Phase 1 trials and chemotherapy unit open in new £35 million centre

• See accompanying fact sheet about clinical trials and research at The Christie.

The cancer centre The Christie in Manchester, already leading across the globe for its research, today opens the world's largest early clinical trials unit

It is housed in a newly completed £35 million three storey building at its main site and also includes the biggest chemotherapy facility in the UK and The Christie Clinic private patients' suite to boost its income.  It is hoped the new unit will help develop new treatments for a whole range of cancers and save lives across the globe.

2,400 patients a year will be able to access the latest treatments through the clinical trials, with around 200 drug trials going on at any one time. 

Watch our video about the centre, with patient stories

• Watch the video

Watch interviews with key Christie staff about the new trials unit

• Helen Ferns lead research nurse
• Tim Illidge, professor of radioimmotherapy
• Dr Paul Lorigan, Christie oncologist

• Photo gallery from the official opening

Coronation Street actress Sally Dynevor (who plays Sally Webster) was treated at The Christie for breast cancer last year, just after her soap character was given a breast cancer story line. Sally marked the opening with the first patients and said; "This new centre is hugely important in The Christie's fight against cancer, and I'm incredibly proud to support it.

"Being diagnosed with breast cancer was very difficult for me and my family, but The Christie was so wonderful.  They saved my life and this world-class new centre will save thousands more lives."

Up to 700 chemotherapy and clinical trial patients a week will be treated in the new centre which has 70 beds and 65 treatment chairs.  Along with 19 consulting rooms,  special pharmacy and research laboratory, processing around 11,000 blood and tissue samples every year.

The chief executive at The Christie, Caroline Shaw, said: "We're incredibly proud to open our doors to our first patients today.  This new centre will enable us to undertake even more research, ultimately saving lives across the world. 

"Through providing the highest quality environment and integrating clinical trials and chemotherapy services we will also be able to significantly improve the patient experience and ensure local patients can access the very best services and treatment."

The Christie has been at the forefront of the fight against cancer for the past 100 years. Its experts were, for example, the first in the world to trial the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen in 1969 which is now saving lives across the globe.   The cancer centre is also leading in Europe on personalised medicine, which is more targeted and based on the patients' molecular features as well as type and stage of cancer. 

15% of Christie cancer patients go on clinical trials, higher than the national average and the US - with patients on clinical trials experiencing better outcomes and care.

The first clinical trial patient to walk through the doors will be 62 year old Philip Simpson from Prestbury in Cheshire.  Married to wife Wendy and step-father to Lee, 29, the retired accountant is battling prostate cancer after being diagnosed in 2007.  He is taking part in a new drug trial for a treatment that is being tested for the first time in humans and will be the seventh person in the world to have this drug.

Someone who took part in a phase 1 clinical trial in February 2009 at The Christie and is now in remission is 26 year old mechanic John Rowles from Flixton, Manchester.  John was one of the first patients in the world to be recruited for a Hodgkin's lymphoma trial after being diagnosed with the disease just before Christmas 2008.

He said; "When I was told I had cancer I was in complete shock, especially when I found out the tumour was quite aggressive.  So when I was offered the opportunity to go on a clinical trial, I jumped at the chance.  Not only do you feel as though you're helping improve ways of treating cancer, but it also felt as though it was the best form of treatment for me.

"The Christie is just a brilliant place and made what could have been an extremely awful time of my life a lot easier.  I now have check-ups to make sure everything is still fine but I'm in remission and life's back to normal - I'm even back in work!"

The new centre also houses the biggest chemotherapy facility in the UK.  The first chemotherapy patient is newly-wed 37 year old Clare Coe from Sale, Manchester.  She was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2009.  Clare said; "A cancer diagnosis can be a huge challenge for anyone to face.  The environment you spend your time in during treatment can have a huge impact to how you feel and how you face the illness.  This new centre will make a huge difference to me - it really is state-of-the-art and I know I'm in extremely safe hands".

First patients Philip and Claire have buried a time capsule in the centre's atrium with Sally Dynevor to mark the opening.  The capsule contains items such as a nurse's uniform, a bottle that was found in the foundations below the centre dating back to 1875, a copy of the menu of the day from The Christie's dining room and floor plans of the new centre.   The capsule will be reopened in 2048 - the year that marks the 100th anniversary of the NHS.

Harpal Kumar, the chief executive of Cancer Research UK, which funded half of the cost of the new trials unit said:

"The new clinical trials' facility at The Christie will offer a lifeline to nearly two and a half thousand cancer patients every year who have not responded to other treatments by giving them the chance to be part of a clinical trial testing a new treatment. Not only will the new unit improve cancer outcomes and save lives but we believe it is designed in such a way that it will also improve each patient's experience of their treatment, especially chemotherapy. Cancer Research UK is very proud to be supporting such an important new facility for cancer patients."

Cancer Research in Manchester was officially ranked as the best in the UK in December 2008, in the five yearly national Research Assessment Exercise. 90% of the cancer research undertaken in Manchester over the past six years was assessed as internationally excellent. 

Christie trials are funded by Cancer Research UK, drug companies such as Astra Zeneca and the Medical Research Council. Chemotherapy treatments are funded by the NHS.

Notes to editor:

The centre has been paid for between The Christie, the Christie charity and Cancer Research UK (building costs: £22m Christie, £9m Christie charity, £4m Cancer Research UK)

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