The Restore study is a new, NIH/NCI-funded, clinical trial designed to explore what will help gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (collectively, MsM) to recover urinary, sexual, and erectile function after treatment for prostate cancer.
The trial is being conducted by researchers from Malecare and the University of Minnesota. For more information about this trial, you can visit the core trial information on the ClinicalTrials.gov web site or you can go to trial “onboarding” information on the Malecare web site. However, the study is performed remotely. You can participate if you live anywhere in the USA.
There have been and are numerous studies focused on restoration and rehabilitation of urinary and sexual function in heterosexual men. However, the findings from these studies may not, necessarily, be generalizable to MsM with prostate cancer.
The Restore study trial has been designed to identify whether a structured rehabilitation program is effective in addressing the major sexual and urinary problems caused by prostate cancer treatment among MsM. The research team hopes that study will improve sexual and urinary rehabilitation for such patients by creating an evidence-based set of interventions.
Some participants in the Restore trial will receive free Viagra and free vacuum pumps. Everyone who completes the
study will receive $200.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: bisexual, erectile, function, gay, MSM, rehabilitation, restoration, sexual, urinary |
THE "NEW" PROSTATE CANCER INFOLINK 
It would appear, at least to this mentor of men diagnosed with prostate cancer and their caregivers, that treatment would be similar to that for all men. What may be more important is recognizing psychological issues the MsM man and his MsM partner may be experiencing that results with most men diagnosed with prostate cancer, but may be more prevalent for MsM men. Counseling is lacking regarding this issue for most men and their caregivers and, we would hope, will also be addressed in trials such as this. Malecare has made great strides in this regard, but even more must be done.
Hi Maack1. Great to hear from you and to read your comment!
Contemporary restorative treatment for erectile functioning and urinary incontinence after prostate cancer treatment is based on studies that did not investigate the unique challenges, needs, and desires of men who have sex with men (MsM). Our clinical trial is the second part of our NIH/NCI funded project called, RESTORE. The first “part” conducted qualitative interviews with several dozen MsM. We learned that current treatments are inadequate for MsM. You can search for the many peer-reviewed papers that resulted from that work.
We then spent a bit over a year developing a modality, specific to men who have sex with men, which we are testing with 386 men in this second part of RESTORE.
Your appreciation of the psycho-social needs of MsM diagnosed with prostate cancer is spot on. Malecare pioneered that field and — you are correct — Malecare and many other clinicians and researchers are working ever harder to address that need for care.
Good morning. I am currently involved in this study. Only joined a few weeks ago. I am currently in Michigan to sell a property … home is Florida. All my info is in Florida. I’m trying to get the site info or web address to access my daily log. I’m doing things every day and I want to log them. I hope you can help … Thank you.
Dear KWC:
You should probably contact one of the study coordinators at the University of Minnesota directly:
— Chris J Hoefer (612-625-4799; hoefer@umn.edu)
— Gudrun Kilian (612-626-8148; kilian@umn.edu)
I found the link. … Thank you
Our Sitemaster is correct. Please contact Chris at hoefer@umn.edu. He is the study manager. You may think, why doesn’t this guy (me) help me right now? So, in studies like this, the investigators, like me, are blinded from participants’ identifying information.