Ahead of World Cancer Day on February, Public Health Minister Nicola Blackwood highlighted the importance of UK scientific research to beating cancer during a visit to the Churchill Hospital. The Public Health and Innovation Minister saw state-of-the-art clinical trials and facilities for new cancer treatments and patients, both supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research … Read more
News for Multi-Modal Cancer Therapies
Monitoring prostate cancer “as effective as surgery”
Active monitoring of prostate cancer is as effective as surgery and radiotherapy, in terms of survival at 10 years, reports the largest study of its kind, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Results published in New England Journal of Medicine today, show that all three treatments result in similar, and very low, … Read more
Discoveries offer hope for managing ovarian cancer
Oxford University researchers have found a way to detect ovarian cancer early and identified an enzyme that is key in making ovarian cancer more deadly. Their results, published in two journals and co-funded by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, provide new research routes for scientists trying to detect and beat the disease. Ovarian cancer … Read more
Rare mutations in bowel cancer may identify patients with a better prognosis
An international collaboration between the University of Oxford and other European institutions has uncovered a correlation between a rare mutation in bowel cancers and a better prognosis, raising the possibility that patients with such tumours may not require chemotherapy after surgery. The study focused on colorectal (bowel) cancers and examined the presence of mutations in … Read more
Data debate video and podcast now online
A video of an hour-long debate on issues around mass sharing of patient data to support research and improve patient care can now be viewed online. “Good to share? Data, research, privacy and the NHS” was held as part of the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre’s Public Open Day – Celebrating Biomedical Research on April … Read more
Prostate cancer vaccine trial seeks volunteers
Oxford University scientists have started a clinical trial to test a new vaccine against prostate cancer and are looking for volunteers to take part. The first four participants have already received this experimental vaccine at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, and the second trial site has just been opened at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in … Read more
New clinical trial to tackle hard-to-treat leukaemia
A new clinical trial at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital plans to study the safety of a new experimental drug to treat a form of leukaemia, called Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). Acute myeloid leukaemia is the most common aggressive blood cancer and there are about 2,200 new cases in the UK each year. It can be hard … Read more
Precision medicine boost for Oxford
Oxford is today named as a centre for excellence leading the drive to tailor more treatments to the needs of individual patients. A Precision Medicine Catapult centre will be established in Oxford bringing together business and research to develop new products and services. This project will be led by the Oxford Academic Health Science Network … Read more
BRC supports herpes virus cancer trial
THE NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre has supported research that found a genetically engineered herpes virus can halt the progression of skin cancer. Patients from Oxford’s Churchill Hospital took part in the landmark clinical trial, which comprised 64 worldwide centres. It found the virus can kill cancer cells and spark the immune system into action … Read more
Gene sequencing test for cancer patients on the NHS
The first multi-gene DNA sequencing test that can help predict cancer patients’ responses to treatment has been launched in the National Health Service (NHS), thanks to a partnership between scientists at the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. The test uses the latest DNA sequencing techniques to detect mutations across 46 genes … Read more