Patients with rare cancers, including brain cancers, will receive faster access to life-changing clinical trials and breakthrough treatments thanks to a new government approach announced today.
As part of the National Cancer Plan – expected to be published next week – and the Rare Cancers Bill, which is currently going through parliament, patients will be able to take part in clinical trials through the NHS App, giving them the chance to benefit from innovative approaches and technology to help fight their diseases.
Initially patients will be able to search the clinical research database and request to be contacted. In time, patients can sign up to automatically be offered the opportunity to receive details of clinical trials that might benefit them.
Over the next three years, the Rare Cancers Bill – which Brain Tumour Research has helped shape from the outset – will provide more consistent access to research and faster progress from discovery to treatment, and ensure the government hires more cancer experts to top national roles to drive this change.
Top cancer experts will be recruited to help speed trial referrals, including a new national lead for rare cancers and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) will create a new Speciality Lead for Rare Cancers. They will oversee a programme to make it easier for clinical trials to take place in England, by ensuring rare cancer patients can be contacted automatically about research and then sign up to those suitable, reducing reliance on chance referrals.
Also announced are plans to commit £3 million to co-fund Cancer Research UK Brain Tumour Centres of Excellence and establish a Cancer Clinical Trials Accelerator, hosted and delivered through the NIHR Industry Hub, to improve the speed and reliability of trials and increase their size and scope.
These new commitments follow the announcement of a multi-million pound investment in the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, of which Brain Tumour Research is proud to be a partner.
Dan Knowles, CEO of Brain Tumour Research, said: “Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under the age of 40 and greater investment in research and wider access to clinical trials is the only way to change this. We are hopeful that this Government commitment to a national lead for rare cancers, further investment in innovation and a simpler pathway to accessing clinical trials will mean that when people are given the life changing news that they have a brain tumour, they are presented with options, something that is lacking for many right now. We look forward to working with Government to ensure that the implementation of the National Cancer Plan genuinely makes a difference for the brain tumour community.”
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