Purpose of the central feasibility service
Cancer Trials Ireland provides a national, central point of contact for feasibility assessments for cancer clinical trials in Ireland. The aim is to coordinate feasibility activity across Disease Specific Subgroups (DSSGs) and sites so that Ireland presents clear, consistent information to industry sponsors and collaborative research groups.
How to submit a feasibility request
Feasibility requests or enquiries regarding pricing should be submitted by email to: feasibilities@cancertrials.ie
Where available, please include:
• Services required
• Protocol synopsis or summary and timelines
• Feasibility questionnaire or survey link
• CDA details or notice of confidentiality, if applicable
• Timelines for feasibility completion
• Whether Ireland has already been pre-selected for the proposed trial or is currently under consideration or in bid stage
Cancer Trials Ireland aims to acknowledge or respond to feasibility requests within one business day.
Why feasibility should come through Cancer Trials Ireland
Routing feasibility through Cancer Trials Ireland:
• Provides a single national point of contact for industry and collaborative research groups
• Ensures consistent clinical and scientific input via DSSG Chairs and members
• Reduces multiple ad hoc requests to individual sites
• Presents realistic and coherent country-level recruitment plans
• Supports balanced representation of suitable sites across Ireland
In practice, coordinated feasibility that proposes realistic country-wide accrual targets from both recruiting sites and referring sites provides Ireland with a stronger chance of selection for a trial than multiple independent responses from many sites with low projected numbers per site.
This needs to be balanced against geographical access for patients, but a more streamlined feasibility approach is likely to benefit Ireland as a whole and increase the likelihood that cancer trials are opened here.
What Cancer Trials Ireland can do
Cancer Trials Ireland supports feasibility for cancer clinical trials across all disease and therapeutic areas. Services can be tailored as required and may include:
- Country-level feasibility review with direct input from DSSG Chairs which assesses clinical and scientific interest together with the clinical landscape for suitability for adoption into the Cancer Trials Ireland portfolio before individual site feasibility is undertaken
- Pre-feasibility to identify potentially interested sites (both recruiting and referring sites)
- Confidentiality Agreement (CDA) management, including distribution to sites, tracking, collation and return to the sponsor/collaborative group
- Feasibility questionnaire development and adaptation to Irish requirements
- Feasibility questionnaire distribution to sites, follow-up, tracking, collation and reporting
- Site selection and site selection recommendations based on feasibility findings
All trials that complete this process and subsequently opened to accrual in Ireland are adopted into the Cancer Trials Ireland portfolio, assigned a Cancer Trials Ireland trial number, listed on the Cancer Trials Ireland website, and discussed at regular DSSG meetings.
Benefits for patients, sites and Ireland
A coordinated feasibility process is intended to:
• Increase the likelihood that cancer trials including Irish sites are selected and opened
• Support appropriate distribution of trials across sites, taking into account capacity and geographic access
• Reduce duplication of effort and administrative burden at site level
• Provide clearer national data on feasibility activity and trial opportunities for people with cancer in Ireland