© 2005 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research
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The UK National Cancer Research Institute (http://www.ncri.org.uk)
National Cancer Research Network (http://www.ncri.org.uk/includes/ncrn.htm)
National Translational Cancer Research Network (http://www.ntrac.org.uk/)
The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) is a partnership between the UK Government, charitable and private sectors. Over the past few years there has been much debate about cancer research in the UK and many individuals and organizations have been asking the same question ‘are we being as effective as we could be?’ A Government initiative brought the main funding organizations together at the beginning of 2000 in a ‘Cancer Research Funders Forum’. This move was embraced by the research charities and the NCRI was established formally as a key element of the English National Cancer Plan in April 2001. One of its most important initiatives is to establish—under strategic oversight of the National Cancer Research Institute – two national cancer research networks embedded in the National Health Service (NHS) and distributed around the country. These research networks, one providing infrastructure for larger, multicentre clinical trials (NCRN) and the other leading on translational research (NTRAC), will collaborate to provide strong scientific support and evidence base for the cancer care and therapeutic development pathways.
National Cancer Research Network (NCRN): Effective infrastructure within the NHS is fundamental to underpinning high quality clinical and translational research. The NCRN was established on 1 April 2001 with a central aim of doubling the number of cancer patients entering clinical trials in England by 2006. The NCRN is funded by the Department of Health (DOH) but operates under the strategic oversight of the NCRI. By 2003/2004 the DOH will be investing an additional £20 million per annum in cancer research infrastructure through NCRN and NTRAC. The NCRN is a managed research network mapping directly onto the NHS cancer service networks across England. Funding for NCRN supports the provision of research nurses, data managers and the expertise of clinicians, radiologists, pharmacists and pathologists. The NCRN Coordinating Centre is based at Leeds and London under the direction of Professor Peter Selby and Professor Rick Kaplan. The NCRN works closely with equivalent organizations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
National Translational Cancer Research Network (NTRAC): Translation of basic laboratory research into new therapies is a major area of interest for the NCRI Partners. The NTRAC takes the lead in coordinating the NHS infrastructure support for translational cancer research. Its purpose is to speed up the development of novel anti-cancer therapeutics and diagnostics from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside, and to test their promise in early clinical trials. NTRAC's Coordinating Centre was established in May 2001 and is directed from Oxford by Professor David Kerr. Full NTRAC Network Centre status and funding has now been awarded to fourteen centers of scientific and clinical excellence in translational cancer research: Belfast, Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff-Swansea, Edinburgh, Glasgow-Dundee, Imperial College London, Leeds-Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Royal Marsden, Southampton and University College London. Each center receives around £1 m funding over 5 years to help build the research infrastructure and workforce capability needed to fast-track research for cancer patients. NTRAC centers are funded by the DOH, devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales and the Belfast Center is funded by the Northern Ireland Research and Development Office.
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