University of Cambridge

Cambridge is a Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Centre of Excellence.

We are currently investing £8.4 million into vital blood cancer research in Cambridge, which is our largest research centre. Find out more about all our Centres of Excellence.

As one of the top research centres in the world, we are delighted to be investing in important blood cancer research at University of Cambridge. Our research in Cambridge is focused on understanding how blood cancers develop as well as research into new treatments and improvements in diagnosis for lymphoma and some of the rarer blood cancers.

In particular Cambridge is home to some of our leading scientists and doctors. Collaboration between these experts means that we are in an excellent position to translate laboratory research into new treatments and improvements in diagnosis for patients with blood cancers.

hodgMyeloproliferative neoplasms

Professor Tony Green is one of the world’s leading specialists in the myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), a group of blood disorders related to leukaemia that affect around 3,300 people in the UK every year.

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research have been supporting Professor Green’s work at University of Cambridge for more than 15 years, in which time significant improvements have been made in the diagnosis of MPN.

Professor Green was among the first in the world to discover that a mutated gene, called JAK2, is present in the majority of patients with MPN and is thought to be responsible for causing this disease.

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research continue to support this research through a long-term Specialist Programme that aims to improve diagnosis of MPN to ensure that all patients receive the best possible treatment.

Origin of blood cancer

Dr Bertie Gottgens, who also has a Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research long-term Specialist Programme is an internationally acclaimed scientist investigating the genetic origins of blood cancers.

Dr Gottgen’s research is focused on transcription factors, which are molecules that control the activity of genes by telling them when to switch on or off. This research is using state of the art sequencing technology to identify genes and transcription factors that cause blood cancers to develop.

Also investigating genes that cause blood cancer is Professor Alan Warren, whose research is focused on the myelodysplastic syndromes, a rare group of blood disorders that affect around 2,000 people in the UK every year.

New treatments for lymphoma

There are 35 different types of lymphoma that all require different treatments.

Research led by Professor Ming Du is focused on a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma called MALT lymphoma that develops in the gut. Professor Du discovered that the underlying cause of MALT lymphoma is the absence of a gene called A20, that is also absent in many other forms of lymphoma. Professor Du has been awarded a long-term Specialist Programme to investigate new ways of treating these lymphomas by targeting the effects of this missing gene.

Dr Cameron Osborne, at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge is investigating a specific genetic mutation called Myc-igH, which causes a form of lymphoma called Burkitt’s lymphoma. Through this research Dr Osborne hopes to prevent this, and similar genetic mistakes from occurring and causes other forms of blood cancer.

Young children with lymphoma

Dr Suzanne Turner is leading research into a rare form of lymphoma called anaplastic large cell lymphoma (APLCL), which is much more common in young children than it is in adults. This research has uncovered a direct link between APLCL and a genetic mutation called NPM-ALK. Dr Turner is now investigating how to target these genes so that more effective and safer treatments can be introduced.