New research centre unites disciplines to fight cancer

News

Pancreatic and other forms of cancer could be treated more successfully following the establishment of a new UK research centre that brings together experts from different scientific disciplines.

One project at the £13m Cancer Research UK Convergence Science Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research and Imperial College London will investigate ultrasound to develop a treatment that can liquefy cancer cells in the body using microscopic bubbles without the need for invasive surgery.

Cancer Research UK is bringing together scientists under the leadership of cancer experts, Prof Paul Workman from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Prof the Lord Ara Darzi from Imperial College London.

According to Cancer Research UK, their shared vision for a centre dedicated to convergence science integrates the knowledge, methods and expertise from disciplines including engineering, physics, data science, biological sciences and medicine. This will enable teams at the centre to work together in completely new ways, to speed up scientific discovery and innovation for people with cancer and create new treatments and technologies.

In one project biologists, physicists, engineers and clinicians are exploring whether histotripsy - a specialised therapeutic version of ultrasound - could be adapted to destroy pancreatic tumours located deep within the body.

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