RM Magazine - autumn 2012 - The Royal Marsden

hospiTal news
The Royal MaRsden leads
inTeRnaTional CybeRKnife TRial
T
he Royal marsden is
leading a new study
on the benefits of
CyberKnife treatment.
The Prostate advances in
Comparative evidence (PaCe)
study, an international, multicentre,
randomised study, will
compare CyberKnife stereotactic
body radiotherapy (SBRT) with
manual laparoscopic/robotic
surgery and conventionally
fractionated intensity-modulated
radiation therapy (imRT) for
the treatment of localised
prostate cancer.
The current accepted
standards of treatment are
surgery and radiotherapy; the
PaCe study aims to establish
if CyberKnife is equivalent to,
or better than, this in terms of
the treatment of prostate cancer
and the impact on the patient’s
quality of life. This will enable
clinicians and patients to make
informed decisions about their
treatment based on the highest
level of clinical evidence.
The PaCe study has been
created by a consortium of
leading academic centres in
europe and the USa. These
include mount Vernon Cancer
Centre, an academic partner
of The Royal marsden; Centre
Oscar Lambret in France;
Charité – Universitätsmedizin in
germany; erasmus mC-Daniel
den Hoed Cancer Centre in the
netherlands; and Beth israel
Deaconess medical Center,
Boston, and genesis Healthcare
Partners, San Diego, in the USa.
The trial comprises two
parallel randomised arms:
◆ candidates for surgery, either
by clinician recommendation or
patient choice, are randomised
to either laparoscopic
prostatectomy (performed
manually or through robotic
assistance using da Vinci S)
or CyberKnife prostate SBRT;
◆ non-surgical candidates
or patients who refuse
surgery will be randomised
to either CyberKnife prostate
The goal of the PACE
study is to create
data needed to
compare outcomes
Dr nick van as, consultant clinical
oncologist, the royal marsDen
SBRT or conventionally
fractionated imRT.
Dr nick van as, Consultant
Clinical Oncologist at The
Royal marsden and Chief
investigator for the PaCe trial,
said: “it is great to be leading
this international trial at The
Royal marsden. We hope it
will show that CyberKnife can
offer equivalent outcomes to
conventional treatments but
in a significantly shorter time
and with fewer side effects.
“The PaCe study will gather
the data needed to compare
outcomes of treatment with
CyberKnife prostate SBRT to
those of surgery and imRT,
which are the accepted standard
treatments for organ-confined
prostate cancer, to allow informed
treatment decisions to be made.”
04 RM magazine