Funding patient support

Prostate Action recognises that there is more to beating prostate disease than laboratory work and teaching seminars. That's why we help fund support groups like the Prostate Cancer Support Federation, an umbrella organisation of over 45 local patient support groups. The funding provided by Prostate Action allows the Federation to run conferences for men and their families on all aspects of prostate cancer, including new developments in research. 

Supporting patients

Working together with the East Midlands patient support charity ProstAID we are funding the first advanced prostate cancer nurse in the UK. Based in Leicester, Nadine Harriss has been working in her role since December 2010, and helps men and their families with their very specific needs. Nadine is part of the Leicestershire County and Rutland community health service's palliative care team. The advanced prostate cancer nurse role is financed for three years. This follows on from our funding of a prostate cancer nurse specialist in 2008.

Supporting the future of research

In June 2009 as a follow up to work undertaken at the 2006 & 2008 Forums, to try and identify the top ten questions in prostate research, a project was initiated with the James Lind Alliance; The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Prostate Cancer Support Federation to set the priorities for patients and clinicians in prostate cancer, with a view to discovering the top treatment uncertainties in prostate cancer, which are listed below.

Top 11 treatment uncertainties

1. How can over-treatment for prostate cancer be prevented by identifying and excluding the treatment of harmless tumours?
2. Is there a genetic marker for prostate cancer that would be both more sensitive and more specific than PSA serum level?
3. What can be done to delay or prevent the onset of hormone independent prostate cancer?
4. Are there any dietary measures that can prevent prostate cancer or slow its progression?
5. Does serial PSA measurement in patients with prostate cancer accurately monitor disease progression?
6. Would prostate cancer screening targeted at high risk groups, i.e. those with positive family history, and ethnic minorities with higher rates, improve the outcomes of treatment in these groups?
7. Does active surveillance work for treatment of prostate cancer?
8. Is there a vaccine that can prevent prostate cancer?
9. Do variations in GP awareness of prostate cancer affect outcomes?
10. Are there any non-intrusive diagnostic tests that will identify aggressive prostate cancers whilst not identifying harmless cancers?
11. What is the effectiveness of new treatments for prostate cancer such as High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) and Cryotherapy?

Click here to read an article published in the British Medical Journal by Prostate Action CEO Emma Malcolm on the struggle to get doctors to collaborate.

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