Day One: Tuesday 14th May 2024 

Following a warm welcome and the consumption of numerous coffees and pastries (for those who were lucky to grab one before they all disappeared), members of the audience made their ways to the conference room.

Well known host of ‘You, Me and the Big C’, Steve Bland, opened the conference, giving a welcoming introduction and overview of what to expect over the next couple of days.

Empowering our system through collaboration

Successes in Cancer Team Science – Professor Robert Bristow

Our Director, Prof. Rob Bristow, addressed the MCRC’s approach to ‘Team Science’, including how we are integrating a cancer genomics approach to our research and our goal of ‘Cancer precision for all’.

Key take home messages:

• Greater Manchester has a high percentage of its population from an ethnic minority group, while most global genomic research involves white Caucasian populations
• In Manchester, we are driving genomic sequencing research projects to understand genetic and tumour biology differences between different ethnic populations
• Using this data, the MCRC hopes that new clinical trials and screening strategies can be developed to ensure access to advanced and novel therapies and detect cancers sooner in at-risk populations

Empowering our communities through innovation

Genomics – Dr Natalie Cook

Dr Natalie Cook discussed the latest innovations in genomics research, including establishing the National Genomics Medicine Service to ensure equitable access to genetic testing and improving education in genomics amongst patients and the public.

Key take home messages:

• Dr Cook and her team are identifying predisposition genetic markers that can cause health problems such as cancers
• They are using an individual’s genomic profile to match them to suitable treatment options and novel clinical trials as well as assessing if a profile can predict susceptibility to side-effects of treatments
• They established the National Genomics Medicine Service to ensure the equitable access to genetic testing across the whole of England

The BCAN-RAY study: Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Young Women – Dr Sacha Howell

Dr Sacha Howell continued with the theme of empowering our communities, discussing the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment in Younger Women (BCAN_RAY) project. This project was launched in memory of Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding and is looking to identify young women who might be at increased risk of breast cancer.

Key take home messages:

• Breast cancer is the most common cause of death in women aged 35-64 years, but the UK’s national breast screening programme does not begin until aged 50
• We can identify 23% of breast cancers within this age group through comprehensive risk prediction
• This study aims to determine if mammographic density is a relevant risk factor in this age group and determine whether this is an acceptable approach to risk assess a population that can be rolled out nationwide

Empowering our people through education  

How Greater Manchester can be a global player in improving cancer outcomes – Professor Richard Cowan and Rachel Chown

Our Training and Education Lead, Rachel Chown, spoke alongside Professor Richard Cowan, Director of The Christie School of Oncology about ‘How Greater Manchester can be a global player in improving cancer outcomes.’

Key take home messages:

• You must understand the local context of where you are working; you can’t just “lift and shift” techniques
• You need to consider a partnership’s sustainability before you make any form of promises or agreements
• It is essential to listen and adapt to the needs of your partners

Doing it for Laura: ‘They know what I have but they don’t know who I am.’

Nicola Nuttall, mother of Laura Nuttall brought day one of the conference to a close. Nicola shared the inspiring story of her daughter who was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma in 2018 and sadly passed away from the disease in 2023. She told the story of Laura’s infamous ‘bucket list’, including her meeting with Michelle Obama and presenting the BBC weather before her death in 2023.

Day Two: Wednesday 15^th May

Empowering our system through digital transformation 

ePROMS and Rapid Radiotherapy –  Dr Gareth Price and Professor Corinne Faivre-Finn

Dr Gareth Price discussed ‘RAPID-RT: Using real world data to prospectively evaluate heart sparing thoracic radiotherapy’ and how we can find out the best way to treat patients.

Key take home messages:

• Lack of representation in clinical trials creates an uncertainty in clinical decision making
• RAPID-RT used a ‘citizens’ jury’ so patients and the public could choose how real-world patient data would be routinely collected
• This ‘heart sparing’ technique was introduced by The Christie in 2023 and researchers are hoping to have accrued enough data by summer 2024 to assess if this approach significantly improves survival of radiotherapy patients

Professor Corinne Faivre-Finn talked about ‘Integrating Electronic Patient Recorded Outcome Measures (ePROMs) into cancer treatment.

Key take home messages:

• ePROMs are online questionnaires designed to capture a patient’s reported health status during treatment
• Corinne noted that over 50,000 ePROMs have now been collected, and have been shown to reduce a patient’s risk of death by 68%
• She described them as ‘a very powerful tool that gives patients a voice’ and that they can be applicable for use in many clinical settings

Empowering people to live well

Breast Screening after Radiotherapy Dataset (BARD) – optimising the outcomes of women at high risk of breast cancer following treatment for a first cancer – Professor John Radford

Professor John Radford discussed BARD, a national database that helps identify women at a high risk of developing breast cancer after receiving radiotherapy. It also works to refer these at-risk women to appropriate screening.

Key take home messages:

• Patients cured of a first cancer are often at an increased risk of developing a second primary cancer
• BARD is a confidential database of women in England who have received radiotherapy involving breast tissue when aged between 10 to 35 years
• It was set up to ensure all patients at increased risk of breast cancer following their radiotherapy treatment are offered appropriate breast screening and aims to improve long term outcomes in this patient population

GMCC Awards 

Returning for a second year, on the 14^th May, the Greater Manchester Cancer Awards celebrated the projects, healthcare staff, academics, community workers who have helped improve the lives of people affected by cancer across Manchester.

Congratulations to all winners across the eight categories with a particular shout out to the following winners:

• Team Science – Winner – Manchester’s PMP Accelerator Team led by Prof. Omer Aziz
• Early Career Researcher Award – Winner – Dr Alicia-Marie Conway
• Educational Impact Award – Winner – Cancer and Us Community Conversations, involving members of the Manchester BRC and National Biomarker Centre.

Congratulations to the teams involved in the following projects which were highly commended within their respective categories:

• Commitment to Equality – Highly Commended – RAPID-RT
• Team Science Award – Highly Commended – BRAINatomy

You can read more about all the award winners on the GM Cancer website.

Summary

After two days of Greater Manchester Cancer Conference, we showed that we do things differently in Manchester!

We empower our patients and workforce to understand patient needs. We deliver impactful life changing research. And our innovations set world standards in cancer.

We were delighted to be part of this conference and cannot wait to see what the next one brings.

All photos used throughout reproduced with permission from the Greater Manchester Cancer Team. The full gallery is available to view on the GM Cancer website.