MANIFEST: A UK Cancer Immunotherapy Response Research Platform
A major new UK study has opened to better understand why immunotherapy works well for some people with cancer while others see little benefit or experience severe side effects. The MANIFEST study aims to generate the evidence needed to make these treatments safer, more predictable and more effective for every patient.
Immunotherapy has dramatically changed the survival outcomes for many patients with melanoma and other types of cancer. However, accurate tests are still needed that look at processes in the body known as biomarkers, that can see how immunotherapy works. These biomarkers can help identify patients that respond to immunotherapy treatment, or not, predict potential life-threatening and life-changing treatment toxicities (side effects), and help doctors make treatment choices.
To address this gap, the MANIFEST study will recruit 3,000 patients receiving immunotherapy for different cancer types, including melanoma. The study is led by The Christie NHS Foundation and delivered through a coordinated national partnership with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Western General Hospital Edinburgh NHS Lothian. Participants may provide tumour, blood or stool samples, alongside clinical information. These will be analysed using advanced spatial, genomic, immune and microbiome technologies, supported by artificial intelligence and machine learning. This integrated dataset will provide an unprecedented understanding of how the immune system and tumours interact in real patients over time.
The study sits within the wider MANIFEST platform, a national collaboration funded by the UK Office for Life Sciences (OLS) and Medical Research Council (MRC). The platform brings together 14 academic institutions, 6 NHS hospital trusts and multiple biotechnology and pharmaceutical partners united in addressing the critical challenge in cancer treatment: predicting how patients will respond to immunotherapy. If this is understood, researchers can make treatments both safer and more effective.
Melanoma Focus is proud to work with MANIFEST as a patient organisation to make sure that research accurately represents the needs of people living with cancer.
Professor Samra Turajlić, Director of the CRUK Manchester Institute and Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Christie, who is Chief Investigator for the MANIFEST study and leading on MANIFEST Consortium and platform said: “This collaboration brings together some of the best minds in UK science, the NHS, and the life sciences industry. The MANIFEST platform will help us answer fundamental questions about the immune system and cancer, and could lead to new diagnostics, treatments, and ways to manage side effects, as well as, novel targets to inform design of next generation therapies.”
The MANIFEST study is now open for recruitment across participating NHS centres. We anticipate that the first preliminary findings will be available in late 2026.
Patients who have been diagnosed with melanoma, breast cancer, bladder cancer or kidney cancer and are due to begin immunotherapy for the first time may be eligible to participate. Those interested in taking part should speak to their oncology team, who can provide further information and confirm whether referral into MANIFEST is appropriate.
Individuals and clinicians can also check current eligibility and site availability through the Melanoma TrialFinder here.
For more information visit: https://www.manifest-io.org.uk/