The Miranda Filmer Fund (MFF) Research Update December 2024

Introduction:

I am delighted to share the following report on the advancements our research programme has made over the past year, thanks to the vital support of the Miranda Filmer Fund. We are hugely grateful to all who have supported our efforts through generous donations and fundraising, and are optimistic about the strong progress we have made.

Our research aims to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying aggressive neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), integrating state-of-the-art genomic, transcriptomic, and metagenomic approaches to address critical challenges in the diagnosis, progression, and treatment of the disease.

We have achieved several key milestones in 2024, including ethical and R&D approvals, commencement of patient recruitment, and the systematic collection and processing of tumour and associated biological samples. These efforts have laid the groundwork for the first wave of sequencing, scheduled to provide preliminary results by the end of 2024. This, combined with the planned recruitment in January of a specialist technician for our new Spatial Biology Hub, officially known as the 'Miranda Filmer Neuroendocrine Cancer Research Funding for Spatial Biology Hub' will position us well for an exciting year ahead.

Our progress report highlights the scientific advancements achieved thus far and outlines the immediate and long-term objectives that will steer this ambitious program forward. Through these efforts, we aim to significantly advance our understanding of neuroendocrine tumour biology and ultimately catalyse the development of innovative, personalised treatments.

Thank you for your continued support.

Professor Martyn Caplin  (15 December 2024)

The MFF Project 

Thanks to our incredibly generous supporters To date, £540,809.76 (net, including Gift Aid) has been raised in Miranda Filmer’s honour, driving three research streams:

·       Evaluation of the genetic and epigenetic landscape of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma (GEP-NEC) to determine mechanistic driver mutations for therapeutic manipulation;

·       Digital spatial evaluation of GEP-NEC, made possible by the new Miranda Filmer Neuroendocrine Cancer Research Funding for Spatial Biology Hub

·       Investigation into the role of the microbiome in the development of high-grade NETs and well differentiated low intermediate grade NETs.

For a more detailed analysis on the progress of the research being undertaken please refer to our second attachment.

Fundraising events in 2025

On 28th January 2024 Billy Hawkings-Byass ran the Marrakesh Marathon in 3 hours and 50 minutes raising £6,526.17 for the MFF.

On 14th and 15th June Antonia and Charles Filmer hosted Regent Opera performing Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Distillery Farm, a total of £10,979.54 was raised with a further £6,000 pledged.

On 15th July the luxury jewellery brand Abbott Lyon launched a bracelet with a zebra motif, the zebra is used by the medical profession as the symbol for rare diseases, raising a total of £2,094.16. Abbott Lyon plan to relaunch the bracelet in Spring 2025 for a second round of fundraising.

We have exciting ideas in the pipeline for fundraising in 2025, more anon.

Thank you for your outstanding support.

Antonia and Charles Filmer