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The University of Southampton
Psychology

Research project: PROstate ACTIVE Surveillance support

Currently Active: 
Yes

This study is now complete.  

Many men diagnosed with prostate cancer are now having their disease managed by active surveillance (AS). This involves withholding of radical treatments (radiotherapy, surgery) in favour of monitoring disease progression with regular blood tests and biopsies, as research has shown no survival benefit to radical treatment. However, patients on AS experience over three times the incidence of anxiety and twice the incidence of depression of the general population of over 65's in the UK. Distress is the most common predictor of men on AS transferring to radical treatment when there is no clinical benefit in doing so. This project is developing and testing a group-based educational support intervention (three group sessions plus a website) for men diagnosed with prostate cancer being managed by active surveillance, in order to assess its acceptability among the target population, in preparation for use in a pragmatic trial.

The recommended method of treatment for men diagnosed with slow-growing, localised prostate cancer is active surveillance (AS). However, anxiety and depression are the most common predictors of men on AS transferring to radical treatment with no clinical benefit. Interventions helping men on AS manage emotional distress are therefore needed.

Group-based support programmes are an effective means of helping patients with cancer manage their survivorship, symptoms and psychological distress. There is evidence that such approaches may be effective for men with prostate cancer. Qualitative interviews were carried out with men on AS to determine what kind of support they wanted.


The primary aim of this project is to develop and test a group-based educational support intervention (three group sessions plus a website) for men diagnosed with prostate cancer being managed by AS.


Duration: Feb 2013 - Feb 2014
Funder: NIHR National School for Primary Care Research

Related research groups

Primary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education
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