About the Focus4 Trial

FOCUS4 was a molecularly stratified, multi-site randomised trials programme for patients with colorectal cancer which opened in the UK in 2014.

The FOCUS4 programme was designed to identify and register eligible patients, perform a set of molecular tests on a sample of their tumour and then enrol each patient into a specific randomised trial based on the results of the molecular tests. Each molecularly stratified trial aimed to compare a new drug treatment with a placebo or standard care.

FOCUS4 recruited patients from over 100 UK hospitals and was co-ordinated from the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit based in London in collaboration with Oxford University, Leeds University and Cardiff University.

Before browsing this website we recommend reading our Common Terminology summary. 

A list of FOCUS4 sites with their level status is provided here along with a map of site locations.

EUDRACT #:  2012-005111-12

CTA #:   00316/0245/001-0001

REC #:   13/SC/0111

ISRCTN #: 90061546

Sponsor: FOCUS4 is sponsored by the Medical Research Council.

Funding: FOCUS4 is funded jointly between the UK Government (MRC/National Institute for Health Research Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme) and Cancer Research UK. It has been registered as part of the UKCRN Research Portfolio.

Pharmaceutical Collaborators: FOCUS4 relies on drug manufacturers supplying and distributing their drug for use in the trials.

FOCUS4-B is testing Aspirin against placebo and we are grateful to Bayer Pharma AG for agreeing to supply the drug and placebo for FOCUS4-B.

FOCUS4-C is testing a drug known as AZD1775 against Active Monitoring and FOCUS4-D tested a drug known as AZD8931 against placebo. We are grateful to AstraZeneca for agreeing to supply the drugs for FOCUS4-C and FOCUS4-D.

FOCUS4

MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL
Institute of Clinical Trials & Methodology

90 High Holborn
2nd Floor
London
WC1V 6LJ

Email. mrcctu.focus4@ucl.ac.uk