Demonstrating the power of global team science

In 2015, Cancer Grand Challenges set out a bold new approach for conducting cancer research in order to make radical progress against cancer and transform outcomes for patients. By convening the cancer research community we came up with the biggest questions in cancer research. These were challenges that no single person or lab could even begin to address. We put these grand challenges to the global research community, asking them to assemble world-class teams, breaking down traditional boundaries of geography and discipline. In 2017 we subsequently funded four teams — Mutographs, Rosetta, IMAXT and PRECISION to address three of these challenges. For the first time, we’re showcasing the impact of our teams against their respective challenges as they come to the end of their award. Here, core members of our community reflect on their groundbreaking work.

Under the leadership of Professor Sir Mike Stratton, team Mutographs set out to tackle the unusual mutations patterns challenge. By uniting world-leading epidemiologists with computational biologists, geneticists and clinicians, and connecting them with cancer centres across the globe, the team has pioneered an entirely new approach to epidemiology. The team's discoveries span from identifying unknown mutational signatures and uncovering multiple widespread mutagenic exposures of known and unknown causes, to revealing the complex mutation patterns in healthy tissues, challenging the somatic theory of ageing, as well as adding to the body of evidence for the promotional theory of carcinogenesis. For Charlie Swanton, Chair of our Scientific Committee, a highlight was showing many carcinogens don’t actually induce DNA mutations. He reflects:

"Team Mutographs' findings have fundamentally changed our understanding of how cancer starts in the first place. That is a hugely important finding, because it completely opens up new opportunities in the field of cancer prevention."

 Charlie Swanton, Chair of the Cancer Grand Challenges Scientific Committee

Led by Professor Jelle Wesseling, PRECISION set out to tackle the challenge of distinguishing between lethal cancers that need treating, and non-lethal cancers that don’t, focusing on ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). To enable the establishment of this ambitious, international team, Cancer Research UK partnered with the Dutch Cancer Society to fund PRECISION through Cancer Grand Challenges. Over the past seven years the team have advanced our understanding of the biological mechanisms of DCIS evolution and progression, changing the narrative around DCIS as a precursor to invasive breast cancer. PRECISION has subsequently identified potential biomarkers to stratify risk, and developed innovative patient derived intra-ductal mouse models to allow further advances. One of the highlights so far for our Head of Research, Gemma Balmer-Kemp, was the teams’ findings showing that, upon genomic analysis of DCIS recurrence after surgery, around 20% of subsequent invasive breast cancers were entirely unrelated to the initial DCIS. 

"This suggests that DCIS may not only be a precursor to invasive breast cancer, but also a risk factor for developing new primary breast cancers. This breakthrough has resulted in significant progress in our understanding of DCIS and may have future implications for breast cancer screening and follow-up.

Gemma Balmer-Kemp, Head of Research, Cancer Grand Challenges

Since the inception of Cancer Grand Challenges, patient advocates have been embedded across the initiative, as part of the funded teams and through the Advocacy Panel. The 2017 teams have been critical in influencing the evolution of Cancer Grand Challenges Patient Advocacy to what it is today. Margaret Grayson, Chair of our Advocacy Panel says:

"Much has changed since the first set of teams were funded in 2017 but we’ve learned a lot. From the number of advocates a team should have, to the need for clearly defined roles and the importance of relationship building between patient advocates and researchers. The 2017 teams helped to set strong these foundations by ensuring patient advocates co-developed conference presentations and papers, and working closely with one another to expand the influence and reach of the teams’ work in other patient organisations."

Margaret Grayson, Chair of the Cancer Grand Challenges Advocacy Panel