Impact: What We've Achieved
Our Research Impact pages showcase how ideas we fund grow into real-world advances — from early lab work to clinical trials that bring new diagnostics and treatments closer to helping men.
We'll be using this thread to share the latest content from our Impact Pages so follow the conversation or keep an eye out for new updates!
This month's feature: Targeting resistant prostate cancer with precision radiotherapy
For many men with advanced prostate cancer, hormone therapy can keep the cancer under control for years. But when one or two areas of cancer stop responding and start growing again, chemotherapy is often the next step, bringing side effects that can affect daily life and wellbeing.
Thanks to your support, we funded the TRAP clinical trial, led by Dr Alison Tree at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. The trial tested whether stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), a highly targeted form of radiotherapy, could treat small areas of cancer that had become resistant to hormone therapy.
To help explain SBRT, think of it like shining several spotlights on a small area of cancer. Each light on its own isn't very strong, but together they deliver a stronger effect exactly where it's needed. In the same way, SBRT uses several low-dose beams of radiation from different angles to target small areas of cancer while protecting the healthy tissue around them.
The trial showed that SBRT could slow cancer growth and delay the need for chemotherapy, helping men maintain their quality of life for longer. Larger studies are now underway to find out whether even more men could benefit from this treatment approach.
Read more here: Targeting resistant prostate cancer with precision radiotherapy