Cancer patients to have a say in research funding
A cancer charity has set up a patients’ commission that will give their feedback on projects the fund wants to support, to make sure they have sufficient value for those with the disease
More transparency
Until now, a biomedical committee made up of national and international cancer experts has chosen the research that Kom op tegen Kanker invests in. A patients’ committee will now also have a say. “These findings will be communicated back to the researchers,” said Marc Michils, general director of the cancer fund. “If necessary, we will ask researchers to make adjustments so that the studies become more patient-oriented.”
The patients’ commission, established at the end of 2016, has 15 members, including people with cancer, former patients and people from their close environment. They will meet four times at the beginning of each year and give their opinions on the biomedical projects. The first meeting took place this year.
Discussions will include the criteria a study has to meet to be considered sufficiently patient-oriented. Studies should improve not just patients’ life expectancy but also their quality of life, for example.
Cancer researcher Bernard Thienpont, connected to Flemish life sciences research institute VIB and the University of Leuven, told De Morgen that such initiatives can lead to more transparency. “It means researchers are forced to think more about practical applications,” he said.
Photo: Ingimage
