A new observational study in prostate cancer run by the CR UK & UCL Cancer Trials Centre opened at UCLH this month.
PARADIGM will recruit patients with newly diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer across 12 centres in the UK. The aim of the study is to see if detecting plasma tumour DNA (ptDNA) in a patient's blood sample after 2 cycles of standard treatment is associated with a worse clinical outcome. The study hopes to recruit 170 patients over an 18 month period.
Chief investigator Gert Attard remarked: 'To continue building on the recent improvements in the treatment of prostate cancer patients who are starting androgen deprivation therapy, we need a test that tells us with accuracy and in real-time whether a cancer is growing or responding to treatment. Plasma DNA holds promise to do this and could lead to a paradigm shift in how we manage this disease. Our trial aims to show our plasma DNA test distinguishes men whose treatment is working from those who require a change.'
Recruitment will continue until March 2021. For more details, see the
trial webpage.