The amount of money a partnership gives to scientists searching for cutting-edge treatments for childhood cancers will dramatically rise thanks to the involvement of a Hereford charity.
Twelve paediatric Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres spread across the UK will receive £6.6million across the next five years to deliver clinical trials into promising new treatments for cancers affecting children and young people.
The vital funding for scientists and clinicians comes from a partnership between The Little Princess Trust, which is based in Hereford, plus Cancer Research UK and the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Thanks to The Little Princess Trust joining as equal funders to Cancer Research UK and the NIHR, there has been a significant uplift in the total given to childhood cancer research, which had amounted to £1.2million over the previous five years.
The paediatric ECMCs will put new drugs through early clinical trials to see if they are effective against different types of cancer.
If the trials are successful, these medicines can then become the cancer treatments of the future.
The increased funding for the paediatric network – which includes £2.2m from The Little Princess Trust – will employ new research staff, including nurses and data managers who are critical for delivering these trials to patients.
The funding for children’s cancer will support centres in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton and London.
The ECMC network is a partnership between The Little Princess Trust, Cancer Research UK, the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) in England, the Chief Scientist’s Office in Scotland, Health and Care Research Wales and Northern Ireland’s HSC Public Health Agency.
Phil Brace, from The Little Princess Trust, said: “Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease amongst children and young people, and we are determined to change that.
“Since 2016, The Little Princess Trust has been funding research with the aim to improve outcomes with targeted treatments with less toxicity for children and young people with cancer. We have made progress but there is more to do!
“We will achieve so much more for children and young people by working together. We are delighted to be working with Cancer Research UK and NIHR, and being part of the collaboration which has seen the funding doubled to enable more trials to be available for children and young people through the ECMC Paediatric network.
“The Little Princess Trust with CRUK and NIHR will significantly increase the overall funding for the paediatric ECMC network over the next five-year period.
“All funding from The Little Princess Trust will contribute solely to the paediatric network, which is an enormous area of unmet need, and we hope will have a much-needed impact on children and young people with cancer.”
