While much has been said about the potential economic consequences of Brexit - Britain leaving the EU - less attention has been paid to other areas such as health. However, a group of UK and European cancer doctors have now come together and insisted that it is vital for cancer research that Britain remains in the EU.

Writing in the medical journal, The Lancet Oncology, the oncologists noted that researchers in the UK benefit from EU research grants and by being involved in key multinational collaborations. The UK also benefits from the free movement of people within the EU, with 15% of academic staff at UK institutions being from other parts of the EU.

The doctors believe that EU-wide cooperation and collaborations in cancer research have led to a significant improvement in standards of care and the rights of patients overall.

"We must continue to influence and share European policy in important domains such as clinical trials, data sharing, and clinical best practice, and deliver the highest quality cancer research that underpins improved cancer care for our patients. It is for these reasons that we oppose the UK leaving the EU," the doctors said.

They insisted that if Brexit were to happen, ‘both sides would be missing powerful and irreplaceable influencers in our unified ambitions aimed at conquering cancer'.

"As investors may lose their confidence in a united Europe, powerful infrastructures could also crumble. Research partnerships spurred through EU investments could weaken, or even disappear. Post-exit uncertainty would inevitably affect European oncology research and care and would necessitate a lengthy period of adaptation as we grapple with the aftermath.

"Formal establishment of national borders does not make for good cancer science, treatment, or care. To get the best out of Europe, we all need to be in it and not isolated from it," the doctors wrote.

The contributors to this article in The Lancet Oncology include the President of the European Society for Medical Oncology and the director of the Francis Crick Institute in London.