Academic Consortia

Following the success of Senectus Therapeutics Ltd and a second Cancer Research UK funded consortium around the identification and validation of cancer stem cell specific drug discovery targets, CRT has begun investigating areas of “hot” cancer science. The aim of which is to identify other potential areas where the ground breaking research being undertaken by Cancer Research UK scientists can lead to novel drug discovery efforts in industry. We are currently seeking industrial collaborators and partners.

Senectus Therapeutics Ltd.

Set up and managed by CRT, the Senectus consortium comprises a group of Cancer Research UK experts in cellular senescence, led by Prof. Nicol Keith at the University of Glasgow. Senectus has secured funding of £1m from Cancer Research UK’s Discovery Committee and has recently announced a collaboration with AstraZeneca to screen a selection of their chemical compound library to identify those which trigger a key element of cancer cell ageing – senescence.

Find out more about Senectus ›

Cancer Stem Cell Consortium

Set up in January 2011 by CRT, the consortium consists of a team of scientists from 4 research groups across the UK. Led by Prof. Fiona Watt from the Cancer Research UK funded Cambridge Research Institute, the team are using their expertise in cancer stem cell research to identify new targets to detect, monitor and treat cancer. Discussions are ongoing for industry collaborations.

View the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium press announcement ›

Lipid Metabolism Consortium

The consortium was awarded significant Discovery Committee funding in February 2011 and will be set up as a 2 year programme later this year with the objective of validating lipid metabolism targets. The consortium consists of a team of scientists from 5 research groups across the UK and is led by Prof. Eyal Gottlieb; based at the Cancer Research UK funded Beatson Institute.

View the Lipid Metabolism Consortium press announcement >

Epigenetics

Cancer Research UK funds a substantial amount of research in the area of epigenetics, from basic understanding of how the process of histone and DNA modification affects cancer cells, through to a number of hit-to-lead programmes on inhibitors of epigenetic targets. This work is helping us to understand how this promising group of targets can better be exploited in the clinic through improved understanding of the disease linkages as well as defining which combinations of agents would work to improve outcome. As well as this, a number of more novel targets are being identified and validated by some of the world’s leading scientists in this field in order to support drug discovery efforts around Cancer Research UK.

Tumour Microenvironment

The tumour microenvironment is attracting renewed interest with groups around the world attempting to understand how the tumour subverts the stromal and immune cells of the host to aid in its survival and growth. Cytokines are a key modulator in this and Cancer Research UK's Fran Balkwill is a world leader in this field. Cancer Research UK invests heavily in this area of research and have, together with Professor Balkwill, defined a smaller group who would be ideal to study the interaction between the tumour and stromal cells, the role of cytokines in this and the therapeutic targets and key interactions with approved drugs. CRT has also identified a group to study the other key area of interest within the tumour microenvironment; namely the possibility of converting the adaptive immune system infiltrate within the tumour from a permissive to a suppressive state.

Ubiquitin Protease System (UPS)

Ubiquitin Proteasome System and ubiquitin-like modification is rapidly being understood to signal to more than just the proteolytic degradation of a tagged protein. The major barrier to drug discovery in this exciting area of science is two-fold; the identification and validation of specific cancer-associated targets and the development of specific tools for prosecuting a drug discovery cascade analogous to those developed for phosphorylation. CRT has been able to tap into the work of Cancer Research UK funding of over £12m to identify the key leaders in this field and has a portfolio of targets at various stages of the validation pathway.  This programme would aim to complete the validation of these targets in combination with the production of the ubiquitin focused tools, allowing high throughput screening, generation of tool compounds and proof of concept in vitro.

Early Diagnosis

The purpose of this consortium is to focus on the identification of global screening tests for early cancer diagnosis; in particular to establish links across cancer indications to progress screening test exemplification. CRT is currently looking to define a group of leading researchers in this area.