It is not enough to make important discoveries, or even to develop new treatments. If the ICR and The Royal Marsden are to have a real impact on patients’ lives, it is essential that advances in treatment or prevention are embedded into routine healthcare. These advances need to be implemented in the best possible way, so the most people benefit with the least unnecessary treatment and side-effects.

We are now putting an even greater emphasis on ensuring our research is made to count for patients. We will take the lead in establishing treatments as part of routine healthcare by studying cost-benefit, providing an evidence base and driving adoption through clinical networks.

We will determine who will respond best to treatment, how to minimise side-effects and how best to tailor treatment for patients. And we will go beyond an understanding of cancer risk to assess new strategies for prevention.

We want to ensure our research has the greatest possible beneficial impact on the lives of people with cancer — and people who may develop cancer in future.

Photo: Andrew Brookes

Our researchers will:

• work collaboratively across the UK and internationally to build evidence of the effectiveness of new treatments and technologies
• carry out assessments on the cost-effectiveness of treatments and technologies to support their adoption across the UK
• develop better ways of deciding whether patients will benefit from specific treatments
• help more patients and their families benefit from genetic testing for cancer
• evaluate new cancer prevention programmes.

Read the full research strategy [PDF]