Join our STAMPEDE Twitter Q&A – Research and Treatment to #BeatProstateCancer

23 Oct 2017

On Wednesday 1 November 2017, we'll be running a Twitter Q&A session about the STAMPEDE trial - with the hashtag #BeatProstateCancer.

The purpose of the Twitter Q&A is to raise awareness of prostate cancer research. We hope to highlight how the STAMPEDE trial is improving the way in which prostate cancer is managed, enabling men to live longer and enjoy a better quality of life.

Prostate cancer accounts for around one fifth of all male cancers. In the UK there are around 47,000 new cases each year and around 10,800 deaths. Most men with prostate cancer are given hormone therapy and this is often effective for a short time at stopping the tumour growing. However in most cases over time the tumour will start to grow again.

The aim of this trial is to try to prevent the tumour re-growth by adding other treatment to the hormone therapy. STAMPEDE is testing several new treatments, compared to the standard treatment used for prostate cancer.

So far, STAMPEDE has released results from tests of the following new treatments:

          A. Standard treatment (long-term hormone treatment, with radiotherapy for some men)
          B. Standard treatment plus zoledronic acid (a drug used to reduce bone problems in men whose cancer has spread to their bones)
          C. Standard treatment plus docetaxel (a chemotherapy drug)
          D. Standard treatment plus celecoxib (an anti-inflammatory drug)
          E. Standard treatment plus zoledronic acid and docetaxel
          F. Standard treatment plus zoledronic acid and celecoxib
          G. Standard treatment plus abiraterone

There are a number of other approaches that are also being tested, and have not yet had results:

          H. Standard treatment plus radiotherapy to the prostate for men whose disease has spread to distant parts of their body
          J. Standard treatment plus enzalutamide and abiraterone
          K. Standard treatment plus metformin (a drug that is used to treat diabetes)
          L. An alternative form of hormone therapy, given via patches rather than injections (transdermal oestradiol)

We've got a panel of experts ready and waiting to answer your questions, and to hear your experiences, or thoughts, on prostate cancer research and treatment.

Our panel:

Matthew Hobbs, Deputy Director of Research, Prostate Cancer UK (PCUK)

Matthew is the Deputy Director of Research at PCUK. His role involves making sure PCUK fund the research that has the best chance of making a difference to men affected by prostate cancer, and growing the amount they have to spend on research, and the speed that research makes a difference for men.

Professor Nicholas James, Chief Investigator, STAMPEDE Trial

Professor James is Consultant in Clinical Oncology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and Professor of Clinical Oncology at the University of Birmingham. Prof James is internationally renowned for his work in Urological Cancer, particularly on the ground-breaking STAMPEDE trial which has been used to evaluate, to date, 10 different therapies for advanced prostate cancer in more than 9000 men.

David Matheson, Patient Representative, STAMPEDE Trial

Spouse of one, father of three, grandfather of four, David is an educationist, teacher and researcher. He is a volunteer speaker for PCUK, and is one of the patient representatives for the STAMPEDE Trial.

Matt Sydes, Reader in Clinical Trials, MRC CTU at UCL

Matt Sydes is a statistician and trialist at MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL. He has been involved in the design, conduct and analysis of STAMPEDE from the start of discussions. He is very keen to share the practical lessons from the trials so that other people might be encouraged to do similar. He continues to be amazed at just how the UK clinical community has engaged in the trial.

How to get involved!

Our panellists will be ready to answer questions from 1.15 pm until 2.00pm on Wednesday 1 November (GMT).

You can tweet within this 45 minute slot, or tweet your question before the session begins if you prefer. If you would like to participate but are not on Twitter, you can also email us your questions in advance.

To ask a question, just tweet using the hashtag #BeatProstateCancer. One of our panel will then reply to you from the @MRCCTU account.

As we have more than one panel member for our Q&A, the person who is answering your question will put their initials at the start of their tweet, so you know who is talking.

As well as answering your questions, we're also very interested to hear what you think - so if you want to contribute, tweet using the #BeatProstateCancer hashtag.

We will post a summary of the Q&A session on our website after the event, so even if you are not a Twitter user you can still see what was said.

Further information:

@MRCCTU Twitter page