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BBC NEWS | Programmes | File on 4 | Cancer studies 'wasted millions'

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Last Updated: Tuesday, 20 November 2007, 06:00 GMT
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Cancer studies 'wasted millions'
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Millions of pounds of charity
donations and taxpayers'
money have been wasted
on worthless cancer
studies, the BBC haslearned.

HomeABOUT THE PROGRAMME

File On 4 has discovered
thousands of studies have beeninvalidated.
Some scientists say millions of researchfunds have been wasted

It found some scientists have failed to carry out simple andinexpensive checks to ensure they are working with the rightforms of human tumour cells.

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Cancer Research UK said it used robust procedures to checkthe cell-lines used in research.
One of the latest examples of scientific research to beaffected by this problem is a study of oesophageal cancer.
Researcher Dr Chris Tselepis worked with an internationalteam which has found that TE7, an experimental culture ofcancer cells used in labs for the past 20 years, was the wrongcancer.
Whole programmes ofresearch had to be redone
using verified human brain
tumour cells"Fortunately, for us ourresearch was based on anumber of cell types, so theimpact of a mistaken identity
Prof Geoff Pilkington, University offor this line has actually been
Portsmouth
fairly minimal to us," said Dr
Tselepis who is studying the cancer at the Cancer Research
UK laboratories in Birmingham University.
"But I'm sure there's many other laboratories UK andworldwide-based that essentially base lots of theirconclusions on one cell line and in that case, this mistaken
identity has a massive impact on conclusions that peopledraw from such studies," he added.
Few scientists publicly admit such problems but Prof Geoff
Pilkington, of the University of Portsmouth, told the BBC that
he had to discard research into brain tumours after it
emerged his team were studying human cells contaminatedby the cells of rats and mice.

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How cancer studies wasted cash
20 Nov 07 | File on 4

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Cancer Research UK
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Most popular now, in detail"Whole programmes of research had to be redone using
verified human brain tumour cells," he said.
"It's hugely expensive and it's incredibly frustrating," ProfPilkington added.
Erroneous data
The problem is compounded by the fact that studies basedon erroneous research data will be printed in reputable

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/file_on_4/7098882.stm

2007/11/29

BBC NEWS | Programmes | File on 4 | Cancer studies 'wasted millions'

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scientific journals and become part of the accepted literature,thus misleading future researchers.
Earlier this year 19 eminent cancer specialists from the UK
and USA wrote to the US health secretary urging toughaction to end this waste of time, effort and money.
The US authorities replied that there appeared to be"abundant evidence" that many studies and publications hadbeen compromised.
But the letter's originator, Prof Roland Nardone of theCatholic University of America, told the BBC that somescientists seemed unwilling to act.
Authenticated cell-lines
He said the best way to get scientists to comply would be towithhold research grants and publication in scientific journals
unless their research used authenticated cell-lines.
This verification can be achieved using a technique of DNA
profiling which compares the cell-line with a list of known
contaminants and can cost as little as £180 per sample.
But the Medical Research Council, the major source of publicfunds for such research in the UK which provides £70m ofgrants annually for cancer studies, is reluctant to enforce
authentication.
Dr Rob Buckle of the MRC told the BBC: "As soon as you starttalking about regulation we have to ensure that it is
proportionate and does not inhibit research."
Dr Buckle said the MRC was not aware of any particular study
in the UK which had been compromised by problems with cellsamples.
However, one of the UK's leading cancer medicine experts
has said it is time for the scientific community to put its
house in order.
"No grant or no publication,"
said Prof Karol Sikora, ofImperial College, London.
"If one of the leading journals,
which all of us want to publish
in, said: 'You have used cellline - just give us thecertificate of authenticity,' Now Cancer Research UK says it carries out
stringent checks on cell-lines
we can tell all that and it
doesn't necessarily cost a lot of money."
Cancer Research UK, which spends £315m a year on
research, would not be interviewed for the programme.
Instead it issued a statement from Dr Lilian Clark, its
executive director of Science Operations & Funding, which
said: "It is of paramount importance for us to ensure that all
our researchers deliver world class science - they have thelatest systems and robust procedures in place to guarantee
this."Dr Clark said the charity carried out stringent checks on celllines, including a DNA authenticating service.
To learn more about this story listen to File On 4, BBCRadio 4 Tuesday 20 November 2000 GMT, repeated

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/file_on_4/7098882.stm

2007/11/29

BBC NEWS | Programmes | File on 4 | Cancer studies 'wasted millions'

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