Cancer patients in Scotland will be among the first to trial a new treatment aimed at those with rare forms of the disease.
The project, known as Determine, matches people with rare conditions with existing medications already being used to treat other cancer patients.
Trials for adults are set to be held in Edinburgh and children will be treated in Glasgow as part of the UK’s first national precision medicine trial for rare cancers.
Cancer Research UK is urging those who may be eligible to discuss the treatment with their clinicians.
Precision medicine matches treatment to a specific patient and is a growing area.
READ MORE: Live long and prosper?: Ageing, care and the 'pandemic of frailty' left by lockdowns
It is expected around 500 to 650 people across the UK will be able to benefit from the five-year clinical trial, and it is hoped it can then be quickly approved to treat other patients.
Medications are approved for use in the NHS to treat specific cancers in specific circumstances, but the success of the trial could lead to them being approved for rarer cancers.
There are currently eight drugs from pharmaceutical companies Roche and Novartis which have been committed to the trial, with more expected to be added as it progresses.
Principal investigator Dr Patricia Roxburgh, of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre and University of Glasgow, said: “We are very excited in Scotland to be amongst the first in the UK to offer these targeted drugs to patients with rare cancer as part of the Determine clinical trial.
“We are hopeful that, if successful, patients across the UK will be able to access treatments that have been approved for other types of cancer.
READ MORE: Winter vaccines brought forward as 'concerning' new Covid variant found in Scotland
“We are seeking patients with rare cancers or cancers with very specific genetic faults. If you aren’t sure, please ask your treating clinician whether you may be eligible to take part in this trial.”
The trial is being run by the University of Manchester and managed by Cancer Research UK’s Centre for Drug Development.
Sarah Mellor, Cancer Research UK’s lead on the Determine project, said: “Precision medicine is an exciting focus for cancer research, and we hope this trial – the UK’s first national precision medicine trial for rare cancers – will offer hundreds of patients across the UK the opportunity to access new treatments.
“We are delighted Scottish patients will be amongst the first to have this opportunity which we hope will lead to new, effective therapeutic options for patients with rare cancers.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here