RESEARCHERS at Cardiff University have received a half-a-million-pound boost to explore “high-reward” solutions for curing one of the deadliest types of cancer.

The Cardiff team, led by School of Pharmacy lecturer Dr Benjamin Newland, will explore the potential for a cryogel to be placed at the site of a brain tumour and deliver drugs directly to the affected area.

Other teams across the UK will carry out cutting-edge work on treatments for cancers of the lungs and oesophagus.

The projects were selected following a two-day "sandpit" event promoting cooperation and conversation among experts from clinical, biomedical, engineering, physical and data sciences.

The £2 million investment follows last month’s announcement of £13 million to “revolutionise healthcare research” through artificial intelligence.

Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan will outline the wider potential of AI at a conference in London today, Tuesday, September 12.

Ms Donelan said: “While pioneering treatments have progressed enormously over the years thanks to world class researchers in the UK, cancer continues to impact so many of our lives – from those who receive diagnoses themselves to those who experience the heart-wrenching loss of a loved one.

“By investing in high-risk but high-reward techniques – including artificial intelligence – we are backing the very best of our ambitious and innovative researchers to build on generations of discoveries and give more people a fighting chance to live long and healthy lives.”

The funding will allow a team from Imperial College London to develop techniques for the precise laser removal of brain cancer cells, which could also reduce the impact of treatment on normal cells.

The University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust will use the funding to develop engineered nanoparticle therapeutics for cancer of the oesophagus.

Less than 55 per cent of people with a stage one oesophageal cancer diagnosis survive their cancer for five or more years, with the survival rates falling to 30 and 15 per cent for stage two and three.