Advancing Global Cancer Research at the Barts Cancer Institute: Driving innovation from lab to clinic in North East London

Cancer remains one of the world’s most complex health challenges, but in East London, collaboration is accelerating progress. The Barts Cancer Institute, based at Queen Mary University of London, is home to world-leading research in cancer biology and treatment. Within it, the Centre for Experimental Cancer Medicine – jointly embedded in Queen Mary and Barts Health NHS Trust – is pioneering translational oncology that brings science closer to the clinic.

From first-in-human trials to global regulatory approvals, the Centre’s work is improving survival and quality of life for patients with bladder, kidney, and other cancers. In this feature, Barts Life Sciences speaks to Professor Thomas Powles about how the Institute is driving innovation in drug development, biomarker-led treatment, and international collaboration – and why colocation and collaboration are key to accelerating progress.

Transforming cancer care through research at the Barts Cancer Institute

The Barts Cancer Institute is a leading cancer research institute within Queen Mary University of London. I’m part of the Centre for Experimental Cancer Medicine, which sits within both the Barts Cancer Institute and Barts Health NHS Trust, based primarily at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. The centre is funded by Cancer Research UK, the NIHR and others, and focuses on translational oncology.

We take research that is close to patients and integrate it with laboratory science to identify biomarkers, understand disease biology, and develop treatments. My team concentrates on new drug development, running trials from early- to late-phase. We’ve taken drugs from first-in-patient testing through to large randomised trials, leading to regulatory approvals in the UK, Europe and the US, directly influencing how cancer patients are treated.

Establishing global leadership in experimental oncology

Our track record speaks for itself. We’ve been at the forefront of developing immunotherapy in breast, bladder, and kidney cancers, contributing to multiple FDA, EMA, and NICE approvals.

Our trials are being conducted in over 120 hospitals in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. In the last 5 years alone, we have developed 19 investigator-led and sponsored early phase trials with a budget of over £25m. Most trials have an extensive associated translational research programme with a specific focus on circulating biomarkers.

And our work has been recognised across academia. We’ve published widely in leading journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, Internal Medicine, Annals of Oncology, and The Lancet Oncology.

We also attract substantial external grant funding, both for investigator-initiated studies and through commercial partnerships.

Improving cancer outcomes through personalised medicine

In my own fields of bladder and kidney cancer, median survival has dramatically improved from about a year to three years for bladder cancer and five years for kidney cancer. We’ve led trials that have significantly reduced the risk of death, and we’re also pioneering biomarker-driven approaches, such as using circulating tumour DNA to better select patients for specific therapies. This more personalised approach is harder than drug development alone, but it’s vital to ensuring patients receive the treatments most likely to help them.

Revolutionising bladder cancer treatment after decades of stagnation

Bladder cancer saw no meaningful new drugs for 30 or 40 years. Over the last 10 to 12 years, we’ve helped change that. We’ve led the development of immunotherapies, antibody–drug conjugates, achieving durable remissions in a significant number of patients. And we also led the development of the combination of antibody drug conjugates and immune therapy and that resulted in advanced disease in about 30% of patients going to long term durable remission.

In early-stage disease, we’ve shown that perioperative immunotherapy improves outcomes, and that biomarkers can guide treatment decisions, sparing some patients unnecessary therapy. These findings, which the Barts Cancer Institute has led, are now reflected in approvals and guidelines in the UK, US and Europe.

Building collaborative networks to accelerate innovation

Developing drugs and moving these from bench to bedside is an international team effort.

For example, we work with translational scientists at Queen Mary University of London and other leading UK institutions such as the University of Cambridge and Imperial College, as well as with hundreds of hospitals worldwide, specialist biomarker companies, the pharmaceutical industry and funders like Cancer Research UK. We also collaborate closely with the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre and academic and industry partners across Europe, the US, China, and Japan.

Securing and nurturing these collaborations is a big part of my role, because no single organisation can deliver this level of innovation alone. Collaboration is key if we want to translate findings into clinical applications.

Streamlining regulation to accelerate the UK’s research impact

The UK has outstanding universities, a strong pharmaceutical and biotech sector, and a unified healthcare system, all ingredients for world-leading clinical research. Yet bureaucracy is holding us back. Regulations accumulate without old ones being retired, slowing processes and eroding our competitive edge. We need to streamline while maintaining patient safety, otherwise countries with more agile systems will continue to outpace us.

Benefiting from Colocation in the New Barts Life Sciences Cluster in North East London

Colocation is crucial. When NHS clinicians, industry and scientists work side by side, the entire environment becomes research-facing, rather than research being an occasional visitor to clinical care. That physical and cultural integration makes it easier to attract funding, keeps work focused on clinically meaningful questions, and strengthens motivation across teams. Without it, there’s a risk researchers and clinicians drift apart – and innovation suffers as a result.

If we want to deliver high-impact research, it needs to matter clinically, scientists have to step into hospitals. That means bringing the right people together in the right place, and ensuring our systems support progress. That’s what the new Barts Life Sciences cluster will do, and we look forward to collaborating with even more like-minded partners to move health innovation from bench to bedside.

Professor Thomas Powles is the Chair of the Barts Cancer Centre, London, one of the UK’s largest Cancer Centres.  He leads the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre and Biomedical Research Cancer Grants at Barts Health and Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London.

He has led 23 randomised cancer trials, including studies that resulted in multiple EMA and FDA approvals. He has also led clinical and high-impact translational science projects, leading to over 20 articles in New England journal of Medicine, Nature and Nature Medicine.

He has an H-index of over 100 and has given plenary presentations at all the major cancer meetings. He co-leads the Uromigos podcast, which has 400,000 listens, and European Guidelines for GU cancer. He is editor-in-chief of the Annals of Oncology Journal.

In 2023 he was selected a Nature’s 10 global scientist and in 2024 TIME magazine’s 100 Healthcare List.