Cancer patients are to benefit from the latest treatments as a result of new funding for experimental trials here. Support for the work, worth £1.5, million will be given to six Irish hospitals. It is the first time public funds have been provided for this purpose.
"This is the first public investment in clinical trials in this part of the island," Dr Ruth Barrington, chief executive officer of the Health Research Board, said yesterday. "The benefit is the quick transfer of cancer research into clinical trials."
The awards are one of the most significant initiatives taken by the Cancer Consortium, established after the Belfast Agreement to improve cancer services on the island of Ireland. It involves the Republic, Northern Ireland and the US National Cancer Institute.
The board organised the open competition for the £1.5 million and will disburse the funds on behalf of the Department of Health and Children. A panel of cancer experts from Europe and the US reviewed proposals from the hospitals and made its selection.
Major awards have been made to St Vincent's University Hospital and St Luke's Hospital, Dublin, for a joint proposal; University College Hospital, Galway; Cork University Hospital; and Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. Smaller awards went to Limerick Regional Hospital and the Mater Hospital, Dublin.
The hospitals will assemble the staff and procedures necessary to participate in what are known as Phase III trials. These involve treatments that have already been shown to be safe but are still being tested on large numbers of patients to prove their effectiveness.
The money will mainly provide personnel, who will participate in setting up and monitoring the trials, Dr Barrington said. "It is mainly for staff, to employ nurses who will recruit patients to the clinical trials."
