A ‘DELIGHTED’ Rugby resident who has taken part in a trial of new radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer patients has praised the procedure as ‘life-changing’.
Willy Goldschmidt is among a group of patients from University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust who have taken part in the international trial – initial data from which has offered new hope to tens of thousands of prostate cancer patients.
Results show that higher doses of targeted radiotherapy given each day over five days – called Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) – has a high equivalent cure rate compared with the standard four-week course.
Mr Goldschmidt, the President of the Friends of St Cross Hospital charity, said being given the opportunity to receive the condensed radiotherapy schedule was ‘life-changing’.
He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017. Following his diagnosis, he met with consultant urologist Mr Donald MacDonald, who presented him with two curative options: surgery or radiotherapy.
Mr Goldschmidt said: “I was introduced to the SBRT trial, offering the option of a condensed radiotherapy schedule – five treatments over two weeks instead of the standard 20 over four weeks.
“The idea of a condensed radiotherapy schedule sounded appealing, with fewer hospital visits and no invasive surgery to recover from. I accepted the offer, and when I found out I had been randomly selected to the SBRT arm of the trial I was delighted.
“The shorter treatment schedule had minimal impact on my daily life, and I was able to carry on with my day-to-day activities as normal. I felt very well supported throughout the process and was reassured by the clinical staff at every stage of the treatment.
“Being part of the trial means I still have follow-up checks, and my latest follow up in October came back with an all-clear result. I’m now eight years on from my initial diagnosis and treatment, and it’s safe to say the treatment and follow up monitoring has been life-changing for me in that it has removed any concerns I might have had about this potentially lethal disease.
“I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to take part in a trial that could change prostate cancer treatment for others. I now volunteer as a Research Champion for the Trust and fully advocate patients taking part in research trials.”
The trials aimed to establish the new five-fraction SBRT treatment as the standard for localised prostate cancer.
Andrew Chan, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at UHCW NHS Trust, says data from the trial, which has involved more than 870 prostate cancer patients across the world, is very encouraging.
He said: “This is a pivotal, practice-changing result because it means that for this highly prevalent cancer we are able to reduce radiotherapy treatment to only a quarter of the current standard – from 20 days to five days – with the same clinical benefits.
“That would be such a game-changer for both patients and for the NHS in terms of less visits to hospital, so patients can return to their usual activities quicker than normal, and it generates more capacity for treatment.
“This contemporary data with such a high cure rate is a combination of the advances in radiotherapy and the quality assurance that ensures our radiotherapy planning and image guidance are world class. These have all been a credit to our clinicians and radiotherapy team members.
“Many patients from this Trust were recruited to this trial and this has been a way of establishing the evidence we need to support SBRT in prostate cancer. We have people who have benefited from this treatment and the first patient, who was treated in 2016, is doing very well.
“SBRT is now our standard treatment for men with low risk and low-intermediate risk prostate cancer not requiring concurrent hormone therapy.”
Prostate cancer is the number one cancer in males, with more than 55,000 men diagnosed with the disease in the UK each year.
