This session is a basic introduction to cancer treatments and their most common side effects and adverse reactions. The course provides an overview on cancer surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy we well as insights on the mechanisms of action of targeted therapies such as monoclonal antibodies, small inhibitory molecules, CAR-T cell therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors.

In the second part of the session, participants will learn about the mechanisms of toxicity linked to the different categories of cancer therapy and how these are managed.

This course is not recommended for clinicians.

This course runs from 10:00am until 13.00pm

Celebrating patient involvement and engagement in clinical research 

Following a successful first edition in 2023, the CRUK & UCL CTC’s Patient Engagement Day will return on 17 June 2025. In collaboration with our patient and public representatives, we have organised our second day of talks, workshops and interactive activities around the topics of: 

• The importance of PPIE in cancer research
• The role of PPIE in developing and running a clinical trial
• PPIE representatives – responsibilities, qualities & support
• Impact of PPIE across the CTC and beyond clinical trials
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Target audience PPIE reps

Patient Information Sheets (PIS) are a key document for potential participants to make an informed decision about whether to take part in a clinical study.  While there is clear guidance from the Health Research Authority (HRA) on content and regulatory requirements, PIS are customised for each clinical trial and the specific patient population. Choosing the right language and format for patient facing materials for research studies and clinical trials still greatly varies and depends on the skills and experience of the team putting them together.

Course tutors: Linda Von Neree, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Lead, BRTU PPI.

This is a newly developed training session that covers the following aspects:

Introduction to response assessment criteria: why do we need standards

RECIST criteria guidelines: how are these reflected in the Trial Protocol?

RECIST and iRECIST: what are the differences?

Imaging methods of response assessment

Design and analysis of trials using response assessment

Response assessment in the future generation of cancer trials

The course will dedicate ample time to the development of practical skills to learn how to evaluate response according to both RECIST 1.1 and iRECIST via the following activities:

Calculation tables to evaluate response

Real life CRFs review in groups

Case study discussion

Quizzes

CAR-T Cell Therapy In Cancer Clinical Trials Manufacturing Regulations & Clinical Delivery Course.

Aims: This course offers a thorough exploration of CAR-T cell therapies (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell) within the realm of clinical trials. Participants will delve into the historical background of CAR-T therapies, their classifications, regulatory frameworks, safety considerations, mechanisms of action, and the role of viral vectors. Additionally, the course emphasizes Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), addressing essential considerations, manufacturing processes, and quality control. By the end of the course, participants will have a solid understanding of CAR-T therapies in the context of clinical trials, including practical insights into managing CAR-T cell therapy trials and an overview of their clinical implementation.

The course will provide delegates an excellent opportunity to network with scientists and trial managers from the UCL CAR-T Programme, the most comprehensive programme in Europe to manufacture and deliver CAR-T cell therapies across a broad study portfolio.

This session gives a comprehensive overview of the clinical pathways cancer patients can take to be eventually referred for trial entry. The first part of the session spans across the diagnostic methods and staging of cancer and gives a brief overview of the common tests carried out prior to trial treatment.

In the second part of the session participants will learn about the importance of ensuring only eligible patients enter a trial and how eligibility criteria help to safeguard patients and differ amongst different phases of trials. They will also learn the importance of assessing treatment compliance and how every clinical intervention comes with a different set of challenges in collecting data about patient compliance.

This training course aims to provide participants with an introduction to the biology, diagnosis, staging, and treatment of cancer, with a focus on how these factors influence the key outcome measures in cancer clinical trials, such as adverse events, treatment response, survival rates, and other time-to-event endpoints. 

The course will provide delegates an excellent opportunity to network with statisticians from other UKCRC registered clinical trial units.

This session, aimed at non-statisticians, will cover the most common primary outcomes measures used in early and late phase cancer trials.

Learning Outcomes:

Participants will learn what makes a good outcome measure, how outcomes measures are defined and what data need to be collected to assess the outcome, especially for tumour response assessment and time to event measures such as survival and disease (or progression) free survival.

This course runs from 10:00am until 13.00pm

This session provides a general introduction to cancer clinical trials for staff new to academic cancer studies.

Participants will get an overview on what clinical trials are and how they can have a preventative, curative or palliative aim. The session covers the practical and scientific reasons why we need clinical trials, what are the differences between Phase I, II, II and IV studies and the different methods of randomization. The session also highlights how drug development trials in cancer differ from non-cancer studies and how the new era of targeted therapy and immunotherapy is changing the way cancer trials are designed. 

Please note that the course will run between 10.00am until 13.00pm.

This session gives an introductory overview of all the steps required to design, set up and complete an academic cancer trial conducted in the hospital setting.

Participants will know what all the organisations and people involved in trials do and what permissions and documents need to be in place at different stages of a trial. The course is of most interest to those new to working in academic cancer clinical trials.  Those currently working in the field who would like to gain an overview of what happens at other stages to the one familiar to them, may also benefit.

This course runs from 10.00 - 13.00