The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading specialist cancer hospital. The Institute of Cancer Research works in close partnership with The Royal Marsden to take the results of our research rapidly into the clinic, with the aim of developing better treatments for cancer patients.
With hospitals in Chelsea and Sutton, and a chemotherapy suite at Kingston Hospital, The Royal Marsden treats 50,000 patients from across the UK and abroad every year. Many of these patients benefit from tailored treatment programmes accomplished through provision of molecular diagnostics – allowing doctors to determine which specific treatments will be of most benefit to a particular patient.
The ICR and The Royal Marsden are internationally renowned for our work together to conduct early- and late-phase clinical trials. Our joint Drug Development Unit, which sees around 300 patients per year, is one of the largest centres for phase I trials in the world and makes an important contribution to the worldwide effort to discover and develop new cancer drugs.
The ICR and The Royal Marsden together are ranked in the top four centres for cancer research and treatment worldwide. In 2006, we were selected as a National Institute for Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre specialising in cancer.
.jpg?sfvrsn=4a5246fb_1 "Elen Hughes (credit: Elen Hughes)")
Elen Hughes was first diagnosed with primary invasive lobular breast cancer in 2008 at the age of 37. Eight years later, her cancer returned and spread, and she has been on a rollercoaster journey ever since, experiencing the highs of remission and the lows of numerous relapses. Since February 2025, she has been treated with the drug capivasertib, the discovery of which was underpinned by research at The Institute of Cancer Research. She is now doing well and feels hopeful for her future.