Research title: Modelling And Patient Perspectives to optimise pelvic Radiotherapy (MAPP-RT)

Summary of my research project

What are we trying to do?

We want to find better ways to design radiotherapy treatments for prostate cancer (a cancer that starts in the prostate gland). Radiotherapy is a treatment for cancer using high-energy x-rays.

Why is this important?

Prostate cancer is often treated with radiotherapy. Sometimes it causes side effects, especially if radiotherapy is given to glands in the pelvis as well as the prostate. Radiotherapy side effects can cause problems with passing urine (going for a wee) or
with bowel movements (going for a poo). Side effects can affect patients’ daily routine and quality of life. They might need to go to hospital for tests or treatment. It is important to understand more about what patients think about pelvis radiotherapy. We
need to work out the best way to give radiotherapy with fewer side effects.

What will we do?

I will speak to patients who had pelvis radiotherapy before or are about to have it. I want to hear how patients decided to have radiotherapy, how side effects affected them and what information or support people found helpful or thought was missing. I
will hear from people close to patients, like their partners, and include people from different communities.

I will look at scans from lots of patients previously treated with pelvis radiotherapy and information about their side effects to find parts of the pelvis that are most sensitive to side effects. For example, there are likely to be parts of the bowel or bladder that are more likely to be damaged when someone has radiotherapy.

I will design a new way to give pelvis radiotherapy that avoids those parts of the pelvis linked to side effects- but without making it less effective against the cancer.

I will do a small study using patient scans to work out if the new way to give pelvis radiotherapy is ready to be used with patients (patients whose scans are used for the study will still be treated as normal).

With help from patients, I will design a larger study to show how much the new way to give pelvis radiotherapy improves side effects.

How are we involving patients and the public?

I’ve talked to four groups of patients and the public with experience of prostate cancer and radiotherapy from communities across West Yorkshire. They thought it was “Very important to reduce radiotherapy side effects for patients”. I heard that side effects made it difficult for some people to leave the house. It was suggested I also interview patients’ partners, to understand their point of view. Many people from these meetings wanted to join a group to help me with the project and include people from different backgrounds. They suggested we make videos together of local people talking about the project.

Throughout the project, I’ll work with my patient and public partners to design each part of the study, like making information sheets for people taking part and questions for interviews. I’ll also discuss project results with them to understand what these
mean for patients and decide how to share together what we learn. If you want to et involved please email me, Dr Fin Slevin, at mapp-rt@leeds.ac.uk.

How will we share what we learn?

I will produce regular project updates with my patient and public partners to share with support groups, charities, community groups and science fairs. After the interview study, I will organise events with patients, healthcare professionals and support
groups/charities to show videos of people talking about the research and discuss how to improve support for patients. I will present project results at scientific meetings alongside a patient to share their point of view and publish articles that everyone can read.

Updates