An event aimed at bringing the cancer trials community together to discuss common goals and issues, and to identify future challenges and opportunities, will be held in the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin next month.

The Cancer Retreat will be hosted by Cancer Trials Ireland and is aimed at oncologists, haematologists, researchers, research nurses, site managers and patients.

It will feature a number of leading Irish and international speakers and its main focus will be on patient recruitment to trials.

Latest figures compiled by Cancer Trials Ireland show that there were 364 people enrolled in clinical trials in Ireland in 2021 - an increase from 320 in 2020, when the impact of the pandemic was most pronounced on patient recruitment to trials.

Two disease areas that have recorded big increases in clinical trials in 2021 were lymphoma and haematology, which increased from five drug and radiotherapy trials in 2020 to 57 in 2021, and lung, which increased from zero drug and radiotherapy trials in 2020 to 19 in 2021.

The event will also cover the development of the new Molecular Tumour Board.

“In many cancers, the treatment pathway is straightforward and defined by guidelines. However, in rare tumour types, which account for one in four cancers, it’s harder to get guidelines as the tumours are less common.

“The welcome news is that we now have in place a Molecular Tumour Board, which is a group of experts with access to international expertise that comes together to undertake a genetic analysis of a patient’s cancer and formulate a treatment plan which can involve accessing a clinical trial,” explained Prof Ray McDermott, a consultant medical oncologist and clinical lead with Cancer Trials Ireland.

He noted that more patients are now asking about participation in cancer trials, which he describes as “positive”.

“However, we still need to increase the number and range of trials to meet the ambitious targets for patients on trials set in the National Cancer Strategy. To do that we need to enlarge our current staffing and capacity in our research units,” Prof McDermott insisted.

The event will also look at the need to harmonise data protection processes, which can vary from hospital to hospital.

According to Prof Seamus O’Reilly, a consultant medical oncologist and vice-clinical lead at Cancer Trials Ireland, one positive development in the last year has been the development of the national research ethics committee, which offers a one-stop-shop for research ethics approval.

“We need to continue this theme of streamlining clinical trial activation by harmonising other processes such as data protection reviews, contract negotiation and risk management assessments. This will allow us to bring trials to patients in a more efficient manner, accelerating laboratory-based discovery to clinical care and enhancing Ireland's reputation as a place to conduct clinical research,” he commented.

He emphasised that these trials “could not be more vital, particularly as we have significant numbers of delayed cancer diagnoses arising as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The Cancer Retreat will be held on May 20 to mark International Clinical Trials Day. It will take place in the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin from 9am to 1pm and will also be streamed live for those registered to view online.

The event, which is free of charge, is part of the ‘Just Ask’ initiative, which seeks to promote public awareness and understanding of clinical trials. To view the agenda or to register to attend, click here.