On Clinical Trials Day – a day which raises awareness of the importance of trials to improve public health – we are shining a spotlight on the issues faced by brain tumour patients in the UK.
The first randomised clinical trial is considered to have been started by James Lind investigating scurvy aboard a ship in 1747. Today, clinical trials are a key component in the process of taking research discoveries and potential new treatments from the scientist’s bench to the patient’s bedside.
However, access to clinical trials is a key issue faced by brain tumour patients. As highlighted by the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Brain Tumours (APPGBT) – for which Brain Tumour Research provides the secretariat – in its Pathway to a Cure inquiry, only 5% of brain tumour patients are entering the limited number of clinical trials available. Further issues also identified by the inquiry included a national trial database which is unreliable, uneven distribution of trials across the UK and a lack of information available to patients.
This is supported by evidence from research and medical professionals. As neurosurgeon and friend of Brain Tumour Research, Mr Babar Vaqas, highlighted: “As a clinician I want to be able to sit down with my patient and input all the relevant data about their brain tumour type and their treatment pathway and then, to search an up-to-date, progressive UK trial registry. This would enable me to discuss appropriate trial options there and then, giving the patient choices that a modern health provider should be able to offer.”
Our Director of Research, Policy and Innovation, Dr Karen Noble, said: “It is crucial that brain tumour patients have the same access to trials as patients with other types of cancer, and it is unacceptable that this is not currently the case. Our 2024 manifesto asks the Government to commit to increasing participation of adult and paediatric brain tumour patients in clinical trials and through our work with the APPGBT, we’re also continuing to push for a response to the Pathway to a Cure inquiry.
“Fundamentally, increasing the number of clinical trials for brain tumour patients relies on appropriate funding for early-stage science like the work we are funding at our Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence. Without this discovery research, there will be no throughput of new developments and trials will cease.”
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