Featured research project
An advanced form of radiotherapy to stop prostate cancer coming back
Men with high-risk, localised prostate cancer are at greater risk of their cancer coming back after initial treatment. In some cases, the cancer may have already spread to nearby areas, such as the pelvic lymph nodes, but this often difficult to detect on scans.
That’s why we’re funding, with support from Movember, a team co-led by Prof Emma Hall, Dr Angela Pathmanathan, Prof Nicholas van As, and Prof Suneil Jain to explore whether delivering an advanced type of radiotherapy, called stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), to the lymph nodes could help stop cancer from coming back.
In the PACE-NODES clinical trial, over 1100 men will receive SBRT treatment, either to the prostate and surrounding lymph nodes or to the prostate only.
SBRT delivers radiotherapy in larger doses and can be safely given over only five visits to the hospital, far fewer than standard radiotherapy treatments.
The team will follow all men for at least three and a half years to assess which radiotherapy regimen is more effective at stopping prostate cancer from coming back.
Men will also be closely monitored for side effects throughout the course of treatment and asked to report on their quality of life. Excitingly, the trial has just reached its recruitment target, with the final man being enrolled in July!
The success of PACE-NODES could have dramatic benefits. It could mean fewer men find that that their cancer has come back.
Beyond that, treating men with SBRT rather than standard radiotherapy treatment could mean fewer appointments for men with early-stage prostate cancer – meaning less travel, less cost and less stress for men at such a turbulent time of their lives, giving them more time to do the things they love.
Raising further funds to support vital research
We shared the work of the PACE-NODES team with our supporters in a fundraising appeal, along with the story of a man whose prostate cancer had spread to a pelvic lymph node and might have benefited from improved radiotherapy treatment.
This appeal has already inspired supporters to donate an incredible £208,753.00 to support our work.
The team also presented their work in a fantastic webinar for our supporters. If you would like to watch the webinar, a link to the recording can be found below.
Thank you!
A huge thank you to Prof Emma Hall, Dr Angela Pathmanathan, Prof Nicholas van As, and Prof Suneil Jain for their cooperation and support throughout the process.
