Presentation of the Centre

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist cancer centre treating over 60,000 patients a year.
We were the first hospital in the UK to be invited to join the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes in 2008 and the first UK organisation to be accredited as a Comprehensive Cancer Centre, making us one of 34 centres to have this prestigious status in Europe.

Main Research Activities

The Christie is one of Europe’s biggest experimental cancer medicine centres, and an international leader in cancer research and innovation.
The Christie is part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre working with The University of Manchester and Cancer Research UK. We are also one of seven partners in the Manchester Academic Health Sciences Research Centre.
The Christie’s NIHR Clinical Research Facility is a large, high quality, dedicated clinical research environment where our patients can participate in complex and early phase clinical trials. Around 850 clinical trials may be taking place at any one time.
In 2024, The Christie opened the door to its new research facility, the Paterson Building - one of the world’s leading cancer research centres. Together, 700 experts are working to double the number of people on clinical trials by 2030 and improve the lives of people with cancer from across the North West and beyond.

Core Facilities

• Radiotherapy, in one of the world’s largest radiotherapy departments and at our radiotherapy centres in Oldham, Salford and Macclesfield
• A national service for proton beam therapy as one of only two treatment centres in the UK
• Chemotherapy, through the largest chemotherapy unit in the UK, as well as via 10 other sites and in patients’ homes
• Specialist surgery for complex and rare cancers
• A range of support and diagnostic services

Education

The Christie School of Oncology delivers education to all grades of staff involved in cancer care delivered through multi-professional and interdisciplinary approaches. In developing programmes of activity, The Christie has access to and the support of some of the country’s leading experts in cancer care, treatment, and services.

Presentation of the Centre

We unite over 1,200 world-leading scientists, clinicians, nurses, healthcare professionals and industry partners around a common mission to end death and disease caused by cancer through research, treatment, and education. The CRUK Cambridge Centre is a partnership between CRUK, the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Addenbrooke’s Hospital). We also collaborate with Royal Papworth Hospital. By facilitating multidisciplinary collaborations and driving the translation of new scientific discoveries into clinical applications, we enable patients to benefit from the latest innovations in cancer science. As a Centre we also fund a wide variety of research. We involve patients and the public at all stages of our work from advising our strategy, to shaping our research and clinical trial proposals, to enrolling on our clinical trials and research studies.

Main Research Activities

Our research is focused on detecting cancer at its earliest stage and treating it more precisely to improve patient outcomes. We are bringing together multiple, diverse patient data sets and using cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyse treatment response in real-time. This integrated approach will allow us to make the best clinically informed decisions and to tailor therapy to each patient.

Core Facilities

In partnership with Addenbrooke’s and the University of Cambridge we are developing the Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital (expected opening 2029) connecting outstanding clinical expertise with world-class science and commercial innovation to personalise treatments and pioneer new care pathways. We are creating a template for embedding early diagnosis and personalised treatment of cancer into health systems around the world.

Education

Our innovative training for graduate students at the University of Cambridge includes fundamental cancer biology, lab skills and clinical placements to help inform their future research.