A new report from The Brain Tumour Charity shows that a lack of research and innovation in brain tumour care in the UK is driving patients to crowdfund to pay for treatment options abroad.
The Charity’s Unlocking Innovation for Brain Tumours in the UK report, released today, states that progress in new treatments for brain tumours is “consistently disadvantaged” by a system designed for more common conditions. Limited access to new treatments and slow research pipelines are pushing patients to crowdfund to access therapies abroad that they have discovered online.
The report outlines structural barriers which limit new treatments from reaching brain tumour patients, including lack of access to clinical trials due to limited information and local opportunities. It explains how the underfunding of research and complex systemic barriers are preventing new medicines and devices from reaching patients, and examines where regulatory, appraisal and commissioning processes are obstructing access to new treatments.
The Charity sets out eight recommendations for how policymakers can improve how innovation is funded, regulated, assessed and adopted. Included in the recommendations are calls to strengthen translational collaboration, improve regulatory clarity for early-stage and rare disease innovations, and designate research into brain tumours as a clinical priority and allocate protected research time within neuro-oncology roles.
Our Director of Research, Policy and Innovation, Dr Karen Noble, said: “We welcome The Brain Tumour Charity’s recommendations for unlocking innovation in the UK. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. To see an improvement in survival, we need greater investment in research to bridge the gap between findings in the lab and patient benefit, and we need improved access to new treatments and clinical trials.
“We will continue to work with The Brain Tumour Charity and other organisations representing the brain tumour community to ensure Government hears loud and clear that we need to do better for patients.”
Unlocking Innovation for Brain Tumours in the UK can be read in full on The Brain Tumour Charity’s website.
Brain Tumour Research is calling on Government to drive innovation in research into brain tumours by enabling the growth of the UK life sciences research ecosystem, and for an increase in the number of brain tumour clinical trials and percentage of patients accessing those trials in the UK. You can help amplify those calls by campaigning with us. Find out how you can get involved.
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