At a glance
- What the study gets you
- Health checks and monitoring — no treatment given
- Type of study
- Observational (no treatment given)
- Time in hospital
- In-person visits at study sites — visit count not specified by the sponsor
- Drug or intervention
- Not specified by the sponsor
- How long the study runs
- Study runs about 50 months (dates as stated)
- About the drug or intervention
- Not specified by the sponsor
- Patient visit burden
- Not specified by the sponsor
In plain English
This study, run by the University of Edinburgh, looks back at men who had radiotherapy for prostate cancer delivered by a machine called a linear accelerator. Researchers will use old scans, treatment records and health data to answer new questions about prostate cancer. No new treatment is given as part of this study.
Who can take part
- Radiotherapy given by a machine called a linear accelerator
- Blood test results (PSA, or prostate specific antigen) recorded regularly after radiotherapy
- At least 10 years of survival after radiotherapy
- A diagnostic CT (computerised tomography) scan taken
- A planning CT scan taken for the radiotherapy
- Radiotherapy treatment planning data available
- Health records available that show any side effects
Who may not be able to
- Did not complete the course of radiotherapy
- No PSA blood test data
- No follow-up health records available
- No imaging data available
What taking part involves
- • Not stated — ask the trial team. This study appears to use existing records and scans rather than giving treatment.
Time commitment: Not stated — ask the trial team; the study uses existing scans, treatment data and health records collected after radiotherapy.
Plain-English summary (AI-generated) from registry data. Not eligibility advice — only the trial team can confirm whether you can take part. Use the eligibility checker to see how your health profile matches this trial.
- Type of study
- Observing health over time
- Ages
- Not specified
- Who
- Male
- Number of participants
- 15,000
- Started
- 2024-07-01
- Last checked
- 2026-08
Plain English Summary
What is this study?
- • Testing a new treatment for prostate cancer
- • Clinical study - 15,000 participants
- • Nearly half of all cancer patients receive radiotherapy as part of their treatment and although it is effective at destroying cancerous lesions deep within the body, this comes at the cost of damaging healthy, or normal, tissues
Who can take part?
- • Adults
- • Diagnosed with prostate cancer
- • Male only
Where?
- • Edinburgh - University of Edinburgh
This is a simplified summary. Always discuss with your doctor before making any decisions.
About This Trial
Nearly half of all cancer patients receive radiotherapy as part of their treatment and although it is effective at destroying cancerous lesions deep within the body, this comes at the cost of damaging healthy, or normal, tissues. With 50% of cancer patients surviving for 10 years or more, these patients can be left with life-changing side effects from their radiotherapy. It is clear that more must be done to limit damage to normal healthy tissue without compromising annihilation of the tumour and curing patients. The key to this is personalising an individual's radiotherapy treatment, in other words rather than assuming that all tumours respond similarly to radiotherapy, the treatment is optimised for an individual. To date, approaches to do this have been restricted to small numbers of carefully selected patients, are inordinately expensive, and not suitable for rolling out into everyday practice across the NHS. There is however another way, namely using Artificial Intelligence (AI) combined with an individual's healthcare record. By linking together large numbers of healthcare records at a national level, combined with the power of AI, the PROSECCA project will transform radiotherapy and cancer care.
More detail
As an example of how this technology is beginning to emerge, proof of concept data from the team has shown that using AI it is possible to identify patients at increased risk of damage from radiotherapy long before they receive any radiation as part of their treatment. However, to move these AI-based approaches from the research domain into the clinic requires significant effort, which is the aim of PROSECCA study. The project will use AI to analyse healthcare records from up to 15,000 prostate cancer patients who underwent radiotherapy in Scotland. Through linkage of data obtained specifically for radiotherapy and data held within each patient's unique healthcare history it will be possible to establish new relationships between a patient's medical history and how well a patient responds to radiotherapy. By establishing what factors or information in a patient's complex healthcare record indicate that an individual may have a poor response to treatment, or an increased risk of side effects from radiation, it will be possible to identify these patients earlier than is currently possible and adapt treatment accordingly. Furthermore, identifying these important factors would improve radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer patients in the future.
How this trial compares with your answers
Answer 2 more questions to improve match
What we know so far
Still need:
- • Tell us your age for better matching
- • Tell us your sex for better matching
Preliminary match based on your answers. Full eligibility requires on-site assessment including medical history, physical exam, and lab tests. This does not guarantee enrolment.
Eligibility at a Glance
Key info
- Age: Not specified
- Who can join: Male only
Biomarkers mentioned
What the study is looking for
- ✓External beam radiotherapy delivered by a linear accelerator
- ✓Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) recorded at regular intervals after radiotherapy
- ✓Minimum of 10 year survival post-radiotherapy
- ✓Diagnostic Computerised Tomography (CT) acquired
- ✓Radiotherapy planning CT acquired
Who cannot take part
- ✗Incomplete course of radiotherapy
- ✗No PSA data
- ✗No follow-up corresponding healthcare data available
- ✗No imaging data available
See the full criteria
Where Is This Study? (1 UK site)
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom
How to Get in Touch
Bill Nailon
Sponsor contactCONTACT
Duncan McLaren
Sponsor contactCONTACT