By The Telegraph…
NHS-backed programme will give men rapid access to new treatments for the best chance of a ‘longer, healthier life’
Men with prostate cancer could get access to life-saving trials within hours under a programme to speed up access to treatment.
Half a million cancer patients and survivors will be eligible to sign up for the platform, backed by the NHS, which links patient feedback with medical records in real time.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, said the programme was part of a “medical revolution” that would match men up to trials in a matter of hours, allowing more rapid treatment.
He told The Telegraph: “I know from my own treatment that once the cancer clock starts ticking, every minute matters. This new programme will match men up to trials in hours rather than weeks, giving patients rapid access to new treatments.
“By teaming up the NHS with our country’s leading life sciences sector, and harnessing our health and care data, we can put our health service at the forefront of the medical revolution and transform care for patients.”
Mr Streeting said the scheme would use cutting-edge technology “to personalise medicine, catch sickness sooner, treat it faster and save lives”.
The Prostate Progress platform, developed by the charity Prostate Cancer Research, will securely connect outcomes reported by individual patients, such as symptoms, side effects and quality of life, with clinical NHS data for the first time.
Experts say that as well as ensuring faster access to trials, the programme will help spot side effects, create more personalised medicine and mean fewer men dying from the disease.
NHS England has selected it as the first project for a national research programme, meaning it could become the model for other types of diseases.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men with 55,000 diagnoses and 12,000 deaths annually.
The platform will create a large, anonymous pool of real-world information for researchers and clinicians, meaning men can be recruited far more quickly for new trials.
The Telegraph is campaigning for the introduction of targeted screening, so those most at risk, such as black men and those with a family history of disease, are offered PSA tests.
The new platform will enable researchers to track the rollout of targeted screening, if it gets the green light, to assess its impact in detail.
So far, about 4,000 men with prostate cancer have been signed up to the pilot programme, across the North West, West Midlands and London, with a target to enrol 40,000 men in the next year, making it the largest platform of its kind.
The programme has been backed by NHS England and will be scaled up across England over the next year, with 9 out of 11 areas already signed up.
Any prostate cancer patient or survivor can now join the patient portal, allowing them to apply for clinical trials and see how their medical data compare with national trends.
The link-up of the programme with NHS data will enable researchers to go further, to unlock a wealth of information about how patients respond to different treatments.
In the next phase, starting this autumn, the platform will be linked to bio-banked tissue samples, unlocking the potential for personalised medicine, and to AI-enabled tools which can analyse data from images, genomic data, wearable technology and hospital correspondence.
The programme also aims to expose inequalities in care, to improve access for all age groups, ethnic groups and areas.
Oliver Kemp, chief executive of Prostate Cancer Research, said: “With Prostate Progress we’re turning the UK’s unparalleled health data into a real-time engine for research and care.
“For the first time, men’s own reports of how prostate cancer affects their daily lives are being securely linked to their NHS records, creating a single, anonymised resource.
“This can match patients to clinical trials in a matter of hours or days instead of weeks or months. It can also help to expose and fix the inequalities that still cost far too many lives, and give scientists the evidence they need to develop kinder, more precise treatments.
The PSA test for prostate cancer – everything you need to know “Prostate Progress shows what’s possible when patients, the NHS and charities pool their strengths: together, we can stop needless delays and give every man the best chance of a longer, healthier life.”
Prof Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: “This unique programme will have patients at its heart, enabling faster access to trials and combining clinical data with patients’ real-life experiences to help redefine how we treat prostate cancer – a really exciting development.
“Prostate Progress is the first of a series of groundbreaking projects to support innovative and secure uses of NHS and health data to help improve care and save lives.”