A study looking at giving men with prostate cancer a DVD/video on treatment for prostate cancer and the possibility of a study comparing 2 different treatments for prostate cancer (SABRE1)

The trial team found that they couldn’t recruit enough men to compare information about prostate cancer treatment and then compare the treatments they had.  

There were 2 steps to this trial. It was a randomised trial. In both steps the men were put into groups by a computer. Neither they nor their doctor could choose which group they were in.

In the 1st step the groups were those who had

• Treatment information on a DVD/video and in written form
• Written information only

In the 2nd step the men were randomised to have a radical prostatectomy or brachytherapy.

The team hoped to recruit 400 men. After 2 years the trial had recruited 30 men into the 1st step (15 men in each group). And 4 of these 30 men continued on to the 2nd step.

There were 2 main reasons men gave for not wanting to take part in trial. The reasons were

• That they wanted to choose their treatment
• Wanting to have their prostate cancer actively monitored instead of having treatment straight away

When the trial steering committee reviewed the progress of the trial, they decided to close it early due to poor recruitment.

The trial team concluded that it wasn’t possible to do a trial for men with prostate cancer using this 2 step recruitment approach.     

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.