What The Catalyst Club funds

As a member of The Catalyst Club, you will be helping fund three of Cancer Research UK’s most innovative projects. These projects will help to make personalised medicine a reality for people with cancer in the UK.

Exploration: genetic mapping of oesophageal cancer

Members of The Catalyst Club will contribute £4.5m to fund the complete genetic mapping of oesophageal cancer. This will identify the genetic faults that drive the growth and development of this hard to treat cancer.

Translation: genomics initiative

Together Catalyst Club members will contribute £4m to fund access to cutting-edge genetic technology for our scientists. This will allow them to answer clinically important questions about cancer genetics – such as ‘what are the genetic differences between the tumours of patients who respond to a drug and those who don’t?’

Both of these projects will provide information that will drive the development of new cancer therapies and tests to help personalise cancer treatment.

Application: Stratified Medicine Programme

Catalyst Club members will also contribute £1.5m to fund our Stratified Medicine Programme which will investigate how best to roll out high-quality, routine genetic testing for all cancer patients, through the NHS. By linking the genetic information to patients’ treatment history and outcomes, it will also provide a wealth of information to feed back into cancer research.