Animal-free breast cancer research receives funding boost

Animal-free breast cancer research receives funding boost

Professor Valerie Speirs has won funding to improve an existing animal-free laboratory model of breast cancer.

Professor Speirs received a share of £585,000 awarded jointly by the National Centre for the Replacement Refinement and Reduction of Animal’s in Research (NC3Rs) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) from the 2019 Skills and Knowledge Transfer funding competition. The CRUK competition facilitates the exchange of models, with proven 3Rs potential - Replacement Refinement and Reduction of animal’s in laboratory research - between laboratories and institutions. 

Professor Speirs’ new project builds on previously received NC3Rs funding.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women. Scientists use a range of models to study this in the laboratory and often these involve using animals.

In this project, Professor Speirs will implement a closer-to-patient, model of breast cancer, which is completely free of animals or animal-derivatives. This will use cells growing in the laboratory in a three-dimensional environment, in a substance called Hydrogel.

This provides support for cells, mimicking how these are in the human body. It also uses an artificial blood substitute, which further mimics the breast tumour environment found in patients.

The new project is in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and aims to produce a breast cancer model which has many similarities to how breast cancer cells grow in the human body.

Professor Speirs said: “I am delighted to have received this funding. We want as many scientists as possible to know about this model and be able to use this.”

A series of training events will be held at the end of the project to give scientists practical hands-on training so that the methods developed can be adopted more widely.

Search News

Browse by Month

2024

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2024
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2024

2023

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2023
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2022

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2022
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2022

2020

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2020
  9. Sep There are no items to show for September 2020
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2019

  1. Jan
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2019
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2018

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2018
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2018
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2018
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2018
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2018
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2018
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2018
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2018
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec