06 Oct 08

Experts at the centres will develop new imaging techniques and uses for existing advanced imaging technologies.

A large cancer imaging centre will be established at the University of Oxford thanks to the award of up to £2 million pounds a year. It will be one of four such centres in the UK and serve as a focal point of world-class research for a variety of imaging techniques.

The grant, awarded by an international panel of experts and announced at the National Cancer Research Institute Conference in Birmingham, is part of a nationwide £50 million investment in cancer imaging over the next five years. The initiative will see the development and introduction of the latest imaging technologies in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) to help advances in cancer research.

The other centres will be established at Imperial College London, The Institute of Cancer Research, and a joint centre between King’s College London and University College London.

The initiative will establish the UK as a world leader in cancer imaging research, with Cancer Research UK investing up to £30 million and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) contributing £15 million. In addition, the Medical Research Council (MRC) will invest £3 million and £1.3 million will come from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to help improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

‘We're delighted to have been awarded this grant to further our research in cancer imaging,’ said Professor Gillies McKenna, lead scientist at the University of Oxford cancer imaging centre. ‘Investing in this important area is vital for improving many aspects of a cancer patient's journey – from detection to treatment.’

The University of Oxford will also benefit from a new cyclotron – a particle accelerator used to produce radioactive tracers for cancer studies – through a £2 million contribution from the MRC.

Experts at the centres will develop new imaging techniques and uses for existing advanced imaging technologies. Doctors will be able to see therapies at work, identifying earlier which treatments work best for individual patients.

Some scanning techniques can provide whole-body images so clinicians can see where cancers have spread and decide how useful surgery will be, or if radiotherapy and drugs will be more effective. Imaging equipment will allow scientists to watch cells in action by tracing radioactive markers injected into the patient’s body.

Traditional imaging techniques, such as X-ray, CT and ultrasound, will also be developed and refined at the new centres.

Five research programmes in cancer imaging will also be set up at the following locations: The Childhood Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) at The University of Birmingham, The Royal Surrey County Hospital, The University of St Andrews, Newcastle University and The University of Sheffield. Each will receive an annual sum of up to £500,000.

‘Such a large investment in this exciting and extremely important area of research is great news,’ said Professor David Delpy, chief executive of the EPSRC. ‘These centres will bring together scientists, engineers and clinicians interested in all aspects of imaging research, speeding up advances in new technologies and benefiting patients too.’

Professor Herbie Newell, director of translational research at Cancer Research UK, said: ‘Imaging is an invaluable tool in the fight against cancer. Being able to see what’s happening inside patients is vitally important in understanding how treatments are currently working and the best ways to improve them.’

Discoveries made through the initiative will be protected by Cancer Research Technology, the business arm of Cancer Research UK, to ensure new advances become available to cancer patients.