Our research

Contact:
0113 2067935 for the Leeds Clinical Trial team
0113 3928191 for Paediatric Cancers
0113 2068337 for Blood (Haematological) Cancers

The Leeds Cancer Centre’s research strategy is to ensure every patient has the opportunity to participate in a research study where appropriate in their clinical care. This is achieved by all our clinicians being involved in supporting or leading national and internationals programmes of research, and clinical trials which is aimed at improving patient care through new innovative treatments and better outcomes for patients. We undertake research across every cancer, helping to ensure that we are at the cutting edge of cancer treatment innovation in Leeds.

We also host one of the UK's leading clinical trials research units which includes the Yorkshire Centre for Health Informatics (YCHI). We work with many academic collaborators in the UK and internationally, as well as with pharmaceutical companies and industrial partners devising new technologies, medical devices and drug development.

There are many different types of clinical trials that are available at the Centre which means that most patients will have an opportunity to consider participating in research.

The different types of trials include:

patient satisfaction surveys
quality of life studies
treatment intervention trials
donation of blood or cancer tissue at the time of surgery, biopsy or blood test monitoring.

The clinical team always discuss these with patients where appropriate. It is also possible to help contribute to research through donation of blood or tumour tissue during routine procedures such as surgery, biopsy or blood test monitoring. The donation of these samples helps our scientists to develop new knowledge about the behaviour of cancer, detecting cancer at an earlier stage and improving patient care.

We want every patient to have the opportunity to participate in a research study. Patients can be involved with assisting us in the research programme - please do discuss this with your clinical care team.

We are also part of DATA-CAN, a UK-wide partnership that aims to unlock the power of health data to improve cancer care. Health data collected by the NHS and other organisations is not always quick and easy for researchers to find, access and analyse. We are working in partnership with patients and the public to make this high-quality health data more accessible for cancer researchers, clinicians and other health professionals, so it is easier to conduct research into new treatments, identify opportunities for earlier diagnosis and make improvements in care for people affected by cancer.