The United Kingdom Coordinating Committee on Cancer Research is an independent body representing the major organisations funding cancer research in the United Kingdom. Clinical cancer research can cover many aspects of malignant diseases, and it is important to distinguish research involving NHS organisational and managerial issues from those dealing with the evaluation of (new) treatments. It is the latter that is of particular concern to the committee. We seek to encourage, promote, and facilitate cancer research, particularly through the medium of randomised clinical trials. This has never been easy, and the changes now being introduced in the NHS are further exacerbating …