Experimental cancer therapy research continues at Birmingham

New and innovative ways to detect and treat cancer being trialled at Birmingham are to receive renewed funding from Cancer Research UK and the NIHR.

16 January 2023

Male scientist looking into microscope at assay — The funding will enable continued research into experimental cancer treatments.

New and innovative ways to detect and treat cancer being trialled at the University of Birmingham are to receive renewed funding from Cancer Research UK and the NIHR.

The Birmingham Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC), jointly funded by Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research in England, provides world-leading expertise in the development of innovative cancer trials. New funding will enable the Birmingham ECMC to continue to conduct the highest quality trials into experimental treatments for cancer over the next five years.

The centre aims to be an integrated translational hub for cancer research in Birmingham and brings together the University of Birmingham’s global expertise in cancer research and strength in clinical trials to deliver accelerated patient benefit regionally, across the ECMC network and globally.

The centre is part of world-leading cancer research infrastructure in Birmingham alongside the Birmingham Cancer Research Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU) and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. The funding enables the University of Birmingham, working closely together with organisations across the Birmingham Health Partners network, to focus on three themes in experimental cancer medicine: Precision Medicine, Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarker-driven patient stratification.

Gary Middleton, Professor of Medical Oncology and Centre Director for the Birmingham Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre said:

“Thanks to the funding from Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research we will be able to continue to design and deliver trials that have the power to make a huge difference to the lives of cancer patients.

“Over the past five years we have already made significant advances in precision medicine for cancer including through the National Lung Matrix trial. With renewed funding we will be able to drive forward the next generation of these studies, offering access to personalised therapies to cancer patients in the West Midlands and across the national ECMC network.”

With renewed funding we will be able to drive forward the next generation of these studies.
Gary Middleton, Professor of Medical Oncology and Centre Director for the Birmingham Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre

National Lung Matrix trial

A pioneering lung cancer study, led by the University of Birmingham’s Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit, has highlighted important factors that will need to be considered in the next wave of precision medicine studies particularly in treating genomically complicated cancers.

Using an innovative trial design that incorporates multiple treatment arms, NLMT allows for a more flexible and informed approach than traditional clinical trials. Each arm tests a different targeted treatment matched to a different genetic subtype of NSCLC.

Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK, Dr Iain Foulkes, said:

“We are proud to be supporting an expansion of our successful ECMC network, bringing together vast medical and scientific expertise to translate the latest scientific discoveries from the lab into the clinic.

"The ECMC network is delivering the cancer treatments of the future, bringing new hope to people affected by cancer. The trials taking place today will give the next generation the best possible chance of beating cancer.

Chief Executive of the NIHR, Professor Lucy Chappell, said: 

“The ECMC Network is a vital strategic investment in the UK’s cancer research community, bringing together top scientists and clinicians to tackle some of the biggest scientific challenges in cancer and improve outcomes for patients.

“Through this route, we enable more people to join trials that could help them. The ECMC Network will give access to brand new experimental treatments for patients, including children and young people, paving the way for these treatments to be used in the clinic one day. This is a crucial part of NIHR’s work, and enables more people to join trials that might help them. We are proud to be partnering with Cancer Research UK and the Little Princess Trust in funding this network.”

Building on success

Birmingham is part of a network of 17 ECMCs across the UK, funded by Cancer Research UK and the NIHR, which deliver clinical trials of promising new treatments. Since 2007, when the network was first established, around 30,000 patients have taken part in 2,100 trials.

The funding will allow new, experimental treatments - including immunotherapies - for a wide variety of cancers to be developed, as well as improve existing treatments.

ECMCs work in conjunction with local NHS facilities to provide access to cutting-edge cancer treatments. Testing these treatments helps to establish new ways of detecting and monitoring the disease and to evaluate how it responds to the treatment.

DETERMINE

The University of Birmingham is part of a newly announced partnership which is running a multi-drug, precision medicine platform trial for adults and children with rare cancers who have run out of other treatment options.

The DETERMINE trial is one of the largest precision medicine platform trials targeting these populations and it will enrol patients who have an identifiable genetic alteration in their cancer that can be targeted by treatments that are already approved for use in other cancer types.

The trial is aiming to recruit patients with rare adult and paediatric cancers, as well as more common cancers with rare genetic alterations that could be targeted by the drugs being studied in the trial.

Notes for editors

For media enquiries please contact Tim Mayo, Press Office, University of Birmingham, tel: +44 (0)7920 405040: email:
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries.
The University of Birmingham is a founding member of Birmingham Health Partners (BHP), a strategic alliance which transcends organisational boundaries to rapidly translate healthcare research findings into new diagnostics, drugs and devices for patients. Birmingham Health Partners is a strategic alliance between seven organisations who collaborate to bring healthcare innovations through to clinical application:
- University of Birmingham
- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
- Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Aston University
- The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
- West Midlands Academic Health Science Network

About the National Institute for Health and Care Research

The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:

Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.

NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.

Featured staff

Professor Gary Middleton
Professor of Medical Oncology
Staff profile for Professor Gary Middleton, Professor of Medical Oncology in the Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham.
Phone: +44 (0) 121 414 7144 (PA)
Email: g.middleton@bham.ac.uk