Eight organisations in bid to be new Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence

Eight British universities and hospitals are in a bid to become the next Centre of Excellence dedicated to research into brain tumours. The successful institution will enter a funding partnership with the charity Brain Tumour Research, defining a new chapter in long-term sustainable research. Currently brain tumours receive less than 1% of the national spend on cancer research, despite more children and adults under 40 dying of a brain tumour than any other cancer.

The eight applicants include:

• The Blizard Institute at Barts and the London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, in collaboration with UCL Institute of Neurology
• Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (London)
• Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology at Queen's University Belfast
• Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and the University of Birmingham
• The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust (Liverpool)
• The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)
• Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry
• Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, School of Cancer Sciences

The funding partnership will secure key salaried positions at the new Centre of Excellence, freeing the team from the limitations of applying for one specific project grant after another. As specialist brain tumour expertise and knowledge builds across the seven centres, experienced researchers will be able to move between them, collaborating on the best thinking at the cutting edge of research. It is anticipated that, with greater job security through sustained funding, promising researchers will be trained up through the ranks to become the next generation of brain tumour experts, rather than being tempted into other areas of cancer research which currently attract greater funding.

Brain Tumour Research is currently supporting a Centre of Excellence based in The University of Portsmouth, which is the biggest brain tumour laboratory in the UK. Here a dedicated team is looking at the mechanisms that cause tumour cells to invade healthy brain tissue, with the aim that this work will improve survival times for patients and potentially, one day, lead to a cure.

Sue Farrington Smith, Chief Executive of Brain Tumour Research, said: "Opening a second Centre of Excellence will significantly increase the chances of a scientist having that 'eureka moment' which could dramatically improve the outcome for brain tumour patients. Only 18.8% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years, compared with an average of 50% across other cancers, and we are determined to do all we can to change this."

The vision for Brain Tumour Research is to establish seven Centres of Excellence across the country and ultimately to find a cure into brain tumours. Unsuccessful applicants will be able to reapply in the future.

Sue Farrington Smith said: "Helping to raise the £7 million needed to cover the annual running costs of seven Centres of Excellence will be a huge challenge, but we have a strong track record. We will continue to encourage the public to support us, as well as lobbying for a larger share of UK cancer research funding, with the aim that one day we will be able to defeat this disease that claims the lives of more children and adults under 40 than any other cancer."

Professor Geoff Pilkington, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Neuro-oncology, University of Portsmouth, said: "A deeply worrying consequence of poor research funding for brain tumours is that talented young researchers, otherwise inclined to work in the field, are deterred and end up leaving for alternatives where research spending is more plentiful and better coordinated. With secure long-term funding there comes a freedom from applying for one project grant over another. Promising researchers can be trained up through the ranks to fulfil their potential and not be tempted away. As brain tumour expertise and knowledge builds, experienced researchers at the Centres of Excellence across the UK will be able to share the very best thinking at the cutting edge of research."
Brain Tumour Research was launched in April 2009 to raise the awareness of and funding for scientific research into brain tumours and improve outcomes for brain tumour patients. It is the only national charity in the UK that is dedicated to granting 100% of its funds to continuous and sustainable scientific research into brain tumours.

In collaboration with its member charities and fundraising groups, the charity jointly raised over £2.5 million in 2012 and Brain Tumour Research now supports an annual £1 million programme of research into brain tumours at The University of Portsmouth. The research team are gleaning new layers of understanding about this disease and are continually publishing their peer-reviewed results in leading international scientific journals.

Brain Tumour Research has evolved to become a leading voice calling for greater support and action for research into brain tumours in the UK. Funding for this research has been woefully inadequate for far too long.

For further information about Brain Tumour Research go to www.braintumourresearch.org

More information:
Katie Abbotts
media@braintumourresearch.org
07810 504380
DEAR EDITOR
We'd be delighted if you could publish this story about this funding for a new centre of research. As you know research into brain tumours is low, and this new centre is a significant investment and interesting in that it will fund long term sustainable research programmes as opposed to one off projects.

Brain Tumours: The Facts (source: Brain Tumour Research)

• More children and adults under 40 die of a brain tumour than from any other cancer.
• 73% of brain tumour deaths occur in those under 75 compared to 47% for all other cancers.
• Brain tumours receive less than 1% of the national spend on cancer research.
• 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour.
• Up to 40% of all cancers eventually spread to the brain, with melanoma (skin cancer), breast and lung cancers being the most common to metastasise.
• Brain cancer incidence is rising: 23% higher for men and 25% higher for women in 2012 than in 1970.
• Brain cancer deaths are also rising, unlike most other cancers – these rose 10% for women and 15% for men from 1970 to 2011.
• Only 18.8% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years, compared with an average of 50% across all cancers.
• 58% of men and women diagnosed with brain cancer die within a year compared to 5% for breast cancer, 35% for leukaemia and 7% for prostate cancer.
• Brain tumours kill more children than leukaemia or any other cancer.
• Brain tumours kill more women under the age of 35 than breast or any other cancer and 65% more women than cervical cancer.
• Brain tumours kill more men under the age of 45 than prostate or any other cancer
• Brain tumours are responsible for over 20 years of life lost.
• With more than 120 different types of tumour, brain tumours are a notoriously difficult disease to diagnose.
• Brain tumour research is woefully under-funded and treatments lag seriously behind other cancers.
• Our understanding of other cancers does not readily translate to brain tumours.
• Patient personality changes that can occur as a result of a brain tumour can cause massive family disruption.
• The commercialisation of universities and introduction of performance grading to determine funding, along with the merger of larger cancer charities focused on more pervasive cancers, has dramatically reduced the funds available for brain tumour research.
• Much more research is needed to discover the cause of brain tumours and to understand their behaviour.

Provided by Brain Tumour Research