Does Current United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Research Address the James Lind Alliance Children's Cancer Priority Setting Partnership Priorities? A Grant Mapping Study

Sep 22, 2026

The James Lind Alliance Children’s Cancer Priority Setting Partnership identified 23 priority research topics defined by children, survivors, families, carers, and professionals. This grant mapping study mapped UK-funded childhood cancer research to these 23 priorities to reveal funding gaps and guide future funding, policy, and research. A retrospective grant mapping approach contacted potential funders January 2020–July 2025 and mapped project aims to priorities using abstracts, recording funding, co-funders, cancer types, and study designs. Of 63 funders, 27 provided data, enabling mapping of 452 studies and nearly £113 million.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

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Health Expectations ORIGINAL ARTICLE Does Current United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Research Address the James Lind Alliance Children's Cancer Priority Setting Partnership Priorities? A Grant Mapping Study Alison Bish1 | Faith Gibson1,2 | Alexandra Brownsdon3 | Julia Chisholm4,5 | Jenny Harris1 | Rachel Hollis6 | Bob Phillips6,7 | Susie Aldiss1 1School of Health Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK | 2Centre for Outcomes and Experience Research in Children's Health, Illness and Disability (ORCHID), Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK | 3Patient representative, Exeter, Devon, UK | 4The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Sutton, UK | 5Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK | 6Rachel Hollis, Leeds Children's Hospital, Leeds, UK | 7University of York, York, UK Correspondence: Susie Aldiss ([s.aldiss@surrey.ac.uk](s.aldiss@surrey.ac.uk)) Received: 7 May 2026 | Revised: 7 August 2026 | Accepted: 12 August 2026 Funding: CCLG: The Children & Young People's Cancer Association, Grant/Award Number: CCLGD 2024 01 Keywords: cancer | children | James Lind Alliance | priority setting partnership | research funding ABSTRACT Introduction: The James Lind Alliance Children's Cancer Priority Setting Partnership identified 23 key research topics, as defined by children, survivors, families, carers, and professionals. Funders have expressed commitment to ensuring all priorities are addressed. The aim of our current project was to map UK‐funded childhood cancer research against the 23 priorities to highlight gaps and inform future funding, policy and research directions. Methods: A retrospective grant mapping study. Potential UK funders of childhood cancer research were contacted for details of projects funded January 2020–July 2025. Project abstracts were reviewed to map study aims to one or more of the 23 priorities. Total funding, co‐funders, type of cancer and study design were recorded. Results: Of 63 funders contacted, nine declined to participate, eight gave no response and 19 were ineligible as they had not funded relevant work in the study timeframe. Twenty‐seven funders provided data and three had online searchable databases, allowing direct data extraction: 452 studies were mapped. Studies covered all major childhood cancers; 75% were pre‐clinical in design. Total funding awarded was nearly £113 million with 39 co‐funded studies. Priority 1: Developing effective and kinder treatments received most research focus: with 365 studies and £94.2 million funding. Other well‐addressed priorities were Priority 2: Why children develop cancer and can it be prevented: with 73 studies and £16.6 million funding; and Priority 5: Reasons for relapse − 44 studies and £9.6 million. Five priorities received no funding, including Priority 6: Improving hospital experience, which was the top priority identified by children. Conclusion: While treatment research is well supported, some areas that matter to children, survivors, families and health professionals are overlooked. Funders and researchers should target underrepresented priorities. Policy makers can use findings to inform delivery of the National Cancer Plan. Patients and families can raise awareness of underfunded areas and influence funding decisions. Patient or Public Contribution: This mapping project stemmed from a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership that had at its core an emphasis on patient participation. Our project team included a survivor of childhood cancer. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2026 The Author(s) . Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Health Expectations, 2026; 29:e70845 1 of 10 [https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.70845](https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.70845) 1 | Introduction Within the United

FAQs

What is the purpose of the grant mapping study?

To map UK-funded childhood cancer research against the 23 James Lind Alliance priorities, highlight gaps, and inform future funding, policy, and research directions.

How were studies matched to the priority topics?

Potential UK funders were contacted for projects funded January 2020–July 2025, and project abstracts were reviewed to map study aims to one or more of the 23 priorities.

What were the key findings about funding coverage?

Most attention focused on developing effective and kinder treatments (Priority 1). Some priorities received no funding, including improving hospital experience (identified as the top priority by children).

What implications does the study propose for stakeholders?

Funders and researchers should target underrepresented priorities; policymakers can use results to inform delivery of the National Cancer Plan; patients and families can raise awareness of underfunded areas to influence funding decisions.

Sep 22, 2026

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