IT could lead to one of the biggest breakthroughs in cancer care to date.

A multi-million pound centre is set to open in Southampton, paving the way towards a new lifesaving cure for the disease which affects one in three people.

Dozens of the world’s most talented scientists will gather under one roof – all working towards the same dream.

They want to cure cancer patients using their own bodies and potentially also give them lifetime immunity.

And from 2017 they will have their own hub with the best facilities and laboratories available to one day make that dream a reality.

Work will begin this summer on the state-of-the-art Centre for Cancer Immunology at Southampton General Hospital.

It will be the first of its kind in the UK and, as well as creating 50 new jobs in the city, it will be a major step in developing new treatments.

Southampton General Hospital oncologist Professor Peter Johnson said: “It’s about building up our team to make sure that we can turn the science into effective treatment as quickly as possible and to make sure that we can continue to do the research that we need to do in this fast moving field.

“We need to build up the scientific team and we need to build up the clinical research in order to help more people in the future.”

Researchers at the University of Southampton have already spent 40 years leading the way in developing pioneering therapies that use the body’s own immune system to eradicate cancer cells.

They have played a major role in creating the first approved immunology drugs, extending the lives of people with melanoma, or skin caner, they have helped engineer a new generation of super-antibodies to treat a range of different cancers and they have created more powerful antibody treatments for lymphoma.

But now they want to develop immunology to help even more people.

Many cancers develop because they manage to hide from the immune system – the defence system which protects the body from disease.

Immunology therapy will see doctors supercharge the immune system so that they not only seek and destroy the disease in areas where the patient is known to have cancer, but it will search out hidden cancer cells in other parts of the body and potentially give them lifetime immunity.

Prof Johnson said: “We know that the human body makes tiny cancers at the moment and many of these are dealt with by the immune system before they ever cause any problems. The ones that do cause the problems are the ones that have got away from the immune system.

“Our job is to work out how we can get it to pay attention to them again so what we do is we help the cells of the immune system to recognise cancers while they’re in the body.

“Bit by bit we’re understanding the switches and controls of the immune system and how to make treatments that will reprogramme it and this is one of them.”

Southampton doctors have already spent 10 years trialling the groundbreaking treatment on patients which has cured 20 per cent and helped even more improve.

They say the new centre will help bring this kind of treatment to even more people faster.

People with melanoma have already been treated with the therapy but the new centre will enable researchers to find ways to use it to help people with other forms of the disease.

They say the new centre will help bring this kind of treatment to even more people faster.

Prof Johnson said the main difference people will notice is the side effects.

He said: “One of these antibody treatments is being used for people with melanoma. It’s good but it only helps a minority of patients and our aim is that we can get it to help many more people.

“In many ways the treatment works the same. You have a drip put in and something given to you but the side effects you get with immunology treatment are different to what you get with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. What people will notice is they don’t lose their hair or get sick as you do with chemotherapy.

“It’s not completely free of side effects because people will still get reactions to the immune system. These are powerful treatments and we have to be careful of the way we treat people.”

Dean of the facility of medicine at the University of Southampton, Professor Iain Cameron said: “Through creating the Centre for Immunology we have an opportunity to develop new therapies and make a huge impact in the fight against cancer and we can play a part.

“Cancer immunology was held as one of the greatest breakthroughs in medical science research. It’s enabling a different approach to the other treatments we have for cancer and it appears to be targeting the body’s own immune system to treat the cancer. This might result in a long lasting cure.

“It’s great to be in the forefront of an exciting development that’s offering real hope to many people with a range of cancers.

“It’s an exciting new treatment and there are great results being shown all around the world.

“Southampton has a 40 year history of working with the immune systems within humans and we’re well placed to take this into the clinic.”

Building work is due to begin this summer on the flagship centre based at Southampton General Hospital which will bring together world-leading specialists and feature world-class research facilities and laboratories.

The University of Southampton has now launched an ambitious £25m fundraising campaign to kit out the new building with world class equipment.

They have already raised £13m but before the centre is able to open its doors in 2017 they need another £12m. For more information or to donate visit: justgiving.com/university-of-Southampton.