UK study to collect samples from those dying from cancer

A groundbreaking new study of postmortem samples from cancer patients is being launched in the UK.

The Cancer Research UK funded PEACE study, led by the Cancer Research UK UCL Centre, will be the first ever national study collecting blood and tissue samples from patients who have died from cancer.

Terminally ill patients will be invited to discuss the idea of donating postmortem samples, with tissue to be taken from up to 500 patients in order to provide a clearer picture of the biological changes that occur from diagnosis to death.

This will prove especially useful in the study of brain tumours or conditions such as lung cancer that often spread to the brain, because samples often cannot be taken from patients when they are alive.

Professor Charles Swanton, scientific lead from the Cancer Research UK UCL Centre and Francis Crick Institute, said: "This study will help us complete the whole cancer picture – from diagnosis to death – that we need, in order to understand how it changes and evolves over time and how drug resistance occurs."

The trial will expand across seven hospitals thanks to a contribution of funding from Cancer Research UK.