THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK

The Prostate Cancer: Evidence of Exercise and Nutrition Trial (PrEvENT) has been ongoing in England since August 2014 and is an important and serious exploration of how diet and exercise may affect the outcomes of men who are treated for prostate cancer.

The trial was designed to determine whether men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer who are scheduled for radical prostatectomy could be recruited and randomized into a 6-month-long, interventional study of their nutrition and physical activity (see Hackshaw-McGeagh et al.). The primary goal is to see if such a study is feasible so that it could be used to inform a larger trial intended to evaluate the potential for true clinical benefit from long-term nutritional and physical activity interventions post-surgery.

Prostate Cancer International and The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink believe that trials like this are an important component of improvement of the overall care of men with prostate cancer. If Level 1 (or even Level 2 data) can be generated to support the impact of behavioral factors on quality of life among men who are treated for prostate cancer, then it would be possible to ensure that such data are built into standard guidelines for the management of the disease, which will increase pressure on physicians (and payers) to ensure that such interventions are actually recommended and followed.

A detailed trial design flow diagram can be found in Table 1 at this link, along with other information.

We now understand that the PrEvENT study was successful in enrolling > 100 men into the initial phase of the study; that the majority of these men (n = 81) were retained and randomized to the different interventions following their radical prostatectomies; and that 75/81 men (93 percent) were retained in the study over the 6-month follow-up period.

According to a “Beyond the Abstract” report on the UroToday web site:

• Data collection was complete as of December 2017.
• Initial results indicate that participants found study interventions to be feasible and acceptable.
• Other beneficial outcomes from the interventions have been identified.
• Primary and secondary data are either scheduled for publication or will be submitted for publication in due course.

There are a lot of data suggesting strongly that interventions designed to ensure good nutrition and regular physical activity are associated with higher quality outcomes for men with prostate cancer. Interventions initially studied in the PrEvENT study have included brisk walking, lycopene intake, increased fruit and vegetable intake and reduced dairy consumption.

Should larger trials be possible based on the successful completion of the PrEvENT feasibility study, we would like to think that they could include some more serious forms of exercise for some patients (e.g., yoga, structured exercise programs, etc.)

Filed under: Living with Prostate Cancer, Management, Treatment, Uncategorized | Tagged: diet, exercise, nutrition, outcome, PrEvent |