# MRC Cancer Unit

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Cancer Research Institute at the University of Cambridge

MRC Cancer Unit Abbreviation MRC CU Formation 2001 Dissolved 2022 Type Research institute Legal status University Unit Purpose Cancer research in the UK Headquarters Hutchison/MRC Research Centre Location Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0XZ Region served UK Director (interim) Rebecca Fitzgerald Parent organization University of Cambridge and Medical Research Council Staff c. 100 cancer research scientists and support staff Website MRC Cancer Unit

The [Medical Research Council](/source/Medical_Research_Council_(UK)) **Cancer Unit** was located in Cambridge and was established in 2001. It was based within the Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, which in turn is situated on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

## History

The MRC Cancer Unit was established in 2001 (as the MRC Cancer Cell Unit) by [Professor Ron Laskey CBE](/source/Ron_Laskey), who was also appointed as the unit's first director. Professor Laskey retired from the unit in 2010.[1] His successor was [Professor Ashok Venkitaraman](/source/Ashok_Venkitaraman), who had co-directed the unit from 2006 with Professor Laskey. As well as his position as director of the MRC Cancer Unit, Professor Venkitaraman was also the Ursula Zoellner Professor of Cancer Research within the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge). In October 2013, the unit joined the University of Cambridge and changed its name to the MRC Cancer Unit.[2] Professor Venkitaraman stepped down from the directorship in November 2019 to take up a new role as director of the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore. He was succeeded by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald as the interim director. The MRC Cancer Unit was closed at the end of March 2022.

## Research areas

The unit had a general research focus on investigating the early stages of epithelial cancers, with an overall goal of improving the detection and treatment of these cancers. There were seven active research programmes in the Unit, which cover the following areas: chromosomal instability, [Barrett's oesophagus](/source/Barrett's_esophagus) and oesohago-gastric carcinoma, cell fate and cancer, lung tumour evolution, cancer metabolism, lymphatics and the tumour microenvironment, and cancer metastasis.[3]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ccu1_1-0)** [MRC CU website About Us section](https://web.archive.org/web/20211121200500/https://www.mrc-cu.cam.ac.uk/about-us)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ccu2_2-0)** [MRC CU website News section](https://web.archive.org/web/20220328103122/https://www.mrc-cu.cam.ac.uk/News/index.html#transfer)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-cu3_3-0)** [MRC CU website Research section](https://web.archive.org/web/20211121190041/https://www.mrc-cu.cam.ac.uk/research)

## External links

- [Archived MRC Cancer Unit website](https://web.archive.org/web/20220331082415/https://www.mrc-cu.cam.ac.uk/)

- [Hutchison/MRC Research Centre website](https://web.archive.org/web/20111128033159/http://www.hutchison-mrc.cam.ac.uk/index.html)

[52°10′37″N 0°08′32″E / 52.1770°N 0.1422°E / 52.1770; 0.1422](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=MRC_Cancer_Unit&params=52.177_N_0.1422_E_)

Authority control databases ISNI

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [MRC Cancer Unit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRC_Cancer_Unit) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MRC_Cancer_Unit?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.