Research Spend Report
Cancer52 Member Spend by Region
Of the spend on rare and less common cancers by Cancer52 members, 87.7% (£20,687,030) of its funding goes towards institutions in the UK. By region, London receives the most funding, around a quarter, equating to £6.15M. Within London, principal investigator (PI) Institutions such as University College London (UCL), Queen Mary University London and Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) received the most funding. At the opposite end of the scale, regions such as East Midlands and South West received the least funding alongside Wales and Northern Ireland.
Spend by PI Institutions alone shows University of Birmingham, Newcastle University and University College London (UCL) are the top three funded institutions.
Combined Spend by Region
Combining spend with NCRI partners show the vast majority of rare and less common cancer research is funded within the UK, with less than 5% spent outside the UK. Spend by region show London receives the most funding, around a third, equating to £57.65M. Similar to the Cancer52 member portfolio, research is predominately funded towards Principal Investigator Institutions such as University College London (UCL), Queen Mary University London and Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). When the results are combined, spend by PI Institutions alone shows University of Cambridge, University College London (UCL) and University of Oxford, represent the top funded institutions. These three universities are the highest publicly funded institutions for research generally in the UK.7
Analysis in context
Spend within national research funding infrastructure
Funding locations often aligned with national cancer research infrastructure funding. For example, many of the institutions receive National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) funding for adult and paediatric Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMCs) in England, in close partnership with Cancer Research UK. (See: www.ecmcnetwork.org.uk). In fact, of the top institutions for funding per region, only the University of Nottingham and the University of Plymouth were not part of an adult or paediatric ECMC. (University of Nottingham is a NHIR Biomedical Research Centre and Clinical Research Facility however.)
Top funded institution per region, in order of funding
*Paediatric ECMCs are based in teaching hospitals closely affiliated with the universities listed.
Aside from Northern Ireland and Wales, East Midlands and South West received the least funding. The comparatively low amounts of funding in Northern Ireland and Wales may mean there is less opportunity for patients with rare and less common cancers to participate in cancer treatment trials. This could be particularly pertinent in Northern Ireland where access to other parts of the UK would involve air or boat travel. It should be noted however that the analysis covers lead institutions, rather than every trial centre.
References
7. Research England funding allocations 2021 to 2022. Research England, published 14 October 2021.
Available: https://www.ukri.org/publications/research-england-funding-allocations-2021-to-2022