The University of Southampton has launched a major fundraising campaign to build a world-leading Centre for Cancer Immunology at Southampton and save more lives from cancer.

The new £25m state-of-the-art Centre for Cancer Immunology will be the first dedicated centre in the UK and is due to open in 2017.

Located at Southampton General Hospital, and partnered with the planned Francis Crick Centre in London, the new Centre will attract leading scientists from all over the world, maximising research power and enabling the acceleration of the development of immunotherapy treatments and delivery of cures for cancers more effectively and more quickly.

The University of Southampton leads the UK in cancer immunology research. Cancer immunotherapy harnesses the body’s own immune system to fight and provide lasting defence against cancer.  Exciting discoveries are moving out of the laboratory into clinical trials, where they are already making a world of difference to people with cancer, with outstanding results. 

As many as half of the University’s trial patients, with advanced and terminal cancers, are showing dramatic improvements with immunotherapy.  And a further 20% are living cancer free.  But there is still much to learn.

The new Centre will be home to world-class research facilities, a clinical trials unit, a suite of molecular biology laboratories, where genetic engineering will be used to develop new vaccine and antibody constructs, and a pre-clinical immunology lab investigating the complex interaction of cancer and the immune system.  

The number of staff working on cancer immunology will double, with at least 50 new research staff, and by the time the Centre is fully operational the number of patient clinical trials will also double.  By pooling knowledge, building on the exciting progress already made in cancer immunology research, and extending resources, the new Centre will save more lives from cancer.

Thanks to philanthropic gifts and community support, plans for the new Centre are already under way, with £13.4m already raised.  However, there is still a way to go to reach the £25m target. 

For further information or to find out how you can support the campaign visit www.southampton.ac.uk/youreit

Support the campaign on twitter #YoureIt