Annual Report 2010 - 2011 Join our supporters across Wales Management Board & Officials Registered Charity No: Finance/Administration Assistants: 248767 (1966) Mrs Sharon Bonetto Registered Office: Miss Ruth Davies Cancer Research Wales Research Laboratories Shops: Velindre Cancer Centre Shop Managers: Velindre Road Ms Sarah Callow Whitchurch Mrs Karen O’Brien Cardiff CF14 2TL Mrs Julia Simon Telephones: Ms Stephanie Tanner Fundraising Office : 029 2031 6976 Shop Support: Research Office: 029 2031 6283 Mr Robert Braizer Fax: 029 2031 6927 Mr Berian Richards Charity Director: Chairman of Scientific Committee: Miss Liz Andrews Dr Malcolm Adams Deputy Charity Director: Hon Scientific & Medical Advisor Mrs Coleen Watkins Professor Malcolm Mason Scientific Projects Manager: Management Board: Dr Lee Campbell Dr Colin S Askill Financial Administrator: Mr Michael A C Brooke Mrs Gillian Hall Mr R Nevil Davies Dr Rosina Davies (r esigned October 2010) Commercial Manager: Dr Chris C Gaffney Mrs Pamela Perkins Professor Tony J Hazell (resigned October 2010) Email: [email protected] Mr Peter J. Keneally Web: www.cancerresearchwales.co.uk Mrs Beryl Rees Patrons: Dr Ann Stevenson (resigned October 2010) Mr Jeffrey R Thomas F.C.A. A.T.T.I Jamie Baulch (Hon Treasurer) Huw Edwards Mr Peter Weber (Hon Legal Advisor) Richard Elis Tonya Smith Auditors: Nigel Walker Watts Gregory LLP President: Elfed House Oak Tree Court Professor John L Moore Mulberry Drive Chairman: Cardiff Gate Business Park Dr P Hodge (resigned October 2010) Cardiff CF23 8RS Vice Chairman: Bankers: Dr John Pritchard C.B.E Unity Trust Bank CAF Bank Fundraising Assistants: Nine Brindleyplace PO Box 289 Miss Laura Hooper Birmingham B1 2HB West Malling Kent ME19 4TA All money raised is spent in Wales i President’s Message Dear Supporter, ensure the shops are always fully staffed. Yet another As usual this report contains details of all excellent year for aspects of our work so please take a little time Cancer Research to read about the research we support, plus Wales (CRW), with accounts of the many exciting ways our our supporters supporters have devised to raise money and helping us raise make the public more aware of the need to more than £1million support cancer research in Wales. thus once again As trustees we ensure that one major allowing us to objective, ‘All money raised is spent in Wales’ is allocate a similar always maintained. amount to peer reviewed research projects at To ensure that the charity remains focused and the forefront of cancer research at several efficient we arranged an independent audit locations throughout Wales. during the year carried out by During the year several Trustees resigned PricewaterhouseCoopers. We are now in the namely Patrizia Hodge, Ann process of introducing their Stevenson, Rosina Davies and Tony “We continue recommendation to fine tune Hazel. The board of Trustees to be a major aspects of the charity’s work, so express their grateful thanks for that we continue our high their support and dedication over player in standards for the foreseeable many years. Very fortunately at funding cancer future. We do thank PWC for least 5 of our loyal supporters, who research in ‘singing the praises’ of our will bring new skills to the Board of dedicated staff and volunteers. Trustees, have expressed a desire Wales.” Finally my personal thanks to past to become board members and and present trustees and staff for their when elected will return the Board to its full commitment and loyalty which has seen the strength. We are also very pleased that Liz charity flourish. We continue to be a major Andrews will be our new Charity Director and player in funding cancer research in Wales. The Dr Lee Campbell our first Research and aim of all of us is to alleviate the distress and Communications Manager.Both have already suffering caused by cancer and hopefully, one made an impact and we are very fortunate to day find a way of controlling and ultimately have an operating team of such loyal and hard curing the disease. working staff. The Pontypridd shop and especially furniture sales at many of our shops are now making a significant contribution to our income. We are also examining a site for another store and I take this opportunity to thank the many volunteers for giving up their free time to Pr ofessor John L Moore All money raised is spent in Wales 1 Contents (i) Management Board & Officials 1 President’s Message 3 Overview of Research – Professor M Mason 4 Scientific Committee Chairman's Report - Dr Malcolm Adams 5 Titles and Authors of Funded Projects 13 CRW Library 14 Fundraising Activities 34 Acknowledgements 36 Independent Auditors Report to the Trustees of Cancer Research Wales 38 Statement of Financial Activities 39 Balance Sheet 40 Summary: Income and Expenditure All money raised is spent in Wales 2 Overview of Cancer Research Wales Scientific Programme This year Cancer to re-activate these same immune cells so that Research Wales has they regain anti-cancer properties. These works helped support a provide an important platform for more number of strategic informed design of combination investments across radioimmunotherapy for the treatment of Wales. The prostate cancer. They also nicely compliment reorganisation of the other research programmes contained within new Institute of the CRW research portfolio that seek to gain a Cancer and Genetics better understanding of the importance of the will give us great immune system in other cancers, including opportunities to colon cancer and leukemia. For more maximise the benefits of these investments. information on these and other projects This should provide for some real opportunities amongst the diverse cancer research portfolio, to further develop cancer research in Cardiff but please take a look at the scientific abstracts. importantly enhance collaborations between Elsewhere, the Wales Cancer Bank has Schools in Cardiff University, and other research continued to recruit well, but I believe we are Institutions in Wales and beyond. As the name entering a new phase in our development, as of the institute will verify, by funding projects in we begin, not only to collect tumour samples, Velindre Cancer Centre, the Institute of Medical but also - thanks to CRW - to catalogue the Genetics and other hospitals and universities molecular and genetic abnormalities that they throughout West and North Wales, CRW has carry. Linking this to the results of treatment will sown some very promising seeds. greatly add both to our knowledge, and to the The role of the immune system in cancer is very ability of the WCB to challenge the scientific much an emerging hallmark of most if not all community to ask ever more searching and cancer types and is a subject that receives much subtle questions based on our collection. attention at international conferences. To this At a time of enormous economic difficulties, end, our long standing interest in the processes funding research becomes increasingly difficult, that govern immunological responses in and it is not impossible that CRW could find prostate cancer continues. This year we were itself in a position of not being able to fund all pleased to have made several important of the high quality research that it would like to. findings that relate to how exosomes, tiny It gives me particular pleasure to have the particles secreted by cancer cells, influence the opportunity of thanking all the many people immune system in the immediate environment who have supported CRW over the past year, of prostate tumours. We have discovered that recognising that doing so in the current climate exosomes can actually dampen the activity of is an act of very special generosity. We could key anti-tumour immune cells that set out to not do what we do without you. eradicate the cancer when it first appears. Linking such laboratory based work with the Professor Malcolm Mason clinic situation we have also determined how Cancer Research Wales radiotherapy in prostate cancer patients is able Professor of Clinical Oncology All money raised is spent in Wales 3 Scientific Committee Chairman's Report This year it has been exceptional with over 30 full research papers my great privilege to published in some of the most prestigious become Chairman of journals in the field such as Nature Genetics, The the CRW Scientific Lancet and Cancer Research and book chapters Committee .This contributed to modern oncology textbooks, committee is universally used by both students and clinicians. responsible for CRW particularly aims to sponsor PhD students in ensuring the precious Wales to ensure development of the next funds raised by your generation of cancer researchers. Such a strategy extensive efforts are has been rewarded with the work of several of used to fund only high quality research across our researchers receiving awards at national and Wales. For many years I was Medical Director of international conferences this year. Achievements Velindre Cancer Centre, during which I became include invited speaker presentations at very aware of the devastating impact of cancer symposia and communication of their research on so many. Our aim in CRW is to help enable the work within the national press. Such recognition young and vigorous scientists and medical underscores the high translational value of the researchers in Wales to make a difference which research we fund and its potential to quickly will ultimately benefit cancer patients. This means impact upon clinical practice. supporting cancer research proposals concerning Across Wales, we are so proud to be able to any step in the ‘patient pathway’from identifying support additional projects in both universities causative factors and exploring prevention and hospitals. As you will see from the abstracts, strategies through all stages of diagnosis our research portfolio covers a number of and treatment.