment for advanced ovarian cancer is complex with differing responses occurring in different tumour sites within the same person.
Using immunogenomic analysis on patient tumour samples, CRUK Cambridge Institute researchers, Dr Martin Miller and Dr Alejandro Jiménez-Sánchez, in collaboration with researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, have demonstrated that advanced ovarian cancer is intrinsically heterogeneous with multiple distinct tumour-immune microenvironments co-existing in a patient. Chemotherapy inducing local immune activation, suggests chemotherapy and immunotherapy combination as a potential treatment option for ovarian cancer patients with advanced disease. |
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|  LIPID METABOLISM IN PROSTATE CANCER RESISTANCE Androgen receptor inhibitors for prostate cancer treatment improves patient outcomes in clinic. However, over time, these treatments can cause relapse and progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).
Beatson Institute researchers, Professor Hing Leung and Dr Arnaud Blomme, have published new data in Nature Communications that identified 2,4-dienoyl-CoA reductase (DECR1) as a clinically relevant biomarker for CRPC. In vivo experiments demonstrated DECR1, which regulates cell liquid metabolism, as a potential therapeutic target for CRPC. |
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| | COLLABORATE WITH OUR IMMUNO-ONCOLOGY ALLIANCE Are you working in immuno-oncology and have you identified a potential target?
Our immuno-oncology alliance with Ono Pharmaceutical and LifeArc is driving forward with the translation of discovery science into new immunotherapies for cancer patients. We are keen to work with immuno-oncology researchers who have identified a potential target or platform technology to identifying targets. Visit our webpage for more information and get in touch if you have an idea you would like to discuss. |
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