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Improving access to clinical trials

Clinical trials are the single best way to turn advances in science into patient benefits. The ICR has a vision that a suitable trial should be made available for every person with cancer who wants to be part of one.

Patient and Doctor in Croydon Hospital

Expanding trial access – ICR report

Our 2021 report, Clinical trials in cancer, reveals the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on cancer trials and highlights longstanding barriers to expanding clinical trial access to more people with cancer. But Covid-19 also offers clues to a recovery that can get new treatments to cancer patients more quickly.

Read the report

News: Cancer trial recruitment drops by 60 per cent during pandemic

The number of cancer patients entering clinical trials has plummeted during the pandemic – denying many thousands the latest treatment options and delaying drug development. Here, cancer experts set out their findings about the barriers to carrying out clinical trials in the UK and proposals for boosting participation.

Cancer trial recruitment

Clinical trials at the ICR

We have a strong track record in progressing research from bench to bedside through clinical trials. From first-in-human studies to large multicentre trials, we’re committed to delivering innovative, practice-changing clinical trials, particularly to assess the latest precision treatments.

Clinical trials at the ICR

Blog: From breakthroughs to patient benefits

In this feature, Molly Andrews takes a close look at how the ICR’s Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit is turning scientific advances into benefits for patients, through clinical trials.

From breakthroughs to patient benefits

Blog: A new era for breast cancer clinical trials

Breast cancer clinical trials have evolved over the years, and with new ideas came new challenges in reporting their results. Molly Andrews explores the ICR’s role in setting out new guidance for recording results from breast cancer clinical trials.

Breast cancer clinical trials

Blog: Clinical trial statistics: so much more than analysis

For World Statistics Day, Graham Shaw spoke to Dr Jan Rekowski from our Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit. He shared advice on getting into medical statistics and explained how statistics helps to generate meaningful data and provide far more than just analysis.

Clinical trial statistics

ASCO 2021: The science behind olaparib’s promise shown in the OlympiA early breast cancer trial

The OlympiA trial results show the benefits of a targeted drug in patients with early-stage breast cancer and inherited BRCA mutations. We spoke to Chair of the OlympiA steering committee Professor Andrew Tutt about the landmark ICR research that underpins this major breakthrough.

ASCO 2021

Blog: Listen to the patient: International Clinical Trials Day 2021

Professor Christina Yap's work on clinical trial design involves rethinking conventional procedures to make trials more efficient. On International Clinical Trials Day 2021, Gege Li spoke to Christina about one change that could improve how we uncover adverse symptoms in cancer patients.

Listen to the patient