The Cancer Research UK and UCL Cancer Trials Centre is a research department within UCL Cancer Institute. University College London and associated hospitals have recently joined to form UCL Partners which has become of the UK’s Academic Health Science Centres. UCL has a strong background in biomedical research and UCL and UCL Hospitals is one of five national Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centres. Cancer is a major research theme and UCL has significant grant income for cancer research. UCL has recently joined the national network of virtual multidisciplinary Cancer Research UK Centres.

The Cancer Trials Centre (CTC) has five key aims. These are:

• To develop and conduct high quality trials to change clinical practice
• To evaluate new ways of treating or detecting a wide variety of cancers using multi-modal approaches
• To foster national and international collaboration with other researchers in cancer
• To translate laboratory innovations into clinical trials and generate new scientific ideas
• To train a new generation of cancer clinical trials specialists

History

The CTC was formed in 1997 through the amalgamation of three Cancer Research UK (formerly Cancer Research Campaign) clinical trials groups: two existing groups at UCL - the CRC Lung Group/London Lung Cancer Group and the BNLI (British National Lymphoma Investigation)/CRC Lymphoma Group - were joined by a CRC trials group based at King College London. Over the last 12 years the CTC has grown to be one of the largest cancer trials centres in the UK. It is one of the 9 accredited clinical trials units of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI).

The CTC has approximately 70 staff and is based in 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, close to the UCL Cancer Institute, the main campus of University College London and UCL Hospitals. During the last five-year review period, 43 new trials opened, with a combined target accrual of 12,210 patients. A total of 6,487 patients have been entered into trials that either opened during that period, or that opened earlier but were accruing during that time. Phase III trials have been the core of the activity of the CTC but over the last few years the CTC has taken on an increasing number of new early phase studies, ranging from phase I/II trials to randomised feasibility studies. This now constitutes a significant proportion of our work. They are conducted in a smaller number of centres, or locally though the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre at UCL using the Clinical Research Facility for early-phase clinical trials.

The CTC receives most of its core funding from Cancer Research UK, with additional support from the Lymphoma Research Trust (LRT). Grants for individual projects come from a variety of sources including Cancer Research UK, LRT and industry. The CTC manages all aspects of trial design, conduct and analysis and has a dedicated group to manage the complex legal and regulatory procedures, pharmacovigilance and contracts that are now required. The CTC works closely with the joint Biomedicine R & D Department of UCL and UCLH. The trials in the CTC are academic studies, sponsored by UCL. Most are multi-centre national studies, but others include international sites, either directly or through international co-operative groups.

Trials at the CTC cover a range of tumour areas, most of which are based on evaluating chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery. These studies arise through our experience and national contacts with clinical academics, the Clinical Studies Groups of the NCRI, and local collaborations at UCL. We are responsible for a significant proportion of the National Cancer Research Network (NCRN) academic trials portfolio.

There are three tumour group teams conducting trials in the following tumour areas:

• Brain cancer
• Breast cancer
• Gastrointestinal cancer
• Gynaecological cancer
• Head & neck cancer
• Leukaemia
• Lung cancer
• Lymphomas & myeloma
• Metastatic cancer- Radiation studies
• Sarcoma

There are three cross-centre groups:

• IT and Database Unit
• Regulatory Affairs Group
• Statistics Group

The clinical trials staff are supported by an administrative team