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The writer is a former president of Imperial College London
本文作者是伦敦帝国理工学院(Imperial College London)前校长
During my time at Imperial College London, Stanford, MIT and Pennsylvania’s Lehigh, I have seen the positive impact of the work done by some of the greatest researchers in the world and how it can improve people’s lives. But the benefits of such work came into starker view for me when I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2021.
在伦敦帝国理工学院、斯坦福大学(Stanford)、麻省理工学院(MIT)和宾夕法尼亚州理海大学(Lehigh)工作期间，我看到了世界上一些最伟大的研究人员所做的工作产生的积极影响，以及它们如何改善人们的生活。但当我在2021年被诊断出患有胰腺癌时，这种工作的好处对我来说变得更加明显。
Under-investment in research on this disease has contributed to a shocking survival rate. Sadly, there are several other cancers — including those of the brain, liver, stomach, oesophagus and lung — that have also been left behind, with dismal survival rates below 25 per cent. Known as less survivable cancers, these make up 20 per cent of cases in the UK, yet cause 40 per cent of the deaths.
对这种疾病的研究投资不足，导致该病患者存活率令人震惊。可悲的是，还有其他几种癌症——包括脑癌、肝癌、胃癌、食道癌和肺癌——也被抛在了后面，存活率低于25%。这些癌症被称为存活率较低的癌症，占英国病例的20%，但却导致了40%的死亡。
Too often, researchers and funders shift their focus elsewhere. And while large projects and research groups have made tremendous progress in many other areas of cancer, now is the time to focus on the recalcitrant and less survivable varieties where the big breakthroughs are yet to be made.
研究人员和资助者经常将注意力转移到其他地方。虽然大型项目和研究小组在癌症的许多其他领域取得了巨大进展，但现在是时候把重点放在尚未取得重大突破、存活率较低的顽固疾病上了。
The good news is that investment makes a difference. The doubling of government and research funders’ investment in leukaemia has meant that survival rates are now four times higher than in the 1970s, helping to deliver better diagnostic tools and treatments such as highly targeted drugs. The UK aims to lead the world in research, development and innovation. To do so, we must address the woeful lack of research funding and poor outcomes for the less survivable cancers.
好消息是，投资带来了改变。政府和研究资助者对白血病的投资翻了一番，使得现在白血病患者的存活率是上世纪70年代的4倍，投资有助于提供更好的诊断工具和治疗方法，比如高度靶向的药物。英国的目标是在研究、开发和创新方面引领世界。要做到这一点，我们必须解决严重缺乏研究资金和对存活率较低的癌症治疗效果不佳的问题。
In March, the government launched a plan to “cement the UK’s place as a science and technology superpower by 2030”, suggesting “testing different models of funding science . . . working with industry and philanthropic partners to open up new funding”. One such test succeeded when a recent philanthropic donation of $20mn to UK Biobank, the world-leading biomedical database, was matched by the government to help the revolution in genetic science and medicine. Clearly, this plan can work; now we must rapidly move forward with other partnerships leveraging the support of philanthropists.
今年3月，英国政府启动了一项计划，“到2030年巩固英国作为科技超级大国的地位”，建议“测试不同的资助科学的模式……与行业和慈善伙伴合作，开辟新的资金来源”。最近，英国政府向世界领先的生物医学数据库英国生物银行(UK Biobank)捐赠了2000万美元的慈善捐款，以帮助基因科学和医学的革命。显然，这个计划是可行的；现在，我们必须利用慈善家的支持，迅速推进其他伙伴关系。
There is a wealth of potential partners among the many philanthropists who support small charities, which play a critical role providing early funds for research in less survivable cancers. The flexibility of these charities nurtures inventions, innovations and talent but their size means they cannot do this alone. We should instead test new funding models by building partnerships between them and government.
在许多支持小型慈善机构的慈善家中，有很多潜在的合作伙伴，这些慈善机构在为生存率较低的癌症的研究提供早期资金方面发挥着关键作用。这些慈善机构的灵活性孕育了发明、创新和人才，但它们的规模意味着它们无法单独做到这一点。相反，我们应该通过在他们和政府之间建立伙伴关系来测试新的融资模式。
One new model would be to take a Silicon Valley approach. In entrepreneurial ventures, small amounts of early-stage funding, known as angel investments, support innovative, highly uncertain work. When the entity is ready to scale up, larger amounts are sought.
一种新的模式是采用硅谷的方法。在创业企业中，少量的早期资金——即天使投资——支持了创新的、高度不确定的工作。当实体准备扩大规模时，就寻求更大的数额。
In the same way, scale-up funding for small charity research projects needs to be catalysed by further investment. In the UK, this must come from government support. We should create an annual “cancer survivability fund” of £50mn to start a venture-funding type approach. Government and partners will choose promising early-stage research in less survivable cancers and investment will accelerate results. Unlike Silicon Valley angels, charity donors will be rewarded not by financial returns, but by research advances and better patient outcomes.
同样，扩大对小型慈善研究项目的资助需要进一步的投资来催化。在英国，这必须来自政府的支持。我们应该设立一个每年5000万英镑的“癌症生存基金”，启动一种风险投资类型的方法。政府和合作伙伴将选择对存活率较低的癌症进行有前途的早期研究，投资将加速取得成果。与硅谷天使投资不同，慈善捐赠者得到的回报不是经济回报，而是研究进展和更好的患者治疗效果。
There are innovations ready for scale-up investment. For example, thanks to support from Pancreatic Cancer UK and others, Imperial College’s Professor George Hanna has developed an exciting new low-cost screening approach for pancreatic cancer through a simple breath test that can dramatically improve outcomes.
有些创新已准备好进行大规模投资。例如，在英国胰腺癌协会和其他机构的支持下，帝国理工学院的乔治•汉纳(George Hanna)教授开发了一种令人兴奋的低成本胰腺癌筛查方法，通过简单的呼吸测试，可以显著改善结果。
An entrepreneurial, rapid-response approach is urgently needed to accelerate such breakthroughs for less survivable cancers. We can change the outcomes for these deadliest of cancers. But we must act now.
我们迫切需要一种具有创业精神的快速反应方法，以加速在存活率较低的癌症上取得突破。我们可以改变这些最致命的癌症的结果。但我们现在必须行动起来。
