"After 25 years, I still absolutely love my job, it’s humbling” | Celebrating 25 years of Sheffield's Cancer Clinical Trials Centre

Did you know…Weston Park Cancer Centre is one of the highest recruiting cancer centres in the UK, it currently has 100+ active clinical trials over the full range of adult and teenage cancers.

The Cancer Clinical Trials Centre (CCTC) is a renowned centre of excellence for cancer research with a dedicated research team caring for patients throughout their research treatment.

25 years of the Cancer Clinical Trials Centre

2024 marks 25 years of the CCTC at Weston Park Cancer Centre, to celebrate we will be introducing you to the fantastic team.

As a charity, we have been supporting the work of the CCTC since its inception and currently we fund several Research Nurses, to help the CCTC run cutting-edge clinical trials. These trials provide patients in our region with the opportunity to access new treatments not yet widely available and allows researchers in Sheffield to keep improving cancer treatment.

Today, we’re meeting Urology Senior Research Sister, Katharine Behennah...

Tell us about your background, Katharine

“I’ve been at Weston Park Cancer Centre for almost 30 years and in clinical research for 25 years. I have been working in urology research specifically for six years and was previously in colorectal and gastrointestinal cancer research.”

What’s your role at the CCTC?

“My role is to coordinate all the Urology studies currently active at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, we recruit patients from across South Yorkshire, from Barnsley, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Rotherham and sometimes further afield. My job is to identify patients who are potentially eligible for a trial, introduce the study, screen them and follow them the whole way through.”

“Introducing research to patients can be quite difficult and can depend on where they are on their cancer journey. Some studies are easy to get your head around, some are more complicated. We always ensure patients are fully informed of both the benefits and the risks of the specific study to make their own informed and educated decision to participate in the trial.”

What are the benefits to patients in taking part in research studies?

“There are some key benefits to taking part in a clinical trial, a key one for many is having the opportunity of a treatment which is only available as part of a trial, which may (or may not) be better than the standard treatment.”

“Some people will also take part in a trial to benefit somebody else in the future, which is humbling but I feel strongly that its important people do the right thing for themselves. I’m always happy to talk to people interested in taking part in a trial and answer any questions they have.”

How does it feel to be involved in cancer research?

“I absolutely love it. I can honestly say I am so fortunate that after 25 years of doing this job, I still really love it. I love that each trial is different.”

“We can treat people for several years now, so you get to know the patients really well. We see the patients the whole way through their cancer journey.”

“I think I'm in a very privileged position to be able to do this, it is really humbling. It’s very rewarding because we've got patients who are willing to give their time and additional blood/urine samples at a difficult stage of their life, so anything we can do to make it better and improve outcomes, it's a very positive step forward.”

How has cancer research evolved over your career and what does the future hold for patients?

“Looking ahead, if we can tailor treatments to the individual rather than the generic cancer, that's got to be the way forward.”

“We only know today, what we learnt from the research studies we did years and years ago and the lovely, fantastic people who took part in them.”

Weston Park Cancer Charity offers a range of cancer support services. Can you tell us what difference they make to your patients?

“Previous patients of mine have used the Weston Park Cancer Charity prostate support group, they find it really beneficial to meet others who are further into their cancer journey and provide that reassurance, that there is hope out there.”

“I think it’s really nice for patients to have this place, ideally situated next to Weston Park Cancer Centre and the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and they can just drop in to this lovely building and talk to somebody, they don’t have to make an appointment.”

You can support our funding to research projects and the Cancer Clinical Trials Centre by making a donation today.