Manchester and UCL have been world leading in the conduct of seminal clinical trials. A pioneering study of gemcitabine and platinum helped establish the regimen as the standard first line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Europe. At the turn of the century, Manchester treated the first ever NSCLC patient with gefitinib, paving the way for a new era of personalised treatments in this disease, and UCL recently conducted the ET trial, the largest randomised prospective biomarker study of patients with advanced NSCLC.
Capitalising on a uniquely diverse large patient population, Manchester and UCL both have well established Clinical Trials Units (CTUs) enabling us to drive research and establish large collaborative multicentre trials of the highest scientific excellence. The Christie in Manchester houses the largest early phase treatment unit in the world, with around 400 trials taking place at any one time, and UCL has one of the largest CTUs in the UK, developing and conducting small and large scale trials in lung cancer since 1978.
With the establishment of the Centre, we have an exciting opportunity to further implement biomarker driven early phase studies and continue to investigate the combination of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapies in lung cancer. These studies will draw on expertise across all research themes within the Centre and will involve two way interaction between the laboratory and the clinic. Through our clinical and translational research programme, we aim to bring in the best new treatments for our patients through practice changing phase III trials.