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The writer is a former president of Imperial College London
本文作者是倫敦帝國理工學院(Imperial College London)前校長
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.
在倫敦帝國理工學院、史丹佛大學(Stanford)、麻省理工學院(MIT)和賓州理海大學(Lehigh)工作期間，我看到了世界上一些最偉大的研究人員所做的工作產生的積極影響，以及它們如何改善人們的生活。但當我在2021年被診斷出患有胰腺癌時，這種工作的好處對我來說變得更加明顯。
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.
對這種疾病的研究投資不足，導致該病患者存活率令人震驚。可悲的是，還有其他幾種癌症——包括腦癌、肝癌、胃癌、食道癌和肺癌——也被拋在了後面，存活率低於25%。這些癌症被稱爲存活率較低的癌症，佔英國病例的20%，但卻導致了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.
研究人員和資助者經常將注意力轉移到其他地方。雖然大型項目和研究小組在癌症的許多其他領域取得了巨大進展，但現在是時候把重點放在尚未取得重大突破、存活率較低的頑固疾病上了。
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.
好訊息是，投資帶來了改變。政府和研究資助者對白血病的投資翻了一番，使得現在白血病患者的存活率是上世紀70年代的4倍，投資有助於提供更好的診斷工具和治療方法，比如高度靶向的藥物。英國的目標是在研究、開發和創新方面引領世界。要做到這一點，我們必須解決嚴重缺乏研究資金和對存活率較低的癌症治療效果不佳的問題。
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，英國政府啓動了一項計劃，「到2030年鞏固英國作爲科技超級大國的地位」，建議「測試不同的資助科學的模式……與行業和慈善夥伴合作，開闢新的資金來源」。最近，英國政府向世界領先的生物醫學資料庫英國生物銀行(UK Biobank)捐贈了2000萬美元的慈善捐款，以幫助基因科學和醫學的革命。顯然，這個計劃是可行的；現在，我們必須利用慈善家的支援，迅速推進其他夥伴關係。
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.
在許多支援小型慈善機構的慈善家中，有很多潛在的合作伙伴，這些慈善機構在爲生存率較低的癌症的研究提供早期資金方面發揮著關鍵作用。這些慈善機構的靈活性孕育了發明、創新和人才，但它們的規模意味著它們無法單獨做到這一點。相反，我們應該透過在他們和政府之間建立夥伴關係來測試新的融資模式。
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.
一種新的模式是採用矽谷的方法。在創業企業中，少量的早期資金——即天使投資——支援了創新的、高度不確定的工作。當實體準備擴大規模時，就尋求更大的數額。
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.
同樣，擴大對小型慈善研究項目的資助需要進一步的投資來催化。在英國，這必須來自政府的支援。我們應該設立一個每年5000萬英鎊的「癌症生存基金」，啓動一種風險投資類型的方法。政府和合作夥伴將選擇對存活率較低的癌症進行有前途的早期研究，投資將加速取得成果。與矽谷天使投資不同，慈善捐贈者得到的回報不是經濟回報，而是研究進展和更好的患者治療效果。
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.
有些創新已準備好進行大規模投資。例如，在英國胰腺癌協會和其他機構的支援下，帝國理工學院的喬治•漢納(George Hanna)教授開發了一種令人興奮的低成本胰腺癌篩查方法，透過簡單的呼吸測試，可以顯著改善結果。
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.
我們迫切需要一種具有創業精神的快速反應方法，以加速在存活率較低的癌症上取得突破。我們可以改變這些最致命的癌症的結果。但我們現在必須行動起來。