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.
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.
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.Latest ICR News
Tumour samples from the 1950s could help unlock the mystery of rising bowel cancer cases in the under 50s
Tens of thousands of tumour samples which have been stored in the basement of a London hospital for more than 70 years could be the key to unlocking the mystery of why bowel cancer cases are rising in the under 50s, scientists believe.
Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and St Marks Hospital are launching a pioneering study to compare bowel cancer specimens from the 1960s with modern-day cancer samples.
Drug discoverer Paul Workman awarded OBE in New Year’s Honours list
Professor Paul Workman, drug discovery scientist and former Chief Executive of the ICR, has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours list 2026 for services to cancer research.
Blood test could spare men with advanced prostate cancer from futile chemotherapy
New research has identified a way to predict resistance to a cancer drug commonly used to treat advanced prostate cancer.
ICR researchers to contribute to £13.7m brain tumour research consortium
The NIHR has announced a £13.7 million investment into research to develop new brain tumour treatments in the UK. The funding will establish the NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium – a national partnership uniting hospitals, universities, cancer centres and charities, along with patients. This is a coordinated UK-wide effort, which will involve the ICR's scientists, aims to transform brain cancer treatment.