DOI: 10.1097/01.OTU.0000394820.17520.98
,
Issn Print: 1742-8009
Publication Date: 2010/05/01
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
 |
Checking for direct PDF access through Ovid | |
Excerpt
The Cancer Research UK Children's Cancer Trials Team will play a major role in the development of new treatments for childhood cancers. The team will be co-ordinating 10 clinical trials currently under way and the aim is to open at least two more new trials this year. The trials are taking place in 21 children's cancer treatment centres across the UK and Ireland.
Nine of the ten current trials have been transferred from the Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) Data Centre in Leicester on 1 April 2010. These trials were developed and run by the CCLG Data Centre.
The clinical trials and studies that take place in the 21 treatment centres will be led by the research-active members of the CCLG. Members of the CCLG have already been instrumental in improving the survival rates of children with cancer.
The recently formed National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Clinical Study Group will develop new trial and study ideas and oversee the portfolio of clinical research into children's cancer.
Each year Cancer Research UK will invest over £700,000 for the core running of the team and will provide extra funding for individual trials. The team will sit within the existing Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Birmingham, allowing them to draw on the world-class expertise at the centre.
The trials coordinated by the team will increase each year as new trials are designed and receive funding.
Currently around 60% of children with cancer in the UK are taking part in a trial and this high level of participation in clinical research has had a major impact on the development of successful treatment strategies. Today, three quarters of children with cancer are successfully treated, compared with just a quarter in the 1960s.
Dr Pam Kearns, senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham and paediatric oncologist at Birmingham Children's Hospital, who will lead the new team, said: ‘We're delighted that our team can start work on delivering a series of clinical trials which will hopefully bring real benefits to many children with cancer across the UK.’
Professor Philip Johnson, director of the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Birmingham, said: ‘At the University of Birmingham, we have a strong track record in the design and implementation of clinical trials. This new team will galvanise our offering by enabling us to reach cancer sufferers of all ages, rapidly taking cutting edge science from the laboratory to the bedside.
