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Scottish expertise continuing to make vital contributions to research on World Cancer Day

Scottish expertise continuing to make vital contributions to research on World Cancer Day

World Cancer Day (4 February) is set to be ‘United by Unique’ once more with Scotland’s researchers making important contributions to prevention, detection, and treatment

The annual awareness day will be campaigning for inclusive care which meets unique needs with compassion and empathy for those affected by cancer, offering a “journey from raising awareness to taking action” from 2025-2027.

Contributing to World Cancer Day aims, the NHS Research Scotland (NRS) Cancer Network has been involved in leading work, including the randomised phase II PRIME-RT trial, led by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and the University of Glasgow, with significant numbers recruited from Glasgow and Grampian.

This assessed patients with advanced rectal cancer and found that the addition of immunotherapy treatment alongside extended radiotherapy led to better rates of remission than standard therapy.

The UK-wide trial — carried out in collaboration with Glasgow’s Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) — reported high rates of complete response to treatment among trial participants, particularly in the group where immunotherapy was combined with short course radiotherapy.

Complete remission was observed in a high rate of 52% of patients across the trial, significantly exceeding pre-trial expectations of 30%.

The trial’s Scottish sites were the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI), and University Hospital Crosshouse in Ayr.

Only recently, the ground-breaking TOURIST PRINCE trial — part of the world’s largest clinical trial using radiotherapy in the treatment of metastatic lung cancer — recruited the first patient in Scotland.

TOURIST PRINCE is the first trial in 20 years to look at how radiotherapy could benefit late-stage metastatic lung cancer patients with Glasgow’s New Victoria Hospital taking part as a satellite site of the Beatson Clinical Research Facility (BCRF).

The trial is looking at whether modern radiotherapy treatments can improve outcomes for patients with stage IV disease, who often have a poor prognosis.

The MORPHEUS-EC trial saw Glasgow becoming only one of two UK sites included in the Lancet Oncology publication. NRS Cancer Research Network Clinical Lead, Professor Jeff Evans co-authored the Lancet Oncology article.

This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of a combination of treatments plus chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for advanced/metastatic oesophageal cancer. Results indicate this combination may offer higher response rates and longer progression-free survival (PFS) compared to chemotherapy alone.

Prof Evans further co-authored a manuscript published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, with a focus on the study of a novel chemotherapeutic, including its safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy for patients with advanced solid tumours. This first in human study saw participation from four UK sites and one in Australia.

There was also publication this year of the PIONEER study involving Grampian and Tayside sites which both recruited successfully.

With the aim of improving upon standard therapy, the trial tested a potential new treatment combination for post-menopausal women diagnosed with early-stage oestrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer.

Patients from Ninewells Hospital in Dundee and ARI were among those who participated in the study after initial findings indicated that a combination of megestrol acetate and letrozole was more effective at reducing tumour proliferation than letrozole alone.

Investigators concluded that “adding megestrol enhanced the antiproliferative effect of letrozole”.

Glasgow’s BCRF was the only site in Scotland — and one of few in the UK — involved in a Phase I trial of T-cell therapy focussing on previously treated, advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) patients.

The global study was published in the Journal of Hepatology, noting that preliminary antitumour activity had been demonstrated.

The phase II DISCUS trial paves the way for reducing the burden of chemotherapy in bladder cancer. The study showed that patients’ quality of life was enhanced by reducing the number of cycles from six to three with no obvious loss of effectiveness.

Making a strong contribution to DISCUS, Glasgow was noted for being a high recruiting site with ECMC involved in trial design.

Glasgow has also made a marked contribution to the STAMPEDE trial, being named one of the top recruiting sites, while Raigmore Hospital in Inverness further featured among the top 10, successfully belying its smaller size.

Trial investigators believe that we may be able to identify patients who benefit from chemotherapy and those who do not, allowing more targeted treatment in prostate cancer.

ARI has also been selected for its first Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) trial which is expected to open later this year.

CAR-T trials are considered to be cutting-edge clinical studies testing personalised immune cell therapy for various cancers including leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, and increasingly for autoimmune diseases like Lupus and Multiple Sclerosis (MS).

A new study of the effect of extra fibre in potentially reducing unpleasant side effects for patients when undergoing prostate radiotherapy is expected to start recruiting in the next few months.

The DIETRICH trial is aimed at discovering if extra fibre might also increase the effectiveness of the radiotherapy. Scottish sites will be Edinburgh Cancer Centre, the Beatson, and ARI.

A study on blood samples in patients with gastro-oesophageal cancer from multiple sites in the UK also included the Edinburgh Cancer Centre, Glasgow Oncology Clinical Trials Unit, and ARI — all coordinated by Glasgow Oncology Clinical Trials Unit and analysed at the Glasgow ECMC laboratories.

Prof Evans, NRS Cancer Research Network Clinical Lead, Professor of Translational Cancer Research, School of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow; Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow; and Lead of the Glasgow Adult Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre, said: “According to new figures from Public Health Scotland, the risk of our population dying from cancer has fallen by 12% over the past decade – its lowest rate on record. While that reduction in risk is encouraging, cancer remains the most common cause of death in Scotland.

“Therefore, robust research remains essential to accelerating positive progress in further reducing cancer cases in Scotland.”

He added: “World Cancer Day 2026 represents an important reminder of how patient empowerment, collaboration and innovation underpin inclusive trials taking place across Scotland, potentially leading to breakthrough treatments or simply expanding understanding.”

To find active cancer clinical trials, visit Be Part of Research and search by condition, drug, or location. People in Scotland can also sign up to the Scottish Health Research Register (SHARE) to be informed about opportunities relevant to them.

You can also help to spread the World Cancer Day campaign on:

Publication date: 4th February 2026

Author: NHS Research Scotland

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