Cancer trials are expected to save the Exchequer €6.5m this year, while at the same time, supporting over 230 jobs.
In addition to the economic benefit of this move, new research for Cancer Trials Ireland shows that trials can add years of life for trial participants.
Ahead of Clinical Trials Day tomorrow, cancer patients are being encouraged to ‘Just Ask’ their doctor about taking part in a trial.
Savings & Economic Impacts of @cancertrials_ie pic.twitter.com/eTvJZufYwk
— CancerTrialsIreland (@cancertrials_ie) May 19, 2016
15,000 patients have taken part in the trials over the past 20 years, testing new drugs and treatments.
Speaking to Juliette Gash, Consultant Oncologist Bryan Hennessy says they also give patients access to the latest drugs, like Herceptin, which has already been trialled in Ireland:
"Through Cancer trials Ireland, women got access to that drug several years before it eventually was approved on foot of the clinical trials that had been done. It's the potential to get early access to new and more effective treatments because several types of cancer are still not curable and treatments are limited in what they can do. We're all the time looking for access to better treatments."
