Pioneering study could improve life for prostate cancer sufferers
A PIONEERING £2.5m study which Yorkshire academics have been working towards for more than a decade will find out how a new exercise programme could improve the lives of men suffering with prostate cancer.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, Sheffield Hallam University and not-for-profit healthcare provider Nuffield Health will evaluate the effect of a supported exercise programme on the quality of life (QoL) and side effects experienced by men who have undergone medical or surgical castration in their treatment for the cancer. Funded by a £2.5m award from the National Institute for Health Research and developed in partnership with patients, the STAMINA trial will be testing whether it can counter the problems caused by androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).
Academic lead Professor Liam Bourke, of Sheffield Hallam University, said: “This is one of the largest studies of its kind anywhere in the world – it is designed to test fundamentally new ideas about reducing the treatment burden in men with prostate cancer.”
ADT is the standard treatment for managing advanced prostate cancer, which half of all men living with it will be treated with.
But it has been associated with significant side effects including fatigue, depression, sexual dysfunction, impairment of memory and concentration, increased fat mass and loss of muscle strength.
ADT also increases the risk of developing bone fractures, diabetes and heart and circulatory problems, according to Nuffield Health.
National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence guidance recommends 12 weeks of supervised exercise to combat loss in QoL caused by ADT, but few treatment centres are able to support this as a core part of NHS services. Using STAMINA (Supported exercise training for men with prostate cancer on androgen deprivation therapy), NHS staff will be able to prescribe a 12-month exercise programme with participants.
It will be individually-tailored and delivered free of charge by Nuffield Health via their national network of fitness and wellbeing clubs. Ultimately, the five-year trial will involve around 1,000 men on ADT in around 40 NHS sites, which will be randomised.
Study chief investigator and consultant urological surgeon at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Professor Derek Rosario, said: “We have been working in this area for over 10 years now. We have shown that specific targeted exercise training significantly reduces many of the adverse effects caused by ADT as well as improving quality of life in these men.
“Unless the intervention is embedded within the cancer care of the man and ongoing support is provided though, participation dwindles and the benefits are lost.”