In 2005 guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that all young people in England aged 15 to 24 years with cancer should have access to specialist age-appropriate cancer care. There are 13 principal treatment centres (PTC) in England linked to other regional hospitals that are designated to deliver age-appropriate care. Similar models exist in Scotland and Wales. In Wales, one PTC in Cardiff delivers care and is linked to the hospitals in Wales. In Scotland, PTC exit in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen and can deliver ‘shared/joint care’ with Dundee, Inverness and Dumfries. While the way care is delivered is different in each PTC, they have a common philosophy of care. Professionals and patients say ‘specialist age-appropriate care’ is “better” for young people, but there was limited evidence to support this. BRIGHTLIGHT is generating the evidence to underpin future policy recommendations.

The BRIGHTLIGHT programme of research has expanded beyond the original work streams of the NIHR-funded programme grant, and now includes a broad range of affiliated studies related to young people’s cancer care. Details of both the original BRIGHTLIGHT studies and additional affiliated studies can be explored below.

BRIGHTLIGHT Cohort study

July 28, 2015
The aim of the study was to determine if there are relationships between the amount of specialist care young people receive and the quality of care they receive, clinical outcomes and their experience of care.
Read more

BRIGHTLIGHT Delphi Study

May 3, 2016
The aim was to provide international consensus on the competencies required by professionals to provide specialist cancer care for teenagers and young adults with cancer.
Read more

BRIGHTLIGHT Mosaic Study

September 1, 2016
This exploratory study sought to describe where teenage and young adult cancer care was delivered, who delivered it and how it is delivered in each primary treatment centre.
Read more

BRIGHTLIGHT case study

October 24, 2018
The aim of this research was to look closely at teenage and young adult cancer services, to specifically examine the culture of care for young people receiving cancer care in England.
Read more

BRIGHTLIGHT Caregiver study

May 1, 2021
We wanted to see if there was a relationship between the amount of specialist care young people receive and their main caregivers information and support needs.
Read more

When Cure Is Not Likely

January 28, 2019
One quarter of all deaths in 16-to 40-year-olds are due to cancer. At present little is known about these patients’ experiences of care, and what is important to them as the end of their life approaches.
Read more

Online Study: Online Information and Support Needs Of Young People with Cancer

September 17, 2018
We sought to understand how healthcare professionals perceived online information and support for young people with cancer.
Read more

Find Your Sense Of Tumour Evaluation

April 8, 2016
Research team Lorna Fern, Rachel Taylor, Ana Martins: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Sue Morgan: Leeds Teaching Hospitals…
Read more

End of Treatment Study: Information and Support Needs of Young People with Cancer at the End of Active Treatment

November 28, 2018
The end of treatment is known to be a period of high stress in young people’s cancer timeline, but little is known about young people’s information and support needs.
Read more

The Support and Information Needs of Young People around Sex, Body Image and Relationships

November 20, 2021
Research team: Lorna Fern, Rachel Taylor, Ana Martins, Jeremy Whelan, Louise Soanes, Beth McCann: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation…
Read more

SAM: Sarcoma Assessment Measure

June 1, 2018
The aim of this project was to develop and validate a sarcoma-specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) – the Sarcoma Assessment Measure (SAM) – and to develop a strategy for maximising its utility in practice.
Read more