Rarer forms of cancer are actually common – accounting for 35% of all cancers. However, difficulties in assembling research cohorts increase the costs and risks of undertaking research in rarer cancers. As a result people with rare forms of cancer often have worse outcomes than those with more common cancers. RareCan Ltd is a social enterprise set up for the purpose of speeding up research and ultimately improving outcomes for people with rarer forms of cancer. NovoPath is exploring how we can work collaboratively with RareCan to address these particular challenges. Our relationship with RareCan is likely to include:-
- The co-development of tissue acquisition and distribution pathways
- The provision of base-line sample characterisation (including Tumour infiltration, Digital imaging and DNA extration)
- The creation of a secure register of patients with rare cancers that can support delivery of translational studies and through RareCan, support future research