UK National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator (NCITA) establishes infrastructure for validation and adoption of cancer imaging biomarkers as decision-making tools in clinical trials and NHS practice.  Researchers and medical experts from nine world-leading medical imaging centres across the UK come together to form an integrated infrastructure for standardising and validating cancer imaging biomarkers for clinical […]

A study by Ulla Sovio, Gordon Smith (both Obstetrics & Gynaecology) and colleagues, published in Nature Medicine, has identified metabolites predictive of foetal growth restriction (FGR) at term. FGR means that the foetus fails to grow according to its growth potential. The condition is a major cause of stillbirth, neonatal morbidity and mortality, and is […]

Recently published in Nature Cancer, Andrea Degasperi and the Serena Nik-Zainal Group (MRC Cancer Unit and Medical Genetics) have performed a comprehensive re-assessment of how to identify mutational signatures, which are patterns of mutations that are present in human cancers, using 3,107 whole genome sequenced (WGS) primary cancers of 21 tumour-types. Their work shows that […]

A major international study of the genetics of breast cancer has identified more than 350 DNA ‘errors’ that increase an individual’s risk of developing the disease. The team led by Alison Dunning (Oncology and CRUK CI) states that these errors may influence as many as 190 genes. The results, published in Nature Genetics, provide the […]

Research led by Francesco Colucci (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) recently published in Nature Communications has characterized human decidual innate lymphoid cells (ILCs).    The lining of the pregnant uterus, called the decidua, is an interface between maternal and fetal tissues. The placenta attaches to the decidua and nourishes the growing fetus. Surprisingly, the decidua hosts maternal immune cells which might specialise […]

A new type of scan that involves magnetising molecules allows doctors to see in real-time which regions of a breast tumour are active, according to research led by Ramona Woitek and Ferdia Gallagher (Radiology) and Kevin Brindle (CRUK CI) and published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  This is the first time researchers have […]

Research from the Ringshausen group (Haematology, Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and CRUK Cambridge Centre) and collaborators has shown that PKC inhibitors can be re-purposed to directly target tumour stroma cells. The team has identified a stromal cell–autonomous signaling pathway, which contributes to drug resistance of malignant B cells and show that protein kinase C […]