International scientists meet to progress cancer research

THE deliberations of a small group of specialists, meeting in Edinburgh tomorrow, will help make progress in cancer research all over the world.

On Thursday (September 30) nineteen international scientists are due to get round the table to decide which cancer research projects, from the 125 in front of them, will benefit from a grants package totalling more than £4 million.

In a day of discussion and debate, the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of the St Andrews-based Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) will whittle the applications - all of which have already passed through a stringent vetting system - down to about 25 successful projects.

Twice a year the SAC, which draws its members from top scientists across the fields of international cancer research, rigorously peer-reviews all the applications received by AICR. Committee members give their time, free, to make sure the very best proposals, from anywhere in the world, do not miss out on vital financial support.

Thursday's meeting is the final stage in a process which began with an initial 317 applications being submitted in April this year. The successful researchers will receive their grants early in 2011.

However, for every application approved, there is another just as worthy of support which the charity simply cannot afford to fund.

Said Dr Mark Matfield, AICR's Scientific Co-ordinator: "This meeting is the end result of so much work - hundreds of research applications written and millions of pounds raised by hundreds of thousands of generous donors - and yet it really is only the start of the most important aspect - the actual research into cancer: what causes it, if we can prevent it, how we can diagnose it and how to treat it effectively."