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Cancer Biology and Therapeutics

Identifying therapeutic targets based on understanding underlying mechanisms of cancer biology.
  • A smiling female cancer patient wearing a headscarf, standing with a nurse

    From bench to bedside in cancer research

    We are applying our stand-out expertise in cancer biology at the molecular and cellular level, to inform our leading clinical research, which is truly making a difference to patient cancer therapeutics and care.

    The integration of patient-centred, biologically informed clinical trials working alongside our teams at the forefront of data science enables the rapid pursuit of emerging discoveries and the translation of these into clinical practice.

  • A researcher wearing a white coat and purple latex gloves working in a lab

    With cancer cases expected to reach 28 million annually by 2040, our expertise in cancer biology and therapeutics is crucial. Understanding DNA repair mechanisms and leading Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials, we’re pioneering personalised treatments and reshaping the landscape of cancer care.

We’ve got to find ways of identifying something that might become a cancer before it becomes a cancer, then we have got to find ways of intervening. That is where the relationship between the amazing laboratory research that is happening here, and in other places, meets the trials unit. When you put the two together, you have clinical trials that are very rich in discovery science that can help us, not just find better treatments for now, but find new ways of addressing the disease for the future.

Professor Amos Burke
Director of Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit
  • Dr Claire Shannon-Lowe speaking into a microphone on The Curiosity Vault podcast

    How can we cure cancer?

    There are more than 200 different types of cancer, and despite new drugs and treatments making incredible progress over the years, according to Cancer Research UK, cancer still causes around 167,000 deaths a year. The fight is far from over. Two scientists on the cutting-edge of cancer research – Dr Suzanne Gatz and Dr Claire Shannon-Lowe talk to Dr Alice Roberts on The Curiosity Vault podcast.

    Watch The Curiosity Vault

Meet our researchers

  • A smiling child wearing a headscarf looking up at a nurse

    Advancing treatments for children with cancer

    Simon Gates, Professor of Biostatistics and Clinical Trials at the University of Birmingham and senior lead author of the paper said:

    “These are very exciting results that hopefully get us closer to finding treatments for children who develop neuroblastomas. Currently, the outcomes are really poor for children who get this horrible cancer and so even seemingly small increases in the chance that a patient is going to be able to shrink their tumours is significant.

    “We are delighted that the BEACON trial has helped to shape treatment for children with relapsed and refractory neuroblastoma going forward.”

    Read more about the BEACON trial

Research centres

  • Postgraduate study

    Find out about postgraduate courses in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Sciences.

Cancer Biology and Therapeutics news