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Challenges

What are Cancer Grand Challenges?

Cancer Grand Challenges represent some of the most complex problems in cancer research — obstacles that continue to impede progress and that no one scientist, institution or country will be able to solve alone. 

 

From identifying the most complex problems in cancer research to awarding funding

Every two years, working with the Scientific Committee, we convene the global community to identify some of the most complex problems in cancer research. We engage with and shape ideas from researchers, patient advocates, partners and innovators. 

The Scientific Committee then recommends to Cancer Research UK the most important challenges with the greatest potential benefit for the public and people affected by cancer. As our founders, Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute make the final decision on which challenges should be posed to the research community. 

We then have an open call, inviting the global research community to self-assemble interdisciplinary teams and submit their innovative ideas to take one on of these challenges. Finally, the successful teams are selected and awarded up to $25m each, beginning their work solving some of cancer's toughest problems. 

Learn more about our active challenges, concluded challenges and unfunded challenges below.

Explore our challenges

PRECISION DCIS challenge

Concluded challenges

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

Unfunded challenges

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

Publications

Our teams are making important and transformative discoveries against cancer.
Explore published papers
cross section though the wall of the large bowel showing an ulcerated cancer growing through the bowel wall and having invaded a large vein