Merger of UK's Two Largest Cancer Groups Creates New Research Powerhouse
2002; Wolters Kluwer; Volume: 24; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1097/01.cot.0000294253.10378.14
ISSN1548-4688
Autores Tópico(s)Science, Research, and Medicine
ResumoLONDON—The largest cancer research body outside the United States was created this month, following the announcement on December 11th that the United Kingdom's two largest cancer charities, the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) and the Cancer Research Campaign (CRC), are merging. The new entity, called Cancer Research UK, will this year invest about $200 million—about two thirds of the UK total—in its laboratories, university centers, hospital units, and clinics. “We are determined that we will make a difference by merging these two charities,” said CRC Director-General Gordon McVie, MD, at a press conference here to announce the merger. “We are determined that we will cure cancer patients quicker, reduce the number of people getting cancer, and bring more treatments and more varied treatment to cancer patients.” The merger had been rumored for more than a year, but negotiations were long and complex, not least because the ICRF and CRC had to persuade the Charities Commission, which regulates charities in the UK, that the merger was in the public interest. The ICRF was founded in 1902 as the Cancer Research Fund, winning royal patronage two years later. In 1923 a group of dissident doctors, believing that the ICRF was not directing its research to the most clinically relevant areas, broke away to set up the British Empire Cancer Campaign for Research, which later became the CRC. The two bodies have had different philosophies on how best to spend their money; the ICRF employed its scientists directly, whereas the CRC gave grants for research. The older charity concentrated mainly on laboratory-based research, while its younger sibling focused on clinical studies. Competition vs Cooperation Often they have exhibited more rivalry than cooperation, which, according to Professor McVie, has sometimes meant Britain losing out. “I don't usually say it in public, but I regret that we didn't work together on BRCA-1 cloning, for instance,” he said. “We competed on that, and the Americans cloned the gene. There was far more collaboration the second time around, and we got BRCA-2. I actually think we do things quicker if we do them together.” Chairing Cancer Research UK will be Baroness Helene Hayman, a former Health Minister. Professor McVie and Sir Paul Nurse, PhD, currently Director-General and Head of the Cell Cycle Laboratory at the ICRF, will continue jointly as Directors-General; and for a temporary period, the new charity has drafted as Chief Executive Andrew Miller, CBE, PhD, a structural biologist by training and a former principal of Stirling University in Scotland. Sir Paul Nurse was unable to attend the press conference in person, but had what must rank as one of the best excuses ever: He was in Stockholm to receive the 2001 Nobel Prize for Medicine, which he shared with another ICRF scientist, Tim Hunt, PhD, and Leland H. Hartwell, PhD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle. Via a telephone link, Sir Paul spoke of his excitement at the merger. “What we're creating is one of the most powerful research organizations in the world fighting cancer,” he said. “It's really one of the few organizations that will make a real difference, one of the few organizations which can carry out work from basic understanding of all different types of this disease to much better treatment and prevention.” Baroness Hayman reinforced the idea that Cancer Research UK's brief includes every kind of science relevant to cancer. “We passionately believe that by doing research from lab right through to clinic, together with behavioral science, and understanding why children take up smoking, as much as knowing the cell cycle work which Paul Nurse and Tim Hunt have been involved with, that together we can cure patients faster.” Cancer Research UK received messages of support from Prime Minister Tony Blair, Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan-Smith, and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy. Nelson Mandela, himself being treated for prostate cancer, sent his congratulations from South Africa: “Cancer is a disease that respects no international boundaries, nor discriminates against status, color, or creed,” he said. “With this momentous step, I feel confident that Cancer Research UK will make a difference for patients not only in Britain, but across the globe.” Increased Public Support By merging, the CRC and ICRF believe they will be able to garner even greater public support and raise even more money than they do already. Virtually all of their income comes from the public, as donations or bequests, through sponsored events such as walks or cycle rides, or as takings from the charities' shops. Between them they have nearly 700 shops in the UK, staffed by volunteers, selling principally second-hand items donated by the public. The two charities are principal movers in the slow but sure changes that, according to Professor McVie, now promise a transformation in British cancer medicine. A series of developments by the current government, including the establishment of the National Cancer Research Institute, an umbrella body that links the National Health Service with charities and industry, will make it easier for British doctors to deliver high-quality care. “For the first time in 10 years, we have a mechanism for getting the extraordinary results of research, which have blossomed over those 10 years, for the benefit of every patient in the United Kingdom,” Professor McVie said. “It's patients and potential patients who raise money for the two charities. They do it with an expectation either that their mother will get better quicker, or their daughter, or their siblings, or themselves. And one of the real frustrations of the last two or three years is that we have delivered at the research end, but we have not delivered to the patient, because the National Health Service has not been able to deliver the goods. Now that's changing.” Indeed, the creation of Cancer Research UK may change the outlook for scientists as well. It will fund the work of about 3,000 researchers, making it by some margin the UK's biggest employer of cancer scientists. Professor McVie said he believes the merger will enable them to carve out the kind of careers for which previously they would have tended to look abroad: “We've now got clear career structures drawn up within Cancer Research UK. And that will attract more people to stay in science, and I hope it will enable us to get some notable scientists who've emigrated in times past back to the UK.” To Reach Oncology Times: For Editorial, Permissions, or Publishing Matters: Oncology Times, 345 Hudson St, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10014, 212–886–1244, fax 212-886-1209, e-mail: [email protected], www.oncology-times.com For Circulation Matters: Changes of Address and Paid Subscriptions: Oncology Times, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 16522 Hunters Green Parkway, Hagerstown, MD 21740, 800–638–3030 Complimentary Subscriptions: Oncology Times, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 345 Hudson St, 16th Fl. New York, NY 10014 fax 212-886-1209; e-mail: [email protected] For Classified Advertising: Melissa Moody, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 351 West Camden, Baltimore, MD 21201, 410–528–4470, fax 410-528-4452, e-mail: [email protected] For Information about Reprints: Marjorie Rayfield, Reprints Dept., Targeted Periodicals, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 351 Camden St., Baltimore, MD 21201, 410–528–8521, fax 410-528-4264, e-mail: [email protected] Watch for these upcoming Special Reports March: New Advances in Treating Pancreatic Cancer April: Cyclo-oxygenase Inhibitors in Cancer Prevention & Treatment May: Promising New Cancer Drugs June: News from ASCO Annual Meeting July: Metastatic Bladder Cancer: Resolving the Controversies August: Treating Adolescents & Young Adults with Cancer: Special Concerns September: Ovarian Cancer: Therapeutic Advances October: Metastatic Bone Disease: Promising Advances November: Head & Neck Cancer: Novel Biologic Approaches December: News from ASTRO Annual Meeting
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