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Cancer imaging initiative

Medical imaging technology is now one of the fastest growing areas of research and is revolutionising the way people with cancer are diagnosed and treated.

In 2008, Cancer Research UK and the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) announced a major new strategic initiative to increase the amount of cancer imaging research in the UK and enable researchers and doctors involved in cancer imaging to work more effectively together.

Together with additional contributions from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), more than £50 million has been invested in four new Cancer Imaging Centres and five new Cancer Imaging Programme grants.

This new strategic initiative will establish the UK as a world leader in cancer imaging research, improving the detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer and helping to save thousands of lives.

Cancer Imaging Centres

The centres are involved in both pre-clinical and clinical cancer imaging, and have access to a wide range of different imaging technologies. The four centres are:

  • Imperial College London Imaging Centre, led by Professor Eric Aboagye
  • The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) Imaging Centre, led by Professor Martin Leach and Professor Nandita Desouza
  • Kings College London (KCL) & University of London (UCL) Imaging Centre, led by Professor Tony Ng and Professor Richard Begent
  • University of Oxford Imaging Centre, led by Professor Gillies McKenna
 

Cancer Imaging Programmes

The programmes are each focused on one particular type of imaging technology, and how it can be used in a specific area of cancer research. The five programmes are:

  • University of Birmingham Imaging Programme, led by Dr Andrew Peet as part of the Childhood Cancer & Leukaemia Group (CCLG), investigating the use of MRI scanning for children with cancer.
  • The Royal Surrey County Hospital Imaging Programme, led by Professor Ken Young, working to improve breast cancer detection by using digital X-rays.
  • University of Newcastle upon Tyne Imaging Programme led by Dr Ross Maxwell, using imaging to speed up the discovery of new cancer drugs.
  • University of St. Andrews, led by Professor Simon Herrington, developing new light-based techniques for diagnosing cancer.
  • University of Sheffield, led by Professor Gill Tozer, using MRI and laser imaging techniques to develop drugs that block the growth of blood vessels into tumours.

The Centres and the Programmes are overseen by the Cancer Imaging Review Group, and are reviewed every year.

For more information about this initiative, please contact Dr Maria Lioumi.