Brexit and the treatment of children with cancer | Letters

The warning that children with cancer risk missing out on drug trials (Report, 9 March) highlights an issue that has been largely overlooked in the Brexit debate. I led work on the EU clinical trials regulation, which will come into force in 2018. By harmonising EU law and creating a single application portal, this will make it easier to carry out clinical trials in more than one country. Cross-border trials are particularly important for paediatric cancers because there are usually not enough cases in one country to make a trial viable. Once outside the EU, it will be harder for UK patients to participate in these trials.

Related: UK children with cancer could miss out on drug trials after Brexit, doctors warn