What do patients and caregivers think about pelvic radiotherapy in prostate cancer?

What are we trying to do?

In this study, we are interested to hear from people about to undergo a treatment for prostate cancer called pelvic radiotherapy and those who have already had the treatment.

Why is this important?

Radiotherapy is a commonly used treatment for prostate cancer. Nowadays, radiotherapy is often given to lymph glands in the pelvis at the same time as the prostate itself, if this has not already been treated, because these glands might contain cancer cells. This treatment is called pelvic radiotherapy.

Pelvic radiotherapy might be a better way to treat prostate cancer, but it can cause side effects for some patients, which can affect quality of life. These side effects include bowel, urinary and sexual problems. It is important that we know more about what patients with prostate cancer think about pelvic radiotherapy and its side effects, including from people from a range of different backgrounds.

What will we do?

We are interested to hear from people about to undergo pelvic radiotherapy and those who have already had the treatment. In the interviews, for patients about to undergo pelvic radiotherapy, we will ask about how they decided to undergo this treatment. For people who have already had pelvic radiotherapy, we will also ask about the impact of the treatment. We are also inviting family members or close friends of patients to participate to hear their thoughts.

The interviews will help us to understand what we need to do to improve pelvic radiotherapy, so it causes fewer problems for patients. We will also learn what information and support patients and family members need before and after the treatment. 

How are we involving patients and the public?

We’ve talked to several groups of patients and members of the public with experience of prostate cancer and radiotherapy from communities across West Yorkshire about the study. We’ve brought together a group of patients and member of the public to help us with the study. Throughout the project, we’ll work with our patient and public partners to design each part of the study, including the information sheets for people taking part and questions for the interviews. We’ll also discuss the results of the study together to understand what these mean for patients and how we can share what we learn.

How will we share what we learn?

We’ll produce regular updates on the study with our patient and public partners to share with prostate cancer support groups, community groups, charities and science fairs. We’ll work with our patient and public partners to organise events to talk about the study, produce videos to showcase what we’ve learned and publish articles that everyone can read.