The Prince of Wales opens the Royal Marsden's Oak Cancer Centre

The Oak Cancer Centre, funded by The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, will help accelerate the development of new treatments and enable clinicians to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage.

It has been designed to create a bright and peaceful environment which will help to enhance patients’ experience while undergoing treatment. In October 2020, The Prince laid the foundation stone at a ground-breaking event for the new building.

During his visit, His Royal Highness spent time with some of the first patients to be treated in the Oak Cancer Centre’s Olayan Day Care Unit and heard what a difference the new building will make to them as they go through their treatment.

The Prince then met some of the hospital’s world leading researchers who will carry out their innovative research in the Kuok Research Centre. With researchers and patients based under one roof at the Oak Cancer Centre, The Royal Marsden will be able to further develop its ‘bench-to-bedside’ approach in developing new treatments for patients not just at The Royal Marsden but around the world.

The close proximity facilitates greater collaboration between experts specialising in different tumour groups to encourage breakthroughs that target molecular and genetic abnormalities, with less emphasis on the tumour’s location in the body.

His Royal Highness then delivered short remarks to mark the official opening of the Oak Cancer Centre and met some of those who have been instrumental in the project.

The Royal Marsden opened its doors in 1851 as the world’s first hospital dedicated to cancer diagnosis, treatment, research and education. Today, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre specialising in cancer diagnosis, treatment, research and education three sites in Chelsea, Sutton and Cavendish Square in central London. Prince William has been President of The Royal Marsden since 2007. The position was previously held by his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.