The UK’s first Cancer Research centre, which specialises in genetic research, cancers of the bladder and prostate and leukaemia, has opened in Birmingham.
The centre, which is to be jointly run with the University of Birmingham and given £9m of annual funding from the charity Cancer Research, will operate from different sites across the city conducting clinical trials and large-scale population studies.
Doctors hope this new centre will pave the way for a nationwide chain of treatment and research clinics in a bid to improve treatments for cancer and its diagnosis.
Professor Lawrence Young, head of the University of Birmingham’s college of medical and dental sciences, said this centre is “at the forefront of a cancer revolution” and he hopes this will be translated into new treatments.
He said: “We have created a unique blend of doctors, scientists and nurses – all working together to ensure that laboratory discoveries are rapidly developed into treatments that will improve the lives and extend the survival of patients in the West Midlands.”
Another centre will open in Liverpool later this month and Cancer Research hopes to launch more clinics throughout the UK during the year.
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