Tag: cancer research

Edinburgh cancer charity aims to top £1m at Seven Hills Challenge event

A local cancer charity which harnesses the support of the Edinburgh business community is seeking to surpass the one-million-pound mark at an annual fund-raising event being staged in the capital later this summer.

Business Beats Cancer Edinburgh has raised over £900,000 for vital life-saving cancer research since its inception in 2019. The charity is now inviting people to take part in its sponsored walk of the city’s Seven Hills on 28 August where it hopes to take its level of fund-raising into seven figures.

The Seven Hills Challenge is a 14-mile charity walk covering the seven iconic peaks surrounding Edinburgh —Arthur’s Seat, Castle Rock, Calton Hill, Corstorphine Hill, Craiglockhart Hill, Braid Hill, and Blackford Hill. The event is one of the major annual fundraisers championed by Business Beats Cancer Edinburgh in support of Cancer Research UK.

Participants raise money to fund vital clinical trials and scientific research to fight cancer. Individuals, teams, and corporate groups are invited to get involved in the Challenge by signing up directly through the official Cancer Research UK website.

Among those who will be walking the Seven Hills will be Andrew Walker and his wife Debby from Bo’ness. Their daughter Anna died in March 2025, aged 25, after battling a rare cancer of the adrenal gland. Last year’s event, which attracted more than 200 people, raising over £60,000 for locally-focused cancer research, was dedicated to her memory.

Andrew said: “The 2025 challenge was completed in memory of Anna who herself took part in the event in 2023. It was an amazing day, emotionally and physically, when so many people came together to help make a difference – we felt Anna with us every mile of the route.

“We want to continue to support Cancer Research inspired by Anna so that others may benefit from future improvements in our understanding of the cause of cancer and breakthroughs in preventative treatment. Every step forward across the Seven Hills is a step towards realising that ambition.”

Lou Kiddier, chair of Business Beats Cancer Edinburgh, said: “Business Beats Cancer Edinburgh is the UK leader in its fundraising efforts for cancer research and at this summer’s Seven Hills Challenge we aim to hit a new high by surpassing the £1m mark.

“To ensure we can achieve this ambitious target, we are calling on people across Edinburgh to come forward and take part in this event by signing up, either as an individual or part of a team.

“While it is a tough pursuit, the Seven Hills Challenge covers a beautiful route and, more importantly, it raises crucial funds that will help bring us closer to a world where everybody can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.”

More details about how to register for this year’s Seven Hills Challenge can be found here

Supercharging our immune system could tackle cancer

Researchers find new way to “reenergise” immune cells

SUPERCHARGING immune cells could provide an effective way to tackle cancer, according to new research by scientists in Scotland.

The team at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow studied how the immune system works and why it becomes “exhausted” by cancer.

T cells, which are the immune system’s front line against disease, eventually become overcome by cancer allowing it to grow.

Their research, published in Cell Reports, has identified a potential way to “boost” T cells, a key defence against cancer.

Lead researcher Professor Victoria Cowling, of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute and University of Glasgow, said: “T cells need to rapidly multiply and produce proteins to fight off infections. That requires a huge amount of energy.

“We’ve discovered that a little-known enzyme, called CMTR1, helps switch on the energy supply by changing how certain genes work.

“If we can find ways to boost this process, we could improve how the immune system responds to cancer which could be a game-changer in how we treat the disease.”

CMTR1 plays a vital role in energising T cells, acting as a switch to help the immune cells ramp up their energy production.

The team found that CMTR1 tweaks the instructions inside cells — known as RNA — so that the right versions of energy-related proteins are made.

These proteins help shape the mitochondria, which are like tiny batteries inside cells. With the right shape, mitochondria can produce more energy, helping T cells stay strong and active.

Without CMTR1, the mitochondria break apart and don’t work properly, leaving T cells weak and unable to fight off infections effectively. With CMTR1 present, T cells have more energy allowing them to proliferate and fight infection.

Next steps would be to identify new or existing treatments which increase CMTR1 to give exhausted T cells the power to tackle cancer cells.

Cancer Research UK Director of Research, Dr Catherine Elliott, said: “Scientific breakthroughs like this have the potential to transform how we see and, crucially, how we treat cancer.

“Our immune system is a key area of cancer research and scrutinising how it works can help create real-world impact for those affected by cancer.”

In Scotland, around 34,800* people are diagnosed with cancer each year, with around 16,400** people dying from the disease annually, so finding new ways to tackle the disease is vital.

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK, the European Research Council, the Medical Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust.

NHS Lothian helps pioneer new treatment for kidney cancer patients

A kidney cancer drug has been accepted for use within NHS Scotland and across the UK thanks to an international study, with NHS Lothian and Edinburgh University leading the UK part of the trial.

The treatment, pembrolizumab, is an antibody delivered intravenously as an immunotherapy to reduce the chances of a relapse after kidney cancer surgery.

Thanks to the research, the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has advised that the drug will now be made available to treat eligible adults with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

In Scotland, about 1000 patients are diagnosed with RCC each year, and the incidence of the disease has been increasing over time.

Surgery carries the hope of cure if disease is caught early, but about a quarter to half of patients who undergo a nephrectomy (whole or partial kidney removal) have disease recurrence at different sites within three to five years of this.

RCC is generally resistant to chemotherapy and radiation therapy so, until now, there have been no additional treatments that reduce this risk of relapse.

The study showed that, for patients with a raised risk of relapse, pembrolizumab reduced the risk of kidney cancer coming back by a about a third and there are early indications that this is leading to patients living longer.

This has led to the SMC recommending the drug for NHS use and the first non-trial patients are now receiving this new treatment in Edinburgh.

Dr Stefan Symeonides, Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and Oncology Consultant at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre, said: “Research continues to explore which people might benefit most from this treatment, as pembrolizumab is not always effective or suitable for every patient.

“However, this represents a significant breakthrough in the treatment of kidney cancer as confirmed by UK approvals from the SMC in Scotland and NICE in England and Wales, as well as its incorporation in treatment guidelines from the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

“Approval of pembrolizumab is welcome news to many RCC patients, who otherwise had no treatment options available to them to prevent or reduce the risk of relapse of the cancer following nephrectomy.”

Visit the University of Edinburgh‘s website to read more.