A £6.9 million clinical trial programme aimed at improving treatment for one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer has been launched in Yorkshire.
New £6.9m trial aims to improve survival rates for brain cancer patients in Yorkshire
The project, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research, will focus on recurrent glioblastoma, the most common and fastest-growing type of brain cancer. Researchers hope the new approach will speed up access to promising treatments and identify ineffective drugs earlier.
Around 247 people in Yorkshire are diagnosed with glioblastoma each year and about 181 die from the disease, according to the charity.
The programme, called EPIC-GB, will run in Sheffield, Leeds and Hull.
Unlike traditional trials, patients will begin new treatments before surgery. Tumour tissue removed during operations can then be analysed to determine whether the drugs have successfully reached and affected the cancer.
Researchers say this could allow ineffective medicines to be ruled out sooner, reduce unnecessary side effects and help patients move more quickly to better options.
Many drugs fail to treat glioblastoma because the brain’s protective barrier can prevent medicines from reaching tumours.
Yorkshire Cancer Research said there have been no significant breakthroughs in treating glioblastoma for nearly 20 years.
Emma Ward, 47, from York, who was diagnosed with a fast-growing tumour in 2025, said the new trials could offer families valuable time.
She said: “For families like mine facing brain cancer, time means everything. The trials would bring hope right here to our region.”
She added: “Only through more research can we give families more of those memories.”
Ola Rominiyi, clinical lecturer in neurosurgery at the University of Sheffield and neurosurgical resident at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said current treatments were failing many patients.
He said: “We're optimistic this new study is a vital step forward, ensuring more people can access promising new treatments and giving hope where options have too often been limited.”
Dr Stuart Griffiths, director of research, policy and impact at Yorkshire Cancer Research, explained the programme could help attract future investment and place Yorkshire at the forefront of innovative cancer trials.