Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurses improving quality of care for cancer patients

Prostate cancer can take a significant toll on all areas of life – including an individual’s physical and mental health, and their relationships.

This is why the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) has nearly 90 Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurses and Telenurses situated in hospitals and cancer care centres across the country, providing on-the-ground specialist support to help patients, and their families, navigate the unfamiliar journey.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian men, with nearly 17,000 men newly diagnosed each year.

PCFA’s Director of Nursing Programs, Adjunct Prof Sally Sara, said having the support of a specialist nurse could vastly improve quality of life and survivorship outcomes for men impacted by the disease.

“From the point of diagnosis, our nurses offer expert education and information about treatment plans, referrals to services both in the hospital and community, and provide an ongoing point of contact and support for men and families,” she said.

“It’s common for patients to struggle with understanding their treatment options and accessing evidence-based information about the pros and cons of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment or hormone therapy. “But having access to this is incredibly important and gives men greater confidence that they can navigate the challenges of prostate cancer.

“Our research confirms that men who get support from our Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurses and Telenurses are better able to manage their diagnosis and navigate the health system.”

Adjunct Prof Sara said with one in five men with prostate cancer experiencing long-term anxiety and depression, specialist nurses are there to ensure no one goes through a diagnosis alone.

Australia’s only Prostate Cancer Specialist Nursing Service was first launched by PCFA in 2012 and has since expanded from 12 nurses to around 90 nurses.

In early 2021, the charity also launched the nation’s first Prostate Cancer Specialist Telenursing Service, further improving accessibility to support.

ADJUNCT PROF SALLY SARA To find out more, or connect with a nurse, phone Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia on 1800 22 00 99, or visit www.pcfa.org.au.

Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurses provide:

• Expert nursing advice during diagnosis, treatment, and recovery • Connection to local prostate cancer services

• Access to local support groups • Care and support for partners and families • Help with managing treatment sideeffects, such as erectile dysfunction and incontinence.

Education and innovation

International Nurses Day

International Nurses Day is celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth.

The theme for 2021 was Nurses: A Voice to Lead – A vision for future healthcare. In 2021, we seek to show how nursing will look into the future as well as how the profession will transform the next stage of healthcare.

ANZUP nurses lead the way and support clinical trials research, transforming the next stage of healthcare.

ANZUP thanks all nurses for the extraordinary contribution they make every day.

International Clinical Trials Day

May 20th marked International Clinical Trials Day, an opportunity to celebrate those who strive to find answers to the tough clinical questions. The improvements in health outcomes as a result of clinical trials are momentous, enabling the development of new interventions, helping to raise standards of treatment, and – crucially - benefiting patients by enabling faster access to the latest treatment.

Clinical trials hail as far back as the Old Testament. Daniel’s subscription to a diet of pulses and water had left him fit and healthy, whilst his companions, subsisting on meat and wine (at the recommendation of King Nebuchadnezzar II), fell ill. It was this discovery, the isolation of diet as the cause for poor health, that many deem the first clinical trial.

Most famously however, was Dr. James Lind’s discovery aboard the HMS Salisbury on this day in 1747, which is widely recognised as the first true clinical trial. Whilst working as a naval surgeon at sea, Dr. James Lind acted on a hunch that the humble citrus fruit could cure scurvy.

He isolated six pairs of scurvied seamen, administering a different remedy to each. Lind’s experiment proved his instinct was correct, providing evidence that there was a clear link between the introduction of oranges and lemons into the diet of seamen, and scurvy prevention. Lind’s discovery revolutionised modern medicine and paved the way for clinical trials to come.

Today (very much on dry land) clinical trials have evolved into procedures focusing on patient safety and requiring informed consent from all participants. ANZUP’s clinical trials bring together all of the professional disciplines and groups involved in researching and treating below the belt cancers to identify gaps in evidence and areas of clinical need.

We thank all ANZUP members for their dedication to finding answers to clinical questions, and to all the patients who participate in clinical trials. We celebrate them for their commitment to improving health outcomes for themselves and all those affected by testicular, bladder, kidney, penile and prostate cancers.

Cancer Trials Ireland, Cancer Retreat

On Friday 21st May Cancer Trials Ireland hosted Ireland’s inaugural Cancer Retreat – a virtual event where the cancer clinical trials community could meet at a watershed moment for cancer trials in Ireland.

Why a watershed moment? Two main reasons.

First, in Ireland we are entering a new funding model, and cycle, for state-funded cancer trials in 2022. The Irish government, through the Health Research Board, has mandated the introduction of ‘clusters’ (re-organised trial sites) and the inclusion of academic partners (universities) in ‘cluster’ and ‘network’ grant applications. As such, Cancer Trials Ireland joined with the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland (RCSI) to apply for grant funding as the Cancer Clinical Trials Network.

These application processes signalled a change in how the Network (Cancer Trials Ireland) and the trial sites (clusters) would work together from 2022, and that alone merited discussion.

The second reason is, of course, the pandemic. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on cancer services in Ireland, just as it has around the world. So how could and should we, as a community, respond – both in the services we provide for patients, and as a voice within the health system.

The day rolled out via a publish session first – with three panels – followed by two members-only sessions (including breakout groups) around 1) Our Disease Specific Sub-Group meetings (how we as a network involve and collaborate with investigators in Ireland) and 2) Trial logistics – accrual, feasibility, trial complexity, the upcoming EU Clinical Trials Regulation. The Retreat, or rather most of its participants, also had to contend with a Ransomware attack that effectively shut down emails for the Irish health system – a crisis that is ongoing at the time of writing. Nevertheless, the community rallied and showed great commitment to re-register for the Retreat through personal email addresses and attend the event in whatever capacity they could.

More than 250 people attended the opening session, which included a panel discussion featuring Profession Ian Davis, the chair of ANZUP Cancer Trials Group.

Prof Davis spoke as part of a panel discussing “ambition for cancer trials in Ireland”, along with the head of the Irish Health Research Board, the CEO Irish Cancer Society (the largest patient organisation in the country) and an industry body representative, Roisin Molloy (IPHA / Merck).

Responding to a question about why ANZUP chooses to collaborate with Cancer Trials Ireland, Prof Davis said it was because the organisations share goals, vision and commitment for solving problems.

“Our mission is very much the same – we’re here to improve outcomes for cancer patients, and we were looking for partners in that part of the world that would enable us to move into the UK and Europe. We found Cancer Trials Ireland was a highly accomplished organisation that worked in a very similar way to ourselves in ANZUP”, said Prof Davis.