A brain tumour consortium, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with the vision to make the UK a “testbed for oncology innovation by accelerating the development of treatments for patients with brain tumours” is being developed, and is aiming for real progress in “the soonest time frame possible”.
It is hoped that £20–£25 million of the £40 million, originally committed by the Government to brain cancer research in 2018, could be accessed as the Brain Tumour Consortium aims to drive a step-change in brain cancer research, ensuring the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients.
Following a planning workshop in December 2024, where clinicians, researchers and charity representatives from across the UK gathered to discuss plans, the Consortium co-leads have been bringing together the community’s ideas to distil ambitious and innovative proposals into a structured application to be submitted to the NIHR.
The deadline for the application is July 2025.
After this, the NIHR will make a decision about the final award by November 2025.
The consortium has three co-leads;
- Dr Juanita Lopez, Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Phase I Drug Development Unit at the Royal Marsden and the Institute of Cancer Research, specialising in early phase translational drug development and the treatment of patients with brain tumours
- Professor Darren Hargrave, GOSH Children’s Charity Clinical Professor in Paediatric Neuro-oncology, specialising in tumours of the brain and spine, and the development of new anti-cancer drugs for children and adolescents
- Mr Richard Mair, Assistant Professor in Neurosurgical Oncology at the University of Cambridge, an Honorary Consultant Neurosurgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital
Dr Lopez said of the Consortium: “Having worked in this space for many years, this is a landmark development and is the result of all of the campaigning for change that the UK brain tumour community has been making. It is a real honour to be a part of the consortium’s application process, but it comes with huge responsibility too. We all want to improve the options and outcomes for patients in the soonest time frame possible. With my co-leads we will work at pace, with precision and with the passion we all have to make a difference informing everything we do to take forward this vital initiative.”
- In the short term, the consortium will begin by running “ready-to-launch” trials that can begin recruiting patients in the next 12–18 months
- In the medium-term, new therapies will be added to the platform trials, while promising therapies progress to randomised trials. There will also be opportunities for future emerging therapies to receive accelerator funding to join the consortium
- In the long-term, the goal is to have additional therapies progressing from platform trials to registration trials
Trials have been divided into three key themes:
- Precision therapy
- Emerging therapy
- Data/AI/Genomics
Workforce development will be an integral part of the consortium, which aims to foster clinical trial readiness and to build clinical research leadership. Key areas for improvement include training, fellowships and increased numbers of research nurses.
The consortium also has a remit to engage with all stakeholders in the brain tumour community, including the setting up of a patient advisory board, with a nominated lead and representation from a diverse range of patient groups.
Dan Knowles, CEO at Brain Tumour Research commented “At Brain Tumour Research we view the Brain Tumour Consortium as overwhelmingly positive, and we stand ready to support the NIHR and the application co-leads in their endeavours. Our support will be through the lens of working as quickly, effectively and impactfully as possible. UK brain tumour patients have waited for too long for progress and the false dawn of the 2018 funding allocation must not be repeated.”
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