Brain Tumour Research has contributed to a new paper which highlights the barriers and opportunities for the brain tumour research sector in the UK to accelerate progress for adult patients across the world.
Dr Karen Noble, our Director of Research, Policy and Innovation, is a named author of the position paper, which reviews the current landscape and identifies three cross-cutting themes and seven research priorities in order to improve outcomes for brain tumour patients.
Dr Noble said: “Despite the funding announcements in 2018, there remain a number of challenges and bottlenecks, spanning basic research to patient experience, that are slowing down our progress to find a cure for all types of brain tumours. The UK continues to have relatively fewer clinical trials compared to other countries and patient survival has not significantly improved in decades.”
Members of the UK National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Brain Group investigated the current brain tumour research landscape using information from expert panel sessions, reports published by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours (APPGBT).
The resulting paper identified three cross-cutting themes including collaborative networks and initiatives, funding and training; and seven research priorities, encompassing prompter diagnosis, development of accessible, innovative and evidence-based clinical trials, treating every patient as a research patient, and the facilitation of living beyond a brain tumour.
“The recommendations made in this position paper are designed to inspire UK reform and provide focal points for future funding calls and partnerships, to accelerate progress towards better and longer life for adult brain tumour patients across the world.”
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