Due to the successful outcomes of our award-winning Infrastructure Grants, we are delighted to announce that we have awarded another year of funding to the bone cancer surgical centres in England. The grants enable the centres to continue collecting patient samples to be used in research, to help develop new treatments and come closer to finding a cure!
In 2016, primary bone cancer was included into the remit of the government-funded 100,000 Genomes Project, providing a huge opportunity to uncover the genetics associated with these tumours. The Bone Cancer Research Trust started work immediately to ensure the NHS bone cancer surgical centres had funding in place to equip them with the infrastructure needed to recruit patients, obtain consent and collect and prepare bone tumour samples. This approach ensured that as many patients as possible were given the opportunity to donate samples for research and contribute to the 100,000 Genomes Project. Without these grants primary bone cancer patients would not have benefited from this project and as a direct result, sarcoma has been the largest represented group of cancers in the 100,000 Genomes Project.
Dr Vinader, Research Manager at the Bone Cancer Research Trust, said:
In 2016 it became clear that not all bone cancer surgical centres had the resources they needed to collect primary bone tumour tissue samples. This was having a negative impact on the progression of many research projects. Here at the Bone Cancer Research Trust we are committed to facilitate this process, allowing all patients to donate samples to be used in vital research, which will increase our knowledge of the disease and ultimately result in the development of new treatments.
Since awarding the grants over 3,317 patient samples have been collected and there was a 55% increase on the number of samples collected during 2018 compared to 2017.
Phoebe, a primary bone cancer patient, said:
To be involved in research feels good because you know you are helping someone else and you're turning a bad situation into a good thing.
Particularly in rare cancers like sarcoma, it’s important to have a better understanding of the genetic background of these tumours which is why we set up the Biobank of Health and Disease with funding from the Bone Cancer Research Trust.
The Infrastructure Grants have helped fuel 14 primary bone cancer and tumour pioneering research projects, including:
CHORDOMA
- Chordoma Multi’omics
OSTEOSARCOMA
- Osteosarcoma circulating tumour cells
- Osteosarcoma RNA-Sequencing
- Osteosarcoma recurrence and metastasis
- The 100,000 Genomes Project – osteosarcoma extension
GIANT CELL TUMOUR OF THE BONE
- Characterisation of Giant Cell Tumour (malignant and benign)
EWING SARCOMA
- Ewing sarcoma ctDNA
- Euro Ewing 2012 biological studies
- Ewing’s Genotype
- GenoEwings
- rEECur - International Randomised Controlled Trial of Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Recurrent and Primary Refractory Ewing Sarcoma
CHONDROSARCOMA
- Chondrosarcoma ctDNA
- Chondrosarcoma miRNA sequencing
ALL PRIMARY BONE CANCER AND PRIMARY BONE TUMOUR PROJECTS
The Infrastructure Grants were awarded to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Freeman Hospital, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital and we would like to thank them for their ongoing commitment to the project.
We would also like to thank the below for supporting the Infrastructure Grants:
- Barbour Foundation
- 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
- P F Charitable Trust
- Doris Field Charitable Trust
- QBE Foundation
- Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust
- Hospital Saturday Fund