The project to create the Centre for Cancer Immunology, based at University Hospital Southampton, only began following an anonymous £10 million donation from a Jerseywoman in 2012.
The £25 million facility – which will bring together world-leading cancer scientists, enabling the expansion of clinical trials and development of lifesaving drugs – is due to open next month, six months ahead of schedule.
Immunotherapy is a revolutionary treatment which supercharges the body’s natural defences to find and destroy cancer. The new treatments, which are being developed in the form of vaccines and antibodies, set special immune cells against cancers.
Professor Tim Elliott said: ‘The university has made major advances in tumour immunology and immunotherapy research and we strongly believe the new centre will go a long way in discovering new treatments and helping more people.
‘I am proud to be spearheading a world-class team in the UK’s first centre dedicated to cancer immunology research, at such an exciting time in cancer immunology developments.
‘By attracting the best talent and collaborating across disciplines, we will push the boundaries of knowledge about how our immune system works against cancer and accelerate towards more life-saving cancer treatments.’
Treatments are currently being developed to target some of the most aggressive forms of
the disease, including cancers of the lung and skin and childhood neuroblastoma.
Funds raised for Cancer Research UK Jersey go towards paying for researchers who work at the University of Southampton, some of whom will be transferring to the new centre to join interdisciplinary teams.
Stuart Amey, senior local fundraising manager for Cancer Research Jersey, said: ‘The work that happens in Jersey to fundraise for Cancer Research is phenomenal. The population isn’t huge but the money raised is. It really is helping to drive cancer research forward in Southampton.
‘Those researchers cannot do their work without people from Jersey and the Channel Islands as a whole. I speak to the researchers on a regular basis, on behalf of them they say a big thank you.’
