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t Cancer Research UK, the world’s leading cancer charity, a powerful new partnership is taking shape to tackle one of the biggest unmet needs in research – the lack of treatments designed specifically for children and young people with cancer. While adult therapies have advanced rapidly, young patients are still being treated with drugs that weren’t made with their unique needs in mind, often leading to serious long-term side effects such as epilepsy, heart or kidney failure and hearing loss. That’s why Cancer Research UK’s commercial innovation arm, Cancer Research Horizons, and not-for-profit medical research organisation LifeArc, launched C-Further: an international consortium driving a new era of child-first cancer treatment development. Now, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (GOSH Charity) – the UK’s largest dedicated charitable funder of child health research – has joined as a core partner and committed up to £10 million to the cause. C-Further is funding and creating more effective, targeted medicines for children and young people with cancer, bridging the gap between the lab and patients. It seeks to tackle persistent issues that have left some of the most vulnerable patients overlooked. “Most childhood therapeutics you see in cancer are repurposed adult drugs,” says Tony Hickson, chief business officer at Cancer Research Horizons. “The problem with that model is that drugs designed with adult bodies in mind aren’t always effective and can cause harsh side effects. What we need are new medicines for children and young people that specifically target the underlying biology of their disease.” The consortium is supported by Cancer Research UK’s More Research, Less Cancer philanthropy campaign, the largest campaign of its kind launched by a UK charity. It’s already over halfway to reaching its £400 million target – to power a golden age of cancer research and translate discoveries into patient benefit.

Children and young people with cancer face major challenges due to a lack of new, tailored treatments – but a consortium aims to deliver lasting change, and philanthropists have a role to play

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Focal point C-Further is helping researchers pioneer new treatments designed for children

Finding solutions Aoife Regan, director of impact and charitable programmes, GOSH Charity

There’s never been a more important time to invest in cancer research. While around half a million new cancer cases are expected each year by 2040*, scientists are on the brink of discoveries that will transform how we prevent, diagnose and treat the disease. The More Research, Less Cancer philanthropy campaign seeks to support consortiums like C-Further, so new treatments can reach the clinic faster. The hope is to change the outcomes for families like the Rainsburys, who tragically lost their nine-year-old son Will to medulloblastoma, a fast growing type of brain tumour. “When my son Will relapsed, I was surprised at the lack of viable trials available. For me, C-Further is a long-awaited missing step that’s crucial for developing new treatments,” says John Rainsbury, C-Further patient representative panel member. With more investment and innovation, Cancer Research UK can continue enabling researchers to pursue discoveries and capitalise on international collaboration to ensure world-leading ideas progress from lab to clinic. But we need your support to make it happen. Discover how the More Research, Less Cancer campaign is driving progress further, faster at cruk.org/drivingprogress

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Calling for investment Tony Hickson, chief business officer, Cancer Research Horizons

John Rainsbury and wife Lee-Ann with sons Will and Josh

Historically, developing new treatments for children and young people with cancer has been held back by a range of challenges – from scientific complexity to commercial and regulatory hurdles. Traditional drug development models often rely on commercial investment and favour larger patient groups. This leads to less investment in areas like childhood cancers, which need urgent attention. Despite improvements in overall survival over the past 50 years, cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children and young people over the age of one in the UK. There is a critical need to translate research into more effective, tailored treatments that are less likely to cause long-term side effects. It is a costly and time-consuming process, requiring a wide range of expertise, but Cancer Research UK and its partners, including LifeArc and GOSH Charity, are committed to driving progress to ensure more children and young people live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer. “We’re going to stop lamenting about the market and start doing something about it,” says Hickson. “No cancer is easy to target, but we know that children’s and young people’s cancers can be particularly challenging; that’s why we need significant financial investment and a dedicated, international approach to find solutions. We’re increasingly confident that we can find new methods to target cancers in children and young people.” For GOSH Charity, the latest partner to join the consortium, this is its largest ever research funding partnership. Its commitment, spread over four years, brings C-Further’s total backing to £37 million.

“Big challenges require big solutions,” says Aoife Regan, director of impact and charitable programmes at GOSH Charity. “In the 1960s and 1970s, around 70 per cent of children diagnosed with cancer died; that has dropped to 20 per cent – which, on one hand, is an incredible success story for research supported by organisations like GOSH Charity and Cancer Research UK. “But that 20 per cent still represents more than 250 children every year in the UK. It’s the leading cause of death in children between the ages of one and 14, and there are some cancer types for which survival hasn’t improved at all. “We firmly believe that research should benefit all children and young people, regardless of how many have had the condition or any financial complexities.” C-Further is committed to finding “more effective, more personalised and less toxic treatments” that make a positive change to children and young people with cancer. High-net-worth donors are undoubtedly key partners in this groundbreaking team of charities and scientists, and philanthropy is crucial to C-Further’s mission to give every young cancer patient the best possible outcome – both now and in the future.

We firmly believe that research should benefit all children, not only those who happen to have conditions that are prevalent enough for the commercial sector to make a profit.”Part of C-Further’s commitment is to find “more effective, more personalised and kinder treatment” that makes a positive change to young patients’ lives. “It’s a signal of our growing ambition to make sure the money given to us by our donors is really driving the impact they want to see – and we know that our donors want all the children that come into the hospital to have the best chance,” Regan says.Philanthropists are undoubtedly key partners in this groundbreaking team – and philanthropy is what underpins C-Further’s mission to give every young cancer patient the best possible outcome – for now, and in the future.“I think philanthropists understand that if you just wait for industry or investors to solve this problem, nothing will happen,” says Hickson. “We need governments, charity and philanthropy to move together as one to address it, to bridge the gap and de-risk it, so that eventually industry will pick it up.“Ultimately, once we build the consortium and get more people involved, we hope it will also become a voice that governments and policymakers will listen to. This requires systemic change, so we’ve got to be ambitious – and we’re thinking long-term.”

‘Children’s and young people’s cancers can be particularly challenging. We need significant investment and a dedicated, international approach’

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Children and young people face major barriers when accessing tailored treatments. A consortium aims to change that – and philanthropists have a vital role to play

At Cancer Research UK, the world’s leading cancer charity, a powerful new partnership is taking shape to tackle one of the biggest challenges in cancer care – the lack of treatments designed specifically for children and young people. While adult therapies have advanced rapidly, young patients are still being treated with drugs that weren’t made with their unique needs in mind, often leading to serious long-term side effects such as epilepsy, heart or kidney failure and hearing loss. That’s why Cancer Research UK’s commercial innovation arm, Cancer Research Horizons, and not-for-profit medical research organisation LifeArc launched C-Further: an international consortium driving a new era of child-first cancer research. Now, with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Charity – the UK’s largest dedicated charitable funder of child health research – joining as a core partner and committing up to £10m to the cause, the consortium is gaining vital momentum to deliver more effective, targeted medicines. C-Further is funding and conducting research, striving to ensure it results in tests and treatments benefiting children and young people with cancer. It seeks to tackle persistent issues that have left the most vulnerable patients overlooked. “Most childhood therapeutics you see in cancer are repurposed adult drugs”, says Tony Hickson, chief business officer at Cancer Research Horizons. “The problem with that model is that drugs designed with adult bodies in mind tend to cause too many side effects. What we need are new medicines for children and young people that specifically target the underlying biology of their disease.”

That’s why Cancer Research UK’s commercial innovation arm, Cancer Research Horizons, and not-for-profit medical research organisation LifeArc launched C-Further: an international consortium driving a new era of child-first cancer research. Now, with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) Charity – the UK’s largest dedicated charitable funder of child health research – joining as a core partner and committing up to £10m to the cause, the consortium is gaining vital momentum to deliver more effective, targeted medicines.

C-Further is funding and conducting research, striving to ensure it results in tests and treatments benefiting children and young people with cancer. It seeks to tackle persistent issues that have left the most vulnerable patients overlooked. “Most childhood therapeutics you see in cancer are repurposed adult drugs”, says Tony Hickson, chief business officer at Cancer Research Horizons. “The problem with that model is that drugs designed with adult bodies in mind tend to cause too many side effects. What we need are new medicines for children and young people that specifically target the underlying biology of their disease.”

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“We’re going to stop lamenting about the market and start doing something about it,” says Hickson. “No cancer is easy to target, but we know that children’s and young people’s cancers can be particularly challenging; therefore, we need significant financial investment and a dedicated, international approach to find solutions. We’ve got increasing confidence we can find new methods to target cancers in children and young people.” For GOSH charity, the latest partner to join the consortium, this is its largest ever research funding partnership. Its commitment, spread over four years, brings C-Further’s total backing to £37 million.

“But that 20 per cent still represents more than 250 children every year in the UK. It’s the leading cause of death in children between the ages of one and 14, and there are a number of cases where survival hasn’t improved at all. “We firmly believe that research should benefit all children and young people, regardless of how many have had the condition or any financial complexities”. C-Further is committed to finding “more effective, more personalised and safer treatments” that make a positive change to young patients’ lives. High net worth donors are undoubtably key partners in this groundbreaking team of charities and scientists, and philanthropy is what underpins C-Further’s mission to give every young cancer patient the best possible outcome – both now and in the future.