Trial Talk: Recent Episodes
UCL Minds
In this new series of the Trial Talk podcast, we will be exploring a broad range of studies that we carry on and the people behind the research. From what influences participant satisfaction with how trial results are shared to learning about the latest trials in multiple sclerosis and neonatal sepsis.
STAMPEDE is a long-running trial in advanced prostate cancer, in which nearly 12,000 men have taken part. Thanks to its multi-arm multi-stage platform design, STAMPEDE has tested many different treatments and directly led to improvements in the standard of prostate cancer care several times. This Trial Talk podcast mini-series will explore the trial’s journey from its inception in the early 2000s to the end of patient recruitment in March 2023.
In the final part, Max Parmar and Nick James look back over the trial’s impact on clinical practice and platform trial design, and look forward to STAMPEDE2 and their hopes for the future of prostate cancer research.
Further information is available on the STAMPEDE study page at www.mrcctu.ac.uk
For questions or feedback on the series, message us at mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk
For more information and to access the transcript: bit.ly/3OQWhV8
As a listener, your opinion is very valuable to us. Please help us to improve the podcast in future by filling in this short survey: forms.office.com/e/PjfjQ5Mn6g
Date of episode recording: 2023-08-24
Duration: 00:23:23
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Charlotte Hartley
Guests: Max Parmar, Nick James
Producer: Charlotte Hartley
STAMPEDE is a long-running trial in advanced prostate cancer, in which nearly 12,000 men have taken part. Thanks to its multi-arm multi-stage platform design, STAMPEDE has tested many different treatments and directly led to improvements in the standard of prostate cancer care several times. This Trial Talk podcast mini-series will explore the trial’s journey from its inception in the early 2000s to the end of patient recruitment in March 2023. Part 2 is about patient and public involvement (PPI) in the trial. David Matheson, a Reader at the University of Wolverhampton and STAMPEDE patient representative, shares his insight into the work this entails and why it is so important to champion the voices of patients.
We also hear about PPI from the perspective of trial researchers, Max Parmar and Nick James. - Further information is available on the STAMPEDE study page at www.mrcctu.ac.uk For questions or feedback on the series, message us at mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk
For more information and to access the transcript: bit.ly/3OQWhV8
As a listener, your opinion is very valuable to us. Please help us to improve the podcast in future by filling in this short survey: forms.office.com/e/PjfjQ5Mn6g
Date of episode recording: 2023-08-17
Duration: 00:18:00
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Charlotte Hartley
Guests: David Matheson, Max Parmar, Nick James
Producer: Charlotte Hartley
STAMPEDE is a long-running trial in advanced prostate cancer, in which nearly 12,000 men have taken part. Thanks to its multi-arm multi-stage platform design, STAMPEDE has tested many different treatments and directly led to improvements in the standard of prostate cancer care several times. This Trial Talk podcast mini-series will explore the trial’s journey from its inception in the early 2000s to the end of patient recruitment in March 2023. Part 1 covers the landscape of prostate cancer treatment before STAMPEDE, as well how the trial was designed, featuring two researchers who lead the methodological and clinical sides of the trial: Max Parmar, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology and Director of the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL and UCL's Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology, and Nick James, Professor of Prostate and Bladder Cancer Research at the Institute of Cancer Research. Further information is available on the STAMPEDE study page at www.mrcctu.ac.uk For questions or feedback on the series, message us at mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk
For more information and to access the transcript: bit.ly/3OQWhV8
As a listener, your opinion is very valuable to us. Please help us to improve the podcast in future by filling in this short survey: forms.office.com/e/PjfjQ5Mn6g
Date of episode recording: 2023-08-10
Duration: 00:18:03
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Charlotte Hartley
Guests: Max Parmar, Nick James
Producer: Charlotte Hartley
Immunotherapy drugs fight cancer by helping the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells. These drugs have revolutionised cancer treatment over the last decade, improving survival for many people with different types of cancer. However, researchers are still unsure of the best way to give immunotherapy, which can come with unpredictable side effects.
In this episode, Clinical Fellow Sophie Merrick discusses how the REFINE trial hopes to address this problem, by testing if giving immunotherapy less frequently can still treat the cancer effectively, whilst improving the quality of life for patients, reducing side effects and costs.
For more information and to access the transcript: www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-stories/2023/july/new-podcast-episode-the-refine-trial-how-can-we-improve-the-way-we-give-cancer-immunotherapy/
Date of episode recording: 2023-04-19
Duration: 00:16:57
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Berta Terre-Torras
Guests: Sophie Merrick
Producer: Berta Terre-Torras
Running a clinical trial means collecting a lot of data from the trial participants. But some of this data might be collected and stored in healthcare systems, as well as in clinical trial case report forms. What if we could avoid this doubling up, save time and resources, improve recruitment and reduce missing data? In this episode we explore the opportunities and challenges of using healthcare systems data in clinical trials, with Dr Macey Murray and Professor Matt Sydes. Resources: British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre webinar (Macey Murray) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzQeMUUG7tQ How to get your own crocheted duck - twitter.com/drmakerbaker/status…22224971419665?s=20 For more questions or feedback on the series, contact us at mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk For more information and access to the transcript of this episode: bit.ly/3NKtKjs
Date of episode recording: 2023-06-26
Duration: 00:25:39
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Charlotte Hartley
Guests: Macey Murray, Matt Sydes
Producer: Charlotte Hartley
Neonatal sepsis is a life-threatening infection that affects up to 3 million babies per year globally. In an effort to identify better treatments, the NeoSep1 clinical trial evaluates new antibiotic combinations for newborn babies with sepsis. To learn more about the trial, we speak to Adrie Bekker and Cristina Obiero, principal investigators of the trial in South Africa and Kenya, Reenu Thomas, a neonatologist from South Africa, and Francesca Schiavone, the clinical project manager of the NeoSep1 trial in London.
For more information and to access the transcript: https://bit.ly/3MSKkw5
Date of episode recording: 2022-11-24
Duration: 00:21:13
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Berta Terre-Torras
Guests: Reenu Thomas; Adrie Bekker; Cristina Obiero; Francesca Schiavone
Producer: Berta Terre-Torras
In this episode, we talk to Annabelle South about the Show RESPECT study, which looked at the best ways to share trial results with participants in the context of an ovarian cancer trial. This is part 2 of “Sharing results of clinical trials with participants”.
Here, we discuss the challenges and barriers of sharing trial results with participants, as we talk about the main results of the study. In part 1, we explored why sharing results with participants is important.
For more information and to access the transcript: https://www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-stories/2022/november/new-podcast-episode-sharing-results-of-clinical-trials-with-participants-part-2/
Clinical trials depend on people volunteering to take part, often at increased risk or inconvenience. Previous research shows that most trial participants want to know what the trial eventually finds, but that many never get to find this out.
In this episode we explore why sharing results with participants is important, based on findings from the Show RESPECT study (published doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003798 )
In this episode, we talk to Dr Ajay Aggarwal about an exciting new study to evaluate if artificial intelligence can transform the way we plan radiotherapy in low- and middle-income countries. The study is called ARCHERY (“Artificial Intelligence based radiotherapy treatment planning for Cervical, Head and Neck and Prostate cancer”).
For questions or feedback on the series, message us on mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk
For more information and to access the transcript: www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-stories/2022/october/trial-talk-podcast-launches-with-episode-on-artificial-intelligence-for-planning-radiotherapy-treatment/