'Irish cancer patients are being left behind' as we lag behind in terms of clinical trials
Preliminary results from a scoping analysis for the Irish Cancer Society show Ireland only carried out one third of the trials Denmark did.
Denmark carried out three times more clinical trials than Ireland between 2018 and 2023 with less than 3% of Irish cancer patients getting on trials, the Irish Cancer Society has said.
At least €20m extra is now needed for the National Cancer Strategy with patients waiting for trials, for testing and left without support after recovering from the devastating disease.
Preliminary results from a clinical trials scoping analysis by Forvis Mazars for the Irish Cancer Society show Ireland only carried out one third of the trials Denmark did despite both countries being similar in population.
In addition, while the National Cancer Strategy aims to give 6% of cancer patients access to trials, the reality is “only 2-3% of cancer patients currently benefitting from trials”, the society said.
Averil Power, CEO of the Irish Cancer Society, said: “This report highlights yet another area in which Irish cancer patients are being left behind”.
She described how trials give patients access to new medicines and other treatments which might work better for them than the available care. Ms Power said:
“And our researchers and doctors are missing out on the opportunity to take part in international studies that are essential to finding new and better ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer.”
Denmark is of a similar size to Ireland making the disparity even sharper, and she said this “shows how far we are being left behind”.
Ms Power added: “Without proper investment in the National Cancer Strategy, we will never catch up with better-performing countries.”
In the society’s pre-budget submission, it warned of other gaps facing cancer patients here also.
These include delays in expanding access to screening, target waiting times for cancer tests not being met and even cancer surgeries often delayed.
The society said Radiotherapy services are running below capacity and access to new medicines is also much slower in Ireland than elsewhere in Europe.
They called for “at least €20m extra” for the National Cancer Strategy in next week’s budget to address these gaps. Ms Power said the strategy has been underfunded by €180m, leaving patients “waiting”.
They are waiting for tests, essential treatment, clinical trials and support after treatment to rebuild their lives, she added:
“It should also include a commitment to multi annual funding for the strategy going forward, to enable effective planning for improvements in the coming years.”
Funding is needed to recruit more consultants, especially for radiation oncology, surgical oncology and haematology.
More nurses are also needed to run trials and monitor patients, as well as overall better investment in research and development.
Trials are also delayed due to inadequate national guidelines and support processes for meeting the EU GDPR Directive on data protection, they warned.
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