Research and Development

Clinical Trials

In order to determine the benefit of a new treatment with sufficient accuracy, a large number of patients may need to be studied over a long period of time. When comparing the new treatment with an existing one (the control), patients may need to be allocated randomly to either the new or old treatment - this is a randomised, controlled trial.

As no single centre is likely to be able to enter sufficient patients into a study over a reasonable period of time, clinical trials are often centrally co-ordinated but involve a number of cancer hospitals across the UK or wider. The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Cancer Research Campaign (CRC) organise the majority of trials in which CCO participates. The attached diagram shows the percentage for each trials organiser group for all current non-commercial clinical trials. All these clinical studies are entered into the National Research Register.

CCO also undertakes a small number of commercial trials, in association with the Drugs industry, where the trial is assessed as being of potential benefit to patients. Such studies are commercially confidential and are not included in the National Research Register returns.

CCO has an in-house Clinical Trials Unit. The staff of this unit manage each study and are responsible for the collection and entry of clinical data in accordance with the trial protocol. This unit is presently managing 65 non-commercial trials, of which 52 are openly recruiting patients and 13 are in follow-up only. From January-December 2000, a total of 510 new patients were entered into clinical studies.

Research Types

Clinical Trials

Other Research