Research with children and young people with cancer has allowed 5-year survival rates to climb from 10% in the 1970s to 85% in the current decade. It has been an essential part of cancer care since the beginning, and Yorkshire and the Humber has been at the heart of hundreds of clinical studies over the years. The cancer clinical network is committed to continuing to make access to clinical studies as equitable, accessible, and comprehensive as possible.
Research does not just involve new drugs or laboratories. Investigating how people feel, how side effects can be managed or prevented, how different cancers occur in different groups (and have different outcomes) are all areas which can and are researched. In order to make information available as rapidly as possible, the links below will take you to partner sites which aggregate the majority of research opportunities currently open.
Research Highlight
The REFoRMS Project: Understanding Decision Making for RElapsed and REFractory RhabdoMyoSarcoma
Research Team:
 Dr Bob Phillips
 Dr Jess Morgan
 Dr Gemma Bryan
 Lucy Beresford
 Connor Evans
REFoRMS is a research project run at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York. REFoRMS focus on a form of childhood cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), when the disease has not responded to treatment (refractory) or has come back after treatment (relapsed). REFoRMS aim to bring together all studies of new or emerging treatments (early phase studies) for children and young people with relapsed and refractory RMS. It also aims to understand how families make decisions in this situation, and how they can be best supported in this.
The REFoRMS website is here: https://www.cclg.org.uk/our-research-projects/reforms-project and the project Twitter account is @REFoRMS_Rhabdo.
PCOR (Patient Centred Outcomes Research)
Patient centred outcomes research (PCOR) conduct TYA specific research with one research programme running currently and one recently finished. Please their website for more information: https://pcor.org.uk/tya/
Strong-AYA
Programme Team:
 Dan Stark
 Oana Lindner
 Richard Feltbower
 Emily Connearn
 Nicola Hughes
 Rob Carter
 Louise Hick
 Faatimah Patel
Strong-AYA is a European network aiming to improve healthcare services, research and outcomes for adolescents and young adults (AYA’s) with cancer, defined as people aged between 15-39 years at cancer diagnosis. AYAs with cancer are distinct from the paediatric and the older adult cancer populations. Around half of AYA with cancer currently report unmet informational and service needs, impacting their survival rates, late effects of cancer and its treatment, mental health and recovery to participate in the society. Within STRONG-AYA, we will set up a healthcare research ecosystem to develop data-driven, interactive policy and visualization tools to bring novel insights into AYA healthcare.
Strong-AYA website - https://strongaya.eu/
STARS (Social Integration After a Cancer Diagnosis in Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA))
This project explored social outcomes after a cancer diagnosis. It is now in the write-up and dissemination phase. It was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC ES/S00565X/1). It began in September 2019 and ended in August 2023. Follow them on Twitter/Instagram @YoungCancerLife for updates, news, and discussions on this project.
Partner Organisations
CCLG
CCLG research is focused only on cancers affecting children and young people. Through their funding of world-class research, they aim to deepen understanding and foster collaborations to support some of the most innovative and ground-breaking research into childhood cancer.
For children, young people, and families
What are clinical trials?
NIHR (National Institute of Health and Care Research) FAQ
Clinical Trials Guide | NIHR
NIHR Search function
Be Part Of Research (nihr.ac.uk)
CRUK (Cancer Research UK) trial finder
Find a clinical trial | Cancer Research UK
Trials by cancer type | Cancer Research UK
Search for trials available in the UK: