Cancer Prevention Trials Unit

We are part of the King’s Cancer Prevention Group and led by Professor Peter Sasieni. The group is composed of three units: The Cancer Screening and Statistics Unit, the Cancer Behavioural Science Unit and the Cancer Prevention Trials Unit (CPTU). Our core funding is provided by Cancer Research UK.

The Cancer Research UK & King’s College London CPTU specialises in research to advance cancer prevention, early diagnosis and screening. The unit’s research focuses on efficacy, cost-effectiveness and technologies to improve existing and establish new screening programmes.

Our portfolio includes both secondary (hospital) and primary (community) care trials. This includes: 

• Multi-centre international randomised controlled trials of medicinal prevention of cancer often using drug repurposing;
• Pragmatic trials of screening and diagnostic interventions;
• Trials of behavioural interventions in cancer prevention and screening;
• Trials of diagnostic/screening devices;
• Long-term follow-up of participants;
• Bio-specimen collections for biomarker discovery and validation.

The CPTU core team provides a quality management system, statistical support and a wealth of experience in the design, running and governance of national and international phase III clinical trials in cancer prevention and screening. The team also provides mentoring, training and management for trial-specific staff. The core team is continuously working on improving trial efficiency by exploring new advances in design and infrastructure.

The CPTU offers specialist advice to trial-specific staff, collaborators and participating centres on national and international standards for the conduct of clinical research. This includes:

• A quality management system;
• Auditing;
• Information governance advice;
• Training and continuous professional development
• Statistical design and analysis;
• Management operations;
• Patient and public involvement;
• Database/electronic data capture infrastructure;
• Long-term follow-up of patients

CPTU Services

If you require the services of the CPTU for your study, we offer oversight of the main trial activities, as well as specific resource services as requested. These services may include trial design, risk assessment, costings, protocol development, obtaining approvals (MHRA, REC, HRA, CAG), regulatory and ethics submissions, statistical design and analysis, study oversight, data management, database development and CRF design, randomisation and unblinding, patient and public involvement, IMP management, trial committee set-up and management, and recruitment of study staff.

See more about us here

Collaborating with CPTU

If you are interested in seeking our advice or collaborating with us on a study, please get in touch by phone or email. We recommend making contact at an early stage, preferably at the point of grant application development. This allows you to take full advantage of our wealth of experience and expertise and increases the likelihood of a successful application.

Submit a collaboration request

Awards

• CRUK Cancer Prevention Trials Unit (CPTU) Core funding award - CRUK CRC Clinical Trials Unit – renewing Program Award October 2017