Enhancing quality of life for men with advanced prostate cancer
Professor Ananya Choudhury, ENHANCE’s lead researcher, works at the University of Manchester and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, where Jonathan is being treated. Her experience with men receiving hormone therapy has directly influenced her work.
“Patient experience has been central to the design of this trial,” Choudhury explained. “We know these drugs can be life-extending, but for many men the side effects are extremely challenging. Cases like Jonathan’s demonstrate why this trial is crucial to the future of prostate cancer care.
“Throughout the study, we will closely monitor survival and side effects, with a particular focus on fatigue and quality of life. By making treatment more tolerable, we hope more men will be able to stay on therapy for longer and gain the full benefit.”
The trial will test half-dose treatments of the hormone therapies abiraterone, enzalutamide, darolutamide and apalutamide in 1,500 patients from hospitals across the UK. Recruitment will start this month.
“ENHANCE is a patient-driven trial, shaped with the help of patient and public involvement groups,” said Choudhury. “It has the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives in a relatively short period of time and even have a global impact.”
Crucially, at least 10% of the trial’s participants will be Black men, who have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials and are often treated based on data that may be less applicable to them. Data also shows that Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer, although more evidence is needed to understand their risk of aggressive disease and the role of overdiagnosis.
The trial, which is being run jointly with University College London, will also collect tissue, blood and urine samples from participants. This will help researchers identify biomarkers that could help determine if reduced-dose treatments work better for some men than others, helping shape more personalised care in the future.
