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Active challenges

Challenges which have a funded team actively addressing them.

2023

Cancer inequities icon
Understand the mechanisms through which genetics, biology, and social determinants affect cancer risk and outcomes in diverse populations, to motivate interventions to reduce cancer inequities. This challenge is being tackled by team SAMBAI.
Early onset cancers icon
Determine why the incidence of early-onset cancers in adults is rising globally. This challenge is being tackled by team PROSPECT.
Solid tumours in children icon
Develop therapeutics to target oncogenic drivers of solid tumours in children. This challenge is being tackled by teams KOODAC and PROTECT.
T-cell receptors challenge icon
Decipher the T-cell receptor cancer-recognition code. This challenge is being tackled by team MATCHMAKERS.

2020

Cachexia challenge icon
Understand and reverse cachexia and declining performance status in cancer patients. This challenge is being tackled by team CANCAN.
Extrachromosomal DNA challenge icon
Understand the biology of ecDNA generation and action, and develop approaches to target these mechanisms in cancer. This challenge is being tackled by team eDyNAmiC.
Normal phenotypes challenge icon
Understand how cells and tissues maintain “normal” phenotypes whilst harbouring oncogenic mutations and how they transition to become a tumour. This challenge is being tackled by team PROMINENT.

2017

Cancer causes challenge icon
Determine the mechanisms that cause cancer without known mutagenesis, such as obesity, in order to devise novel interventions. This challenge is being tackled by team STORMing Cancer.
Microbiota challenge icon
Improve treatment responses by manipulating the composition and status of the microbiota. This challenge is being tackled by team OPTIMISTICC.
Tissue specificity challenge icon
Devise approaches to prevent or treat cancer based on mechanisms that determine tissue specificity of some cancer genes. This challenge is being tackled by team SPECIFICANCER.

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PRECISION DCIS challenge

Learn more about our concluded challenges, which were being tackled by teams whose funding period has now come to an end.

Monitor with scientific data

We don't fund teams against every challenge we set. Explore the challenges that are currently unfunded and have no teams working on them.