PRESS RELEASE:
Cancer Trials Ireland supports call for trial to open in Ireland to study the effectiveness of the drug Pembrolizumab to treat cervical cancer.
Cancer Trials Ireland, which co-ordinates cancer trials in Ireland, welcomes the proposal to open a cancer trial in Ireland to study the effectiveness of the drug Pembrolizumab to treat cervical cancer.
Cancer Trials Ireland said it would be happy to work closely with the Government and key stakeholders, to design, develop and open a trial without delay.
Professor Bryan Hennessy, Clinical Lead with Cancer Trials Ireland, said that a trial is the best setting to study the efficacy of the drug and indeed other potential treatments to treat cervical cancer and make them available to women in Ireland.
“We are Ireland’s leading academic clinical trial sponsor and have more than 20 years’ experience running cancer trials through our network of 16 hospital-based trials centres.
“We have a huge reservoir of expertise in this area and frequently study treatment options which are not commercially driven but may ultimately benefit patients,” he said.
“We would be very happy to make our expertise available and work with the various stakeholders to open both a drug trial and a translational study which could investigate patient tissues to gain a deeper insight into the nature of the disease and understanding of why some treatments do not work for some patients,” he said.
Cancer Trials Ireland is supported by the Health Research Board and has strong links to key stakeholders in Ireland and internationally.
Cancer Trials Ireland – Background
Cancer Trials Ireland provides people who have cancer with the opportunity to access cancer trials which may offer promising and potentially life enhancing treatments that are not yet available through the mainstream health service.
Approximately 100 cancer trials are recruiting patients in 16 hospitals around the country. A further 50 trials are in the data collection and analysis stage.
Since Cancer Trials Ireland was established in 1996, more than 15,000 patients have participated in over 350 cancer trials.
Most of Ireland’s Medical, Surgical and Radiation Oncologists and Haematologists are working on cancer trials. Their work is regularly presented at scientific conferences around the world.
Cancer Trials Ireland is the only organisation of its kind in Ireland where Oncologists and other Healthcare Professionals from across the country come together regularly to develop ideas and set up clinical trials in hospitals in Ireland, providing innovative options for Irish cancer patients.
Cancer Trials Ireland is a member of the Gynaecologic Cancer Intergroup and The European Network for Gynaecological Oncological Trial groups (ENGOT).
In May 2016 Cancer Trials Ireland published an independent report on the health and economic impacts of cancer trials in Ireland. It found that every €1 invested in cancer trials generates €3 in savings in drugs for the HSE.
Cancer Trials Ireland works closely with local consultants and researchers, international collaborative groups such as ECOG-ACRIN, NRG, ANZUP and the main global pharmaceutical companies.
While the majority of its trials are carried out in Ireland some extend to Europe.
Cancer Trials Ireland is a not-for-profit registered charity, partly funded by the Irish Cancer Society and the Health Research Board (HRB). It also receives greatly appreciated donations from members of the public.
To find out more patients should in the first instance ask their doctor.
Details on all cancer trials open are available on cancertrials.ie.
Media queries:
Karl Anderson
Communication Adviser