The University of Oxford has entered into a collaboration in cancer research with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) at selected clinical centres in India.

With coordination from the university's Department of Clinical Pharmacology and initial three-year funding from GSK, the collaboration will establish the first Indian cancer-trials network comprising a number of India's leading senior oncologists of major comprehensive cancer centres.

The collaboration will enable the evaluation of new cancer treatments in a range of cancer types including gall bladder, liver and cervical cancers which are more prevalent in India than in Europe or North America, stated a GSK release here.

"This collaboration offers benefit to cancer patients in India who will now gain wider access to clinical trials of potential new medicines," said Allen Oliff, senior vice president and head of the GSK Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery responsible for cancer therapy.

The network's management team will be led by Professor David Kerr, Rhodes Professor of Cancer Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology at Oxford and director of the UK's National Translational Cancer Research Network (NTRAC).

Professor Kerr commented, "Much like NTRAC, the aim of Indian network is to build a research infrastructure and workforce capacity that will support the advancement of novel anti-cancer therapeutics from the laboratory into the clinic and to test their promise in each stage of clinical trials, putting the network on a par with the best in the world for conducting cancer trials."

Dr Vinod Raina, Professor of Medical Oncology & Head of the Delhi Cancer Registry, Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi added, "The initial emphasis will be on up gradation of already existing research infrastructures and in setting up standard operating procedures as per international standards."

The senior specialist oncologists are based at the Indian centres at Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences, Panjagutta, Hyderabad, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Regional Cancer Center, Trivandrum, Gujarat Cancer Center, Asarwa, Ahmedabad.