Lorenzo de la Rica, Head of Research (Interim) at Cancer Grand Challenges, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Today at the Cancer Grand Challenges Summit 2026, we just announced five new global teams, backed by an investment of more than £100m, to tackle some of the most pressing and complex questions in cancer research.
This follows two years of working with the international scientific community: from shaping the challenges to supporting multidisciplinary teams across continents.
It’s been a privilege to have this first-row seat on how some of the world’s leading cancer researchers imagine the future of the field. These ideas are being made possible thanks to Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the NCI and partners including the Bowel babe Fund for Cancer Research UK, Cancer Research Institute (CRI), Stichting Kinderen Kankervrij (KiKa), KWF Kankerbestrijding, Torrey Coast Foundation, and Yosemite.
Our perspective in Cancer Discovery:
Meet the five new teams:
Team ATLAS – Cancer avoidance challenge
Turning cancer research on its head, ATLAS asks: why do some high-risk individuals never develop cancer? By uncovering the biology of natural cancer resistance, particularly protective immune mechanisms, the team aims to open entirely new avenues for prevention.
Team CAUSE – Mechanisms driving mutational signatures challenge
CAUSE will connect the dots between DNA damage and the mutational fingerprints found in tumours. By identifying the exposures and molecular insults behind unexplained signatures, they aim to reveal hidden drivers of cancer risk worldwide.
Team ILLUMINE – The dark proteome challenge
Venturing into one of the least explored territories of tumour biology, ILLUMINE will investigate the ‘dark proteome’, non-canonical proteins that challenge our current understanding of gene annotation. This work could uncover entirely new classes of therapeutic targets.
Team InteroCANCEption – The nervous system and cancer challenge
This team will map how tumours interface with neural circuits across the body, redefining cancer as a disease embedded within systemic physiological networks. Their work could reshape how we think about tumour progression, immunity and symptom burden.
Team REWIRE-CAN – Rewiring cancer cells challenge
REWIRE-CAN will test whether cancer cells can be pushed beyond their signalling ‘comfort zone’, destabilising core dependencies to collapse tumour survival. It’s a bold attempt to exploit the very circuitry that cancers rely on.
We also introduced Project AURORA (led byMarinka Zitnik), our new agentic AI cancer co‑scientist, designed to help researchers generate hypotheses, design experiments and accelerate discovery across the Cancer Grand Challenges ecosystem.
A huge thank‑you to everyone who made this possible.
At its core, this investment is about one thing: accelerating progress for people affected by cancer.
What a great day for global cancer research! Excited for what comes next!”
Other articles about Cancer Grand Challenges on OncoDaily.
