Announcing nine new challenges

In late 2022, we launched a global conversation to identify our next round of challenges.

After a rigorous grassroots process, involving workshops, consultation and debate with the global cancer research community and people affected by cancer, more than 300 ideas were submitted. The Cancer Grand Challenges Scientific Committee met to discuss and debate the ideas, recommending a set of complex challenges, that it believes can be solved.

We’re excited to announce nine new Cancer Grand Challenges, for which expressions of interest are now open. We're inviting international teams to apply for up to $25m of funding each to tackle them. The deadline to apply is 22 June, and shortlisted teams will be announced in August 2023.

T-cell receptors

Decipher the T-cell receptor cancer-recognition code

Obesity, physical activity and cancer

Determine the mechanisms through which obesity and physical activity influence cancer risk

Early-onset cancers

Determine why the incidence of early-onset cancers in adults is rising globally

Cancer cell plasticity

Understand cancer cell plasticity and its contribution to the development of pantherapeutic resistance in cancer

Cancer inequities

Understand the mechanisms through which genetics, biology and social determinants affect cancer risk and outcomes in diverse populations, to motivate interventions to reduce cancer inequities

Retrotransposable elements

Understand the roles of retrotransposable elements in cancer

Solid tumours in children

Develop therapeutics to target oncogenic drivers of solid tumours in children

Ageing and cancer

Decipher the functional basis underlying the association between ageing somatic tissues and cancer

Chemotherapyinduced neurotoxicities

Understand and prevent chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity and neuropathy