As the UK moves closer to its new deadline to leave the European Union — which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said would occur by the end of October "do or die" — researchers worry that leaving without a deal could affect clinical cancer trials, the Guardian reports.
In particular, researchers tell the Guardian they are concerned that a no-deal Brexit could impair UK scientists' ability to collaborate on clinical studies being carried out in the EU. For instance, it notes that UK researchers have teamed with other researchers in the EU to study treatments for children with rare liver cancers, as they then have a larger pool of patients to work with.
"It is going to become harder and harder to keep studies going and, even worse, to set up new studies to look at cancers that have not been tackled yet," Emma Greenwood, director of policy for Cancer Research UK, tells the Guardian.
The Guardian writes that a no-deal Brexit could also affect the ability of the UK to import drugs, including cancer, from the EU. Greenwood notes that National Health England and others have been working to address these issues, but adds they have concerns "something could go wrong."