POWER (Partial or Whole gland for Erections)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Randomized trial for the evaluation of erectile dysfunction after whole or partial gland prostate brachytherapy
IRAS ID
265794
Contact name
Peter Hoskin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Academic Medical Centre (Amsterdam UMC)
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NTR7271/NL7073, The Netherlands Trial Register www.trialregister.nl
Duration of Study in the UK
7 years, 11 months, 28 days
Research summary
One of the common treatments for early prostate cancer is brachytherapy. This delivers radiation directly into the prostate gland by placing radioactive sources within the gland. It is therefore entirely feasible to treat only part of the gland by placing sources in only the region to be targeted.
A common and distressing side effect of any treatment for prostate cancer is erectile dysfunction. It is proposed that treating only part of the prostate gland may help men keep their sexual function by avoiding the regions important for achieving erection. This study will try to answer this question. We will invite men with early prostate cancer, confined to one half of the prostate and suitable for brachytherapy, to be assigned to one of two groups. The first group will receive usual brachytherapy to the whole prostate gland. The second group will receive treatment only to the half of the prostate that contains cancer. We will then find out whether fewer patients in the group with only part of the prostate gland treated have less erectile dysfunction. In addition we will assess long term bladder and bowel side effects which may also be reduced. Participation in the study will last for 5 years. With three years accrual, the study will take 8 years and will involve a total of 254 men across 17 countries.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NW/0013
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jan 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion