The MRC and Clinical Trials
The MRC has been supporting clinical trials for more than 70 years and today is the UK’s largest public funder of clinical trials.
Our pioneering work in this area includes testing whooping cough vaccines in the 1940s, radiotherapy for cancers in the 1960s and breast-cancer screening in the 1990s. Our trials of treatments for childhood leukaemia, which have been taking place since the 1970s, have been increased the survival rate from one in five to four in five children.
The randomised control trial
In the 1940s the MRC pioneered the development of the randomised control trial – the ‘gold standard’ in trial design. The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence now places more emphasis on the results of randomised controlled trials than any other form of evidence when making recommendations for healthcare.
MRC trials of effective low-cost treatments
Because the MRC is publicly funded it can investigate areas that the pharmaceutical industry would not normally tackle, often through clinical trials. For example, in 2002 an MRC trial of magnesium sulphate to treat pre-eclampsia in pregnant women showed that this low-cost, freely available treatment halved the risk of them developing full-blown eclampsia. Many women’s lives have been saved as a result, especially in the developing world. In addition, MRC trials on giving women folic acid supplements to prevent birth defects have led to changes in public policy worldwide: ten per cent of the world’s flour is now fortified, at a low cost, with folic acid. This simple measure prevents thousands of babies being born deformed each year. Likewise, MRC trials of aspirin and streptokinase as a combined treatment for survival after heart attacks changed clinical practice almost overnight.
To view a register of current MRC trials visit the ISRCTN Register website