For Patients and the Public

Our clinical trials are run through the NHS (National Health Service) in the UK and through leading hospitals across the world to make sure lots of people have the chance to be in a trial if they want to.

We are one of only seven Cancer Research UK clinical trials units, and we are their go-to clinical trials unit for research into children’s cancers.

We also receive funding from many other leading charities, such as Blood Cancer UK, The Brain Tumour Charity, Children with Cancer and The Little Princess Trust, and from funding bodies such as the UK government’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Some of our projects receive funding from drug companies that also provide free medicines for patients.

In addition to cancer research, we also research inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and some rare diseases, as well as research to improve how operations for cancer are carried out. We have over 200 staff and are led by a team of directors who are experts in medicine, statistics and research. We report to all our funders at least once a year, and our funding depends on doing a good job.

We want to find better treatments for patients of all ages, and we want to make those treatments kinder, with fewer side effects.

We work with doctors and researchers across the world to design projects that use the latest science. By doing this, we make sure that our research is always up to date and at the ‘cutting edge’.

We design clinical trials that need fewer patients. We use every bit of the information we get from patients, as well as every sample that patients donate for our research. This helps research turn into new treatments for patients faster.

Patients and members of the public are invited to tell us what research is important to them. We aim to have patient advocates involved in all projects and trials. We also take advice at the highest levels from committees like our Patient Advisory Board, which is a group of patient advocates that gives advice to our team of directors.

We believe that research must be relevant to the patients who will be affected by it so we aim to understand who chooses to be in clinical trials and who chooses not to, and why. That information can be used to make sure people from all backgrounds, ethnicities, ages and genders hear about our research and can take part in clinical trials if they want to.

Trials investigate new drugs, medical devices, tests or dietary/behavioural changes (all referred to as interventions). Often, these interventions are compared to the current treatments offered by the NHS or hospitals overseas.

Clinical trials test new treatments in people to check they are safe and to see if they are better than the treatments we have now. This must be done before they can be approved for use in hospitals.

The first phase of testing a new treatment (usually called Phase I) tests whether a new intervention is safe for humans. Later on, the new treatment is tested again to see if it is better than what is currently used by doctors (usually called Phase II). Treatments are also tested to check side effects and how quality of life is affected (usually called late-phase trials). We run a variety of different phase trials at the CRCTU and are specialists in testing treatments for children (paediatric trials).

Find out more about clinical trials. 

Patients will usually be told about a clinical trial by their doctor. Sometimes patients may hear about trials elsewhere and discuss these with their doctor to see if the trial might be a good fit for them. To be able to join a trial, a patient may need to match certain criteria (called eligibility criteria). This decision can only be made by the patient’s medical team.

Anyone thinking about joining a clinical trial should understand what the trial aims to find out, what the risks and benefits are and what they will need to do. For example, there may be extra tests needed for the trial, or patients may have to attend extra appointments. All patients must consent (agree) before they can join a trial. Patients can change their mind at any time without giving a reason and without it affecting the normal care they get from their doctor.

There are sometimes extra parts of a trial that are optional. This may involve collecting more blood or tissue samples that can be tested as part of translational research. This is crucial to help scientists understand why some cancers get better with treatment and some don’t.

Visit the CRUK’s clinical trial directory.