Is there a cure for cancer in your blood? Groundbreaking research study opens in oxford

Oxford, UK - British techbio innovator Etcembly is recruiting people aged over 18 in the Oxfordshire area who are either healthy, are living with or have survived cancer to participate in their groundbreaking ETCh study aiming to uncover clues to new cancer treatments in their immune cells.

The study is now open at the Oxford Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC)* based at ARC Oxford, Cowley. The site has plenty of parking and is well connected by public transport to the city centre, and reimbursement is available for travel expenses. Alternatively, participants can come to the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus around 15 miles south of Oxford.

Is there a cure for cancer in your blood?

Participants will be asked to donate a small amount of blood and provide information about their health. Appointments will be held at the CDC from 08:30-12:30 on weekdays, and will take around 15-30 mins.

Participants are eligible to take part in the ETCh if they are:

• Are aged 18+ male or female

• Are currently living with or have survived any type of clinically confirmed cancer OR have not been diagnosed with cancer and wish to participate as a healthy donor

• Are able to provide informed consent to take part.

• Are able to donate blood safely.

• Are not pregnant.

People who are interested in participating can fill in the contact form on Etcembly’s website, email etch@etcembly.io, or call 07796 649 370 (09:00-17:00 Monday to Friday) for more information without obligation.

Unlocking the secret to surviving cancer

The ETCh study is rooted in the well-established concept that long-term survivors have beaten  cancer due to their immune system’s ability to recognise and eliminate cancerous cells. However, a systematic search for the specific targets recognised within tumours has yet to be undertaken.

In this study, blood samples will be collected from people who are living with or have survived cancer, as well as healthy individuals. The research team will conduct an extensive analysis of the immune repertoire at an unprecedented scale by sequencing millions of antibodies and T cell receptors (TCRs) from each participant.

Etcembly’s advanced AI platform, EMLyTM, will then perform an in-depth analysis to identify which of these are likely to play a role in recognising and destroying cancer cells, and find the specific molecules in tumours that they target. 

These molecules could become new targets for next-generation immunotherapies that harness the power of a patient’s own immune system to combat cancer. The team expects to identify new targets within 12 to 18 months, which will then enter Etcembly’s pipeline for developing novel TCR-based therapies.

If you're aged over 18 in the Oxfordshire area and are either healthy, are living with or have survived cancer... we invite you to join our study.

Harnessing the power of TCRs

This approach will allow Etcembly to delve deep into the immune response of cancer survivors and find vital clues to future cures. Since the ETCh study fully launched in September 2024, Etcembly’s scientists have already analysed millions of immune receptors from 26 participants, and aim to recruit nearly a hundred more over the coming months.

Nick Pumphrey, Chief Scientific Officer at Etcembly says, “There is an urgent need to discover new cancer targets that traditional approaches have largely failed to deliver. By approaching the problem from the opposite direction, we can identify TCRs and targets from cancer survivors that have proven their ability to beat cancer, allowing us to develop therapies that are more likely to work for others.”

Visit https://www.etcembly.com/long-term-survivor-study to learn more about the ETCh study and sign up to participate.

*The CDC is used for private and NHS diagnostic tests and research studies - this study is not part of the NHS.