Clatterbridge leads the way in pioneering cancer radiotherapy trial

Clatterbridge has hit a milestone in unique research aiming to improve treatment for a group of prostate cancer patients whose disease has returned to lymph nodes in their pelvis.

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (CCC) has signed up the first patient in the UK on the £1.1m POINTER-PC clinical research trial. This is currently the only research study trying to find the best way to give radiotherapy to patients whose prostate cancer has returned to these pelvic lymph nodes.

All people on the trial receive 12 months of hormone therapy, with patients also having standard radiotherapy three times on the lymph nodes with the disease, or experimental treatment targeting all their pelvic lymph nodes with radiotherapy, either five times or 20 times. The lymph nodes with cancer will receive a slightly higher dose.

The main goals of the research are to compare how long patients live without cancer coming back or needing more treatment. The researchers also want to find out how often patients report bowel problems up to three years after the radiotherapy. The Leeds University study aims to recruit 480 men across the UK over the four years the trial is designed to run.

Professor Isabel Syndikus, a consultant oncologist at CCC who is heading the study at Clatterbridge, said:

“We are thrilled to be the first cancer research centre to sign up a patient on this important study.

“The trial has the potential to redefine the optimal management for pelvic nodal recurrence in prostate cancer patients – and give men a chance for further radiotherapy if their first treatment with it has failed.

“I would like to thank my trial team for opening the trial quickly and finding a suitable patient, and I would also like to thank all the patients who considered entering the trial.”