Belfast cancer facility aims to boost research

A new cancer research and treatment facility is aiming to improve outcomes for thousands of people with cancer in the UK.

The integrated laboratory is the first of its kind in Britain and Ireland and is based at Queen's University Belfast. It has been introduced as a result of a partnership between Queen's Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, reports the Press Association.

The Northern Ireland Molecular Pathology Lab and Northern Ireland Biobank (NIB) can both help to boost the diagnosis of cancer by assessing tumour samples at a molecular level.

Such a development has been touted as a great chance for researchers to introduce personalised treatments in Northern Ireland by looking into the unique characteristics of individual patients' conditions.

The new integrated hub allows more individually tailored treatments and can help towards finding new breakthroughs in cancer research.

A new NIB is paramount to this, as it allows researchers to access human tissue and blood samples more efficiently within a robust framework.

Professor Nic Jones, Cancer Research UK's chief scientist, told the news provider: "This unique resource provides an example to the world by bringing together scientists, doctors and patients to make targeted treatments available sooner for cancer patients in Northern Ireland.

"We believe that nurturing world-class research in Northern Ireland will accelerate progress in research leading to increased survival from the disease."

Professor Jones also emphasised the key role that Cancer Research UK played with regard to setting up the NIB.

He explained that the group offered support to a team of scientists "who have expertise in using this essential tissue resource to understand how to classify patients into groups so that they can receive the most effective treatment targeted to the faults in their DNA".

Posted by Mary Watts