THE RESEARCH WE SUPPORT

We offer grant funding directly to MSc and PhD students and research consultants to help them identify areas where improvements in cancer treatment are needed, to train them in research, and to keep them up to date with the latest scientific developments.

Grants between £1,000 and £5,0000 were awarded in 2024 totalling £27,000. These funded research into different approaches to treating bladder cancer, research into a new drug from a plant for colorectal cancer, the use of novel compounds to enhance the efficacy of existing drugs used in ovarian cancer.

One project concerned head and neck cancer patients who often have to undergo a tracheostomy, where in a prosthetic device is fitted to help maintain their airway. This is an in road for infection and further complications. Around 20 patients are admitted routinely (every 2-8 weeks) to the East Kent Hospitals team for replacement of an infected or blocked tracheostomy tube. A PhD student was funded to develop technology and procedure to prevent the build-up of biofilm. This will be applied to a stage 3 clinical trial. This would help a much larger group of patients with a management pathway to prevent and respond to infection, so cutting down on these admission numbers and making care following a tracheostomy more effective and humane

Funding was given to a consultant led pilot research into Proliferative Verrucous Leukoplakia (PVL) which is a high-risk oral, potentially, malignant disorder.  Some studies suggest more than 60% of people with PVL develop oral cancer. There appears to be a higher-than-average incidence in Kent.

Further information can be found in the Projects page.

The research projects we’ve supported in the past have included:

 The Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) project. 2019.

This is a form of breast cancer that has been resistant to treatments; however, it had been discovered that Checkpoint Kinase 1 (CHK1), a serine/threonine kinase activated in response to DNA damage, which can be caused by conventional chemotherapy treatments, may play a role in this particular cancer. A CHK1 inhibitor, therefore, was suggested as a possible monotherapy for TNBC.

We provided a PhD student at the School of Biosciences at the University of Kent with £15,000 in funding for the necessary supplies to test out the suggestion of CHK1 inhibition as a treatment for TNBC.

Resistant Cancer Cell Line. (RCCL

The largest Resistant Cancer Cell Line in Europe had been developed at the University of Kent. This is a unique resource containing over 3,000 adapted cancer cell lines. It features cell lines covering 18 cancer types adapted to >100 cytotoxic drugs designed to study acquired resistance mechanisms.

We provided £15,000 over three years to cover the costs of setting this up in a way that would ensure its ongoing use.

These are just a few examples of our funding for multifaceted cancer research work.