YCR pledges further £3m for cancer research at York
Posted on 7 July 2006
Cash support totalling more than £3 million from Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR) will help scientists at the University of York to continue to make ground-breaking discoveries in the fight against cancer.
The charity has agreed funding worth a total of £3.2 million, over the next five years, to the YCR Cancer Research Unit and the YCR p53 Research Group in the University’s Department of Biology.
Both teams have already made significant advances in the search for new therapies to combat cancer and its causes.
The YCR Cancer Research Unit studies human prostate cancer, which kills more than 10,000 men each year in the UK, and has overtaken lung cancer as the most common male cancer in the West.
The Unit’s head, Professor Norman Maitland said: “We are now in the fortunate position to have attracted an extra £1 from national and international sources for every £1 invested in the YCR Cancer Research Unit by the generous supporters of YCR. The critical mass we have attained, with YCR support, has placed York in a central position in basic urological cancer research.
We are pleased to be able to award the YCR p53 Research Group and the YCR Cancer Research Unit in York further funding for five years
Elaine King
“The research is now at an exciting stage as a result of the YCR Unit’s ability to isolate and grow Cancer Stem Cells from Prostate Tumours. We hope this will lead to a deeper understanding of the causes of the disease, as well as new strategies to treat the tumours, especially when they develop resistance to the current therapies.”
Professor Jo Milner, who heads the YCR p53 Research Group, added: “I am delighted with this award from Yorkshire Cancer Research whose generosity, and the generosity of the people of Yorkshire, make our work possible.
“Our research is in identifying abnormalities that promote the growth and survival of cancer cells in the body. These abnormalities are the Achilles heel cancer. Once identified they can be targeted by novel therapies aimed at killing the cancer, without adverse side effects upon the normal tissues of the body.”
Professor Milner is also building links with clinical colleagues and other experts throughout the UK to develop novel pre-clinical models for assessing the selective killing of human cancer cells in normal tissue samples. If successful, such models will speed the development of new anti-cancer therapies.
The Chief Executive of YCR, Elaine King, said: “We are pleased to be able to award the YCR p53 Research Group and the YCR Cancer Research Unit in York further funding for five years. It will enable them to continue in their quest to increase their knowledge of cancerous cells and how they can be treated, offering real hope to future cancer patients.”
Notes to editors:
- The Yorkshire Cancer Research p53 Research Group was set up in 1991 by Professor Jo Milner who moved to York from the University of Cambridge to continue her research on p53, a tumour suppressor which protects the body against cancer. Professor Milner’s research includes colorectal cancer and cervical cancer, and new approaches to treat such cancers are being explored. In 2004, Professor Jo Milner was appointed onto the Scientific Advisory Board of Benitec, an international therapeutics company based in Australia and the USA.
- The YCR Cancer Research Unit at the University of York was set up in 1980 by the then Yorkshire Cancer Research Campaign (now Yorkshire Cancer Research), an independent charity funding cancer research in Yorkshire. Professor Norman Maitland is a former Chairman of the British Prostate Group and is Co-ordinator of an international EU-funded network to develop gene therapy for prostate cancer. He is also founder of a University spin out company 'Pro-Cure Therapeutics', which also seeks to develop novel therapies for prostate cancer.