£3.5 million for two bold new projects could make prostate cancer care smarter, quicker and kinder

Every man deserves the treatment that's right for him. Treatment that gives him the best possible chance of living well and living longer, while avoiding unnecessary side effects, hospital visits and worry.

That’s why we’re investing £3.5 million in two new research projects that could help revolutionise prostate cancer care for thousands of men.

The first aims to create a smarter, safer way to understand how a man’s prostate cancer is likely to behave, so that men and their doctors can make treatment decisions with greater confidence.

The second will test whether a much shorter, more precise form of radiotherapy can help men whose cancer starts growing again after surgery, cutting weeks of hospital visits down to just five treatments.

Together, the projects are being funded through our Transformational Impact Awards scheme, which supports ambitious research with the potential to make a major difference to men’s lives.

Helping men avoid unnecessary biopsies and treatment

One of the hardest parts of prostate cancer care is knowing which cancers need urgent treatment, and which are unlikely to cause serious problems.

At the moment, we still rely heavily on biopsy samples to understand how aggressive a man’s cancer is. These samples are studied under a microscope and given a Gleason score, which helps men and their doctors make decisions about treatment. But a biopsy only shows part of the picture. It doesn't include all the useful information that comes from a man’s MRI scans, medical history, and blood or urine tests.

That can leave men facing difficult decisions without enough certainty. Some men with lower-risk cancer may have biopsies or treatment they might never have needed, risking side effects or infections. Others with more aggressive cancer may not be found or treated early enough, reducing their chances of a cure.

The new project, called REIMAGINE[Life], is being led by Professor Mieke Van Hemelrijck at King’s College London, alongside researchers at University College London, Imperial College London and Radboud University.

The team will follow up more than 1,000 men who have already had detailed MRI scans and samples taken as part of an earlier study. They’ll link this information with NHS records to track what happens to each man over time, including whose cancer grows or spreads, and whose does not.

Using this information, the researchers will train computer models to look for patterns in MRI scans, blood tests, urine tests, biopsy samples and genetic information. The aim is to build a tool that can better predict how a man’s cancer is likely to behave.

If it works, men with low-risk cancer could feel more confident about safely avoiding or delaying treatment, while men whose cancer is more likely to grow or spread could be spotted sooner and offered treatment at the right time.

Professor Van Hemelrijck said: "Our aim is to create a smarter, less invasive way to predict how prostate cancer will behave by combining MRI scans, biomarkers and patient data.

"This could help many men avoid unnecessary biopsies and treatments, while ensuring those with aggressive cancer get the care they need sooner, ultimately improving outcomes and quality of life."

Cutting weeks of radiotherapy down to five treatments

The second project will focus on men whose prostate cancer recurs after surgery.

Surgery to remove the prostate is one of the most common treatments for men whose cancer is still in or around the prostate. But for some men, signs of cancer return later. This can happen when a small number of cancer cells are left behind and begin growing again.

Right now, these men usually need between four and six weeks of daily radiotherapy to treat those remaining cancer cells. That can mean weeks of hospital visits, taking men away from the things that matter to them such as family, work and daily routines.

The new trial, called PACE Post-Op, will test whether a more precise type of radiotherapy called stereotactic body radiotherapy, or SBRT, could be used instead. SBRT can be given in as few as five visits over a week and a half.

Although we’ve funded several other projects looking at the potential of this type of targeted radiotherapy, including for reducing the risk of cancer spreading in men with localised disease, and for keeping treatments working longer in men whose cancer has already spread, so far no research has compared it to standard radiotherapy in this group of men. Without that research, the treatment can't be offered routinely to men.

The project is being led by Professor Emma Hall at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, alongside a team based across The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and University College London.

Like standard radiotherapy, SBRT uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells from outside the body. But SBRT is designed to be more targeted. It uses multiple precise beams that cross over at the right point inside the body, giving a high dose to the treatment area while reducing the dose to nearby healthy tissue. This means treatment can be delivered in fewer visits without making side effects significantly worse.

The trial will recruit more than 1,200 men whose prostates have been removed but who are showing signs that their cancer is growing again. Half will have standard radiotherapy to the area where their prostate was, and half will have SBRT.

The researchers will then follow the men for up to 10 years, looking at how well each treatment controls the cancer, how men cope with treatment, what side effects they have during and after radiotherapy, and how each treatment affects quality of life. They’ll also compare the cost of both treatments to the NHS.

If successful, the trial could give men a much more convenient way to treat prostate cancer that has returned after surgery. It could reduce the impact on their time and wellbeing, make treatment easier to manage, and help more men access the care they need by easing pressure on NHS services.

Dr Yae-eun Suh, from The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The goal is to safely maintain cancer control while significantly reducing treatment burden, which could transform how we deliver post-operative radiotherapy, meaning fewer hospital visits and less disruption to men’s lives."

Research that puts men’s lives first

These two projects are tackling different parts of the prostate cancer pathway, but they share the same goal: helping men get the right care for them, with less disruption and fewer unnecessary harms.

For some men, that could mean avoiding biopsies or treatment they don’t need. For others, it could mean getting more urgent treatment sooner, before their cancer has a chance to spread. And for men whose cancer comes back after surgery, it could mean turning weeks of radiotherapy into just a handful of hospital visits.

That’s why we’re making these major investments through our Transformational Impact Awards, which aim to move promising ideas from the lab to the clinic so men can benefit sooner.

But we can only back bold projects like these thanks to your continued support.

A regular monthly donation helps us plan ahead and invest in the research that could give men more time, better treatment options, and a better quality of life. If you can, please set up a monthly gift today and help power the next breakthroughs for men with prostate cancer.

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