'Your support is already making a difference.'
'It is thanks to donations from alumni and friends that we were able to open the Bladder Cancer Research Centre (BCRC) in November 2020, dedicated to working towards better diagnosis and treatment for the disease,' says Dr Rik Bryan.
'Since then, thanks to our supporters, we have been able to secure significant additional funding, seize commercial opportunities, develop new partnerships, attract talented students and publish high impact research. This is despite a challenging climate, with research funders under significant pressure and many clinical trials on hold. I am excited to see the benefits for patients over the next five years, as we continue to research and innovate.'
The BCRC one year on
The core themes of the BCRC, which were put in place at launch in November 2020, are:
Find out more about each below.
Genomics and bioinformatics
The team’s expertise in this field has led to significant funding from pharma, to undertake the detailed DNA and RNA analysis of over 200 tumours from the upper urinary tract in paternership with the Institute of Cancer research, London. These tumours are very closely related to bladder cancer itself but have been typically poorly-researched and poorly-treated. This research adds to our ongoing participation in the POUT trial and allows clinicians to better select the right treatment for the right patient.
Research into the DNA and RNA changes associated with bladder cancer, and contributions to international research efforts, have led to a preliminary approach to the detailed subtyping of bladder cancers. Such detailed ‘subtyping’ may allow patients to be treated more or less aggressively even though such tumours appear the same under the microscope. These subtypes continue to be developed, working with international partners to develop the clinical trials which will be needed before such subtyping can be used routinely.
More fundamental ‘deep dives’ into the complexities of the DNA and RNA changes associated with bladder cancer continue to reveal new or novel characteristics, which will give us even more detailed information about bladder cancer biology. Extending this research through recently-obtained funding, these findings may represent the biomarkers of the future, either for diagnosing disease or for determining how patients should be treated, or even as the basis for the development of new drugs.
Proteomics and Biomarkers
The BCRC have partnered with Nonacus Limited, a provider of genetic testing products for precision medicine and liquid biopsy, to develop a non-invasive test for bladder cancer.
This urine test has multiple possibilities for bladder cancer patients across the spectrum of disease, as well as for disease screening in the future, and the partnership aims to develop and roll this out across the NHS. This could mean that tens of thousands of patients no longer have to undergo an uncomfortable camera inspection of the bladder if they develop symptoms suspicious for bladder cancer (blood in urine), and we are seeking funding from Cancer Research UK to formally assess this.
Novel therapeutics
The search for new drugs for bladder cancer continues, now with 10 very promising ‘compounds’ ready for further development. A recent successful funding application will permit this work to continue towards early phase clinical trials in humans, and work with a US pharma company has been highly successful, and we have been invited by them to expand this work.
Clinical research and clinical trials
This has been most impacted by COVID-19, including delays to the recruitment of patients to our ‘BladderPath’ trial. However an initial publication, proposing trials for a faster treatment pathway, has gained much attention and the trial is now able to recruit patients again.
An outstanding team is developing, with a new PhD student from China using bioinformatics and our existing data to research a very specific important ‘niche’ of genomics, and a second PhD student from Saudi Arabia utilising our extensive collection of samples kindly donated by West Midlands bladder cancer patients to develop novel approaches for detecting tumour DNA in the bloodstream. They are joined by a new clinical fellow studying the activity of new drugs in ‘real-life’ tumours donated by patients and grown in the laboratory.
How you can support research into cancer
Find out about further ways you can support preventing and treating cancer through innovative University of Birmingham research including: