DonateUrological Cancers
Urological Cancers
Urological cancers consist of renal, bladder (renal pelvis, ureter and urinary bladder) and prostate cancer. These are three different cancers with differing biology. Of these, Prostate cancer is seen in men, whilst others are seen in both sexes. Treatment for these, include immunotherapy, targeted therapies and novel antibodies.
CTRT funds research into these tumours at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (Northwood) and Lister Cancer Centre (Stevenage) with the research team led by Dr. Anand Sharma, Professor Nikhil Vasdev, Professor Paul Nathan, and Dr Salma Alam. We have a dedicated team that run all aspects of clinical trials from patient care to data management. Part of their salaries are covered by charitable funds and commercial trial income. Our patients have access to the most innovative treatments in part because of the generosity of contributors to CTRT supporting the work of our trials team.
Digistain Kidney/ Bladder Cancer Trial
Immunotherapy is the backbone of treatment of both kidney and bladder cancer. Adjuvant immunotherapy and chemotherapy is approved in these cancers. Even after surgery, these cancers have a tendency to recur. Till now, we do not have a biomarker in assessing which cancers will relapse. As a result, all patients, are offered adjuvant/ post operative treatment to minimise the risk of relapse.
We have been leading the clinical development of a new spectroscopy microscopy for these cancers, which will be able to identify high vs low risk of relapse, based on the microscopy characteristics. Dr Sharma is the chief investigator of this study, and if successful, this spectroscopy could be used for a variety of solid tumours. This has already been licensed and approved in breast cancer. Our aim is to do a pilot study in kidney and bladder cancer, leading to a large, randomised study, if results are positive.
See references below-
Prostate Cancer Study
CTRT have part funded the Prostate cancer regional disparity study, looking at the regional variation in the outcomes and disease characteristics in Prostate cancer. This is a multi-centre study, which is being done jointly with Dr Prantik Das from university of derby hospital. This study will help identify any factors leading to poor outcomes in patients with prostate cancer in different parts of UK.
See references below-