Our research
As well as providing emotional, practical and financial support for families, Candlelighters funds vital childhood cancer research to improve care in Yorkshire and beyond.
The importance of research
When Candlelighters was founded in the 1970s sadly very few children diagnosed with cancer survived. Today, things are different. Thanks to advances in research, now most children and young people diagnosed with cancer will survive for five or more years.
But we can't stop there.
How things are changing
Survival rates still vary significantly across different types of cancer. Treatments can have traumatic and life-changing side effects. We know funding more research is the only way to improve survival and quality of life for children and young people.
Candlelighters has funded research for over 40 years to bring hope to children and families. With your help, in the last 25 years alone, we have invested over £11m in projects that are building a brighter future for children with cancer across the globe.
We work closely with families to understand what areas of research are most important to them. And we collaborate with researchers to make this research happen.
Our research strategy
With your help, we're giving children and young people the best possible chances of survival, support throughout, and quality of life during and after cancer treatment. Read more about our research strategy.
Our research projects
The Candlelighters Supportive Care Research Centre
Learning how to reduce, manage, and treat the traumatic and sometimes deadly side effects caused by cancer treatment for children.
The Yorkshire Cancer Register
A comprehensive database of children’s cancer in Yorkshire from 1974, allowing researchers to spot and investigate patterns and trends.
Brain tumour research
Funding the first academic neurosurgeon in Leeds to advance research in paediatric brain tumours.
The Candlelighters Fellowship
Funding the next generation of doctors and researchers to continue making breakthroughs in children and young people’s cancer.
Febrile neutropenia research
A study to distinguish between life-threatening and routine fevers in children and young people receiving treatment, helping to reduce antibiotic use and unnecessary hospital stays.
Neuroblastoma and Ewing sarcoma research
Establishing a dedicated laboratory for research into two cancers which primarily affect children and young people, helping to develop kinder, more effective treatments.
