Prof Lorigan told the BBC: “It might be that people arriving for treatment later are less well, are more frail, are relying on hospital transport, etc.
“So we really need to look at this more systematically, and as a result with colleagues in Southampton and in Cardiff, we’ve designed a trial to test this, and why the immune system might be more receptive at specific times of the day.”
He added: “When we’re trying to improve our treatments, we’re adding in new drugs, more expensive drugs, causing more side effects, but this would be essentially cost-neutral.
“It’s just quite – if it works – a significant benefit just based on giving the treatment at a different time of the day.”
The team is seeking funding to carry out the research under tightly controlled conditions on patients with melanoma and haematological cancers.
Researchers say patients should keep attending appointments as scheduled while further studies are undertaken.
Any eventual changes would likely involve only the first three or four cycles of treatment, they said.
