Award Title: Application for the Cambridge Member Centre of the CRUK International Cancer Early Detection Alliance
Funder: Cancer Research UK

Abstract: Background: The earlier detection of cancer would lead to a paradigm shift in cancer patients’ survival and quality of life, with significant economic benefits. The Cancer Research UK International Cancer Early Detection (ICED) Alliance will bring together world-leading UK and US centres of excellence to catalyse a step-change in progress in developing new early detection and intervention strategies. The scientific understanding of the pathogenesis of early cancer is accelerating rapidly and aligning with new technological advances, which generates a growing pipeline of biomarker tests, imaging techniques and risk algorithms that require clinical testing and validation. However, the pathway from experimental proof-of-concept to large scale clinical studies has many challenges.  Aims: The Cambridge Member Centre will provide unique and world-leading resources to enable the first-in-human clinical trials for early cancer detection that will establish feasibility, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of new diagnostics and interventions. This shared infrastructure will benefit the ICED Alliance in a standardised, effective approach to accelerate adoption of the most promising approaches for the early detection of cancer towards clinical implementation. Building capacity and training in early detection research and organising networking and engagement events with other Alliance members aims to create a critical mass of research expertise in early detection in the UK.   Methods: The Cambridge Member Centre will leverage existing clinical research facilities at Cambridge University Hospital to progress a pipeline of projects from the Alliance through early stage trials. It will build capacity in early detection research in the UK by recruiting clinical staff and senior researchers in clinical trials design and statistics, health economics and by providing regulatory advice. A pre-consented cohort of patients and volunteers will be recruited with longitudinal data and sample capture, for studies on early detection of cancer with the opportunity for recall for testing new technologies. The Centre will support training for the cancer research leaders of tomorrow by recruiting three PhD students and an Academic Clinical Lecturer, as well as initiating an international Summer School in Early Detection and Researcher Exchange Programmes. It will organise networking events in conjunction with the ICED Alliance to promote outreach and to foster new multi-disciplinary scientific collaborations.  How the results of this research will be used: Access to clinical infrastructure resource for all ICED Alliance members will result in faster progress of novel early detection strategies through the stages of the development pipeline, improving the opportunity to initiate large-scale, randomised clinical trials.

Lay Abstract: Background: The earlier detection of cancer would lead to a paradigm shift in cancer patients’ survival and quality of life, with significant economic benefits. The Cancer Research UK International Cancer Early Detection (ICED) Alliance will bring together world-leading UK and US centres of excellence to catalyse a step-change in progress in developing new early detection and intervention strategies. The scientific understanding of the pathogenesis of early cancer is accelerating rapidly and aligning with new technological advances, which generates a growing pipeline of biomarker tests, imaging techniques and risk algorithms that require clinical testing and validation. However, the pathway from experimental proof-of-concept to large scale clinical studies has many challenges.  Aims: The Cambridge Member Centre will provide unique and world-leading resources to enable the first-in-human clinical trials for early cancer detection that will establish feasibility, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of new diagnostics and interventions. This shared infrastructure will benefit the ICED Alliance in a standardised, effective approach to accelerate adoption of the most promising approaches for the early detection of cancer towards clinical implementation. Building capacity and training in early detection research and organising networking and engagement events with other Alliance members aims to create a critical mass of research expertise in early detection in the UK.   Methods: The Cambridge Member Centre will leverage existing clinical research facilities at Cambridge University Hospital to progress a pipeline of projects from the Alliance through early stage trials. It will build capacity in early detection research in the UK by recruiting clinical staff and senior researchers in clinical trials design and statistics, health economics and by providing regulatory advice. A pre-consented cohort of patients and volunteers will be recruited with longitudinal data and sample capture, for studies on early detection of cancer with the opportunity for recall for testing new technologies. The Centre will support training for the cancer research leaders of tomorrow by recruiting three PhD students and an Academic Clinical Lecturer, as well as initiating an international Summer School in Early Detection and Researcher Exchange Programmes. It will organise networking events in conjunction with the ICED Alliance to promote outreach and to foster new multi-disciplinary scientific collaborations.  How the results of this research will be used: Access to clinical infrastructure resource for all ICED Alliance members will result in faster progress of novel early detection strategies through the stages of the development pipeline, improving the opportunity to initiate large-scale, randomised clinical trials.

Research Activity Codes: 4.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (DETECTION)
Health Categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS