£158,000 to fund vital cancer research at uni

RESEARCH into understanding the cause of brain tumours has begun at Warwick University.

By carrying out research like this scientists can identify potential new ways to treat cancer and help more people survive the disease.

A team based at the university’s Warwick Medical School will study brain tumour cells in the lab to understand more about the cell division process, and how it can cause cancer when it goes wrong.

Associate professor Dr Stephen Royle has been awarded £158,000 to fund the research from the Cancer Research UK Pioneer Award.

He said: “When cells divide they have to make sure that the chromosomes which contain the cell’s DNA split equally so that two accurate cells are made.

“We know it’s important for cells to divide properly because in 90 per cent of solid cancers and 50 per cent of blood cancers, the cancer cells have unequal numbers of chromosomes. That means they divided properly.

“My team’s work aims to better understand how this process going wrong can cause cancer. Ultimately our future goal would be to see if drugs can be developed and used to stop the cells dividing unequally and potentially stop cancer cells forming.

“Or, if they could be used to cause them to divide unequally in a more controlled manner, haven’t forcing the cancer cells to die.”

Dr Jess Sutcliffe, research funding manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “Research like Dr Royle’s is vital to increasing our understanding of cancer cell biology, in particular how cells divide and how if they do so incorrectly, it can lead to cancer.

“By carrying out research like this, scien- tists can look for and identify potential new ways to treat cancer and help more people survive the disease.”