Twenty-seven years ago Arnold Moore lost his wife Margot to breast cancer.

This tragic event moved him to become involved in supporting the cancer-research work of Prof Robert Turner at the University of Bradford, and to form the charity War on Cancer. At that time Dr Turner was working in what Dr Moore describes as "a grubby little room" with funding of just £2,000 a year.

Yesterday, after more than a quarter of a century of tireless work and dedicated fundraising, Dr Moore spoke of his dream coming true as he opened a new state-of-the-art cancer-research laboratory in Bradford.

"From humble beginnings began cancer research which has impressed many people, both in this country and overseas," said Dr Moore, the honorary president of The Cancer Research Campaign in Yorkshire. In April last year War on Cancer merged with The Cancer Research Fund to maintain and ensure the continuation and growth of the unit. This is my dream come true. I hope it will save the lives of many more cancer patients."

The Cancer Research Unit at the university already plays a major role in the development of new anti-cancer drugs in Europe.

Now a team of 25 staff and students will be able to continue that work and make sure the city remains at the forefront of advances in cancer research.

The expansion has been funded by £900,000 by the university and The Cancer Research Campaign. The unit has excellent facilities for work on anti-cancer drugs that act by damaging the DNA of cancer cells. The work will be supported over the next five years by more than £4.5m from The Cancer Research Campaign.

The team is led by Prof John Double, who said close links with Bradford Royal Infirmary and improved facilities would translate laboratory advances into patient benefits. "I have to be optimistic that something very interesting will come out of here in the near future," he said.

Also attending the opening ceremony was Prof Tom Connors, a leading figure in drug development, who is a scientific adviser to the Bradford unit.