Our latest Medicine for Members’ event, ‘Leading the fight against cancer: groundbreaking research at the Royal Free London’, showcased our commitment to revolutionising cancer care. If you missed it, you can catch up by watching the recording here.

Opening the event, patient governor Tatiana Votinova explained that approximately 3.5 million people are living with cancer in the UK, and projections suggest that by 2040, someone in the UK will be diagnosed every minute.

Cancer care is a key part of our trust's five-year clinical vision, which is our blueprint for bringing the best of the NHS to all of our patients.

Principal clinical research fellow and honorary oncology consultant Dr Alexa Childs provided an overview of our clinical research facility (CRF) at the Royal Free Hospital. This is a state-of-the-art unit, which opened in 2021, thanks to the generous start-up funding provided by the Royal Free Charity.

She said: ‘Our focus at the CRF is on early phase studies, which means patients might be receiving treatments with unknown side effects. Our purpose-built facility allows us to care for patients receiving these potentially higher-risk therapies in a safe, closely monitored environment.’

Alexa highlighted the advanced infrastructure supporting these trials, including on-site laboratories and trial-specific pharmacies, which help to accelerate the development of new therapies.

Currently, 29 clinical trials are underway at our CRF, involving 186 patients. Alexa showcased several of these, highlighting how they are contributing to the discovery of new and more effective cancer treatments. These included the:

  • GEMINI clinical trial – this is looking at new treatments for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, a common type of liver cancer.
  • GreyWolf (EMITT-1) study – this is testing a new cancer treatment that is designed to help the immune system better recognise and fight cancer cells.
  • BioNTech colorectal cancer vaccine trial – this is exploring a personalised vaccine aimed at preventing the recurrence of colorectal cancer after surgery.

The final speaker of the evening, clinical research fellow Dr Gloryanne Aidoo-Micah spoke about the PRIMER-1 study, which is exploring a new approach to treating liver cancer.

Gloryanne said: ‘Liver cancer is a global health challenge. It is the sixth most common form of cancer and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide.’

She explained that PRIMER-1 is investigating whether medications currently used for advanced liver cancer could be introduced earlier — before surgery — to make treatment more effective and reduce the chance of the cancer returning.

Medicine for Members’ events are hosted by our governors and focus on topics which are important to patients, staff and the local community. You can find out more about Medicine for Members' events on our website.

We hope you can join us at future Medicine for Members’ events.