Groundbreaking new clinical trials will be offered to patients living with an aggressive type of brain cancer in Manchester.
The trials will help people to access new and potentially life-extending treatments for glioblastoma – the most common and fastest-growing type of brain cancer – closer to home.
They are designed to improve survival and quality of life of patients and will be available first in Yorkshire and then in patients across the UK – in Manchester, as well as in Sheffield, Leeds, Hull, Edinburgh and Nottingham.
Most people diagnosed with glioblastoma will see the tumour regrow or return within the first year after treatment. Since the brain is protected by a layer known as the blood-brain barrier, many widely-used cancer drugs are ineffective at treating the disease.
As a result of this, there has been a lack of significant breakthroughs for treating glioblastoma since 2007.
Emma Ward, 47, faced this lack of treatment options after being diagnosed with brain cancer last year. The mum-of-two from York first experienced problems with her spatial awareness and coordination in January 2025.
While driving her daughter to dance class, she was unable to hold her car keys to turn the ignition on, and then four weeks later, couldn’t pick up her fork to eat her lunch at work.
A CT scan revealed Emma had a tumour in her brain, while surgery determined her tumour was cancerous and classed as grade 4 – the fastest growing type of brain tumour. She went on to complete a six-week course of radiotherapy alongside chemotherapy.
With few treatment options, she travelled abroad to access an immunotherapy treatment, funded by £145,000 raised by friends and family.
She said: “With no further options for me in the UK, I couldn’t just sit and wait to die. All I could think about was the extra time this treatment could give with my husband and my daughters.
“My friends did everything they could, and I was completely blown away by the kindness and generosity people showed. But it shouldn’t have to be like this. Too many people lose their lives because there are so few options for treating brain cancers.”
She added: “It feels as though brain cancers have been placed in the ‘too hard’ box, so investment in research is held back out of fear nothing will work and survival rates can never improve.
“Research around the world is showing there is hope for improvement, and Yorkshire Cancer Research is helping to bring hope right here to our region.”
Emma’s most recent scan in March showed her tumour is currently stable. She has since travelled abroad for a second course of treatment.
The new clinical trials, funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research and led by experts at the University of Sheffield and the University of Glasgow, will aim to find out if different cancer drugs are likely to get into the brain and work.
Known as EPIC-GB, the £6.9 million programme could help patients with recurrent glioblastoma access new and potentially life-extending treatment options.
Dr Stuart Griffiths, Director of Research, Policy and Impact at Yorkshire Cancer Research said: “For far too long, people with glioblastoma have faced limited treatment options and there remains an urgent need for more research.
“EPIC-GB opens new opportunities for people with recurrent glioblastoma, including those underrepresented in research, to trial potentially life-extending treatments.”
Dr Griffiths said the trials’ findings have the potential to give patients ‘more years of life’.
Professor Anthony Chalmers, Chair of Clinical Oncology at the University of Glasgow, said the programme could identify treatments with ‘real potential for extending lives’.
Prof Chalmers added: “The programme of trials, starting in Yorkshire, have the capacity to influence how early-phase clinical trials are conducted nationally and accelerate the availability of new innovative treatments for people with glioblastoma, who urgently need new options.”