Breakout session 2: Research and technologies

Where research and clinical trials have been expansive for some cancer treatments outcomes are often better, proving that targeted and effective research can make a substantial difference to survival rates.

However, more research into a broader range of cancers is needed and efforts to link all information on trials with the general population figures needs to be continued to enable better understanding of who is accessing research opportunities.

Speakers

• Dr Ian Gibson (Chair)
• Professor Sir Kenneth Calman - Chair of the NCRI (Co-Chair)
• Professor David Forman - Director of Cancer Epidemiology, University of Leeds 

View Professor David Forman's presentation [PDF, 509kb] |

View Professor Sir Kenneth Calman's presentation [PDF, 408kb] |

Challenges

•  Data protection issues can hamper attempts to fully understand who is accessing clinical trials or participating in research exercises.
• Distributing funds effectively can be a challenge when there is a need to be responsive to prevalence figures whilst appreciating that focussing mainly on the ‘big four’ can increase inequalities.
• It becomes difficult to justify further funding of research into certain, rarer cancers when preliminary studies have returned no conclusive results.  

Conclusions

Top three ideas for reducing cancer inequalities:

• More interaction and collaboration needs to take place between cancer related research teams and other wider health research studies, especially with regards to those lifestyle factors that are believed to increase the risk of cancer.
• Research needs to be broadened to include more cancer types, not just the ‘big four’ cancer types.
• Existing research needs to be exploited more effectively to ensure cancer patients and those at risk of developing cancer benefit from significant findings.

Breakout session three: Public health and prevention

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