Optimisation immunotherapy clinical trials investigate ways of reducing the intensity of immunotherapy cancer treatment. This could be beneficial for patients’ quality of life. But these trials can be challenging to run, as patients may be concerned about the impact that reducing the intensity of treatment could have on the cancer.

This episode of the Trial Talk podcast focuses on the MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL’s OPTIC study, which explores how people with cancer feel about taking part in optimisation immunotherapy trials. Clinical Fellow Sophie Merrick discusses the main barriers that patients face and recommendations to address them.

Resources:
•OPTIC study page: www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/studies/all-st…/refine/optic/
•OPTIC results paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41416-024-02756-x.pdf
•REFINE podcast episode: on.soundcloud.com/Fe3C76csHkgCg2or5

For questions or feedback on the series, message us at mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk

For more information and to access the transcript: bit.ly/4c9SfAr

As a listener, your opinion is very valuable to us. Please help us to improve the podcast in future by filling in this short survey: forms.office.com/e/PjfjQ5Mn6g

Date of episode recording: 2024-06-18T00:00:00Z
Duration: 00:25:23
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Berta Terre-Torras
Guests: Sophie Merrick
Producer: Berta Terre-Torras

The MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL is committed to actively involving patients and the public in our trials. All our Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) work is overseen by our PPI Group, made up of MRC CTU staff alongside seven patient representatives, with a wide range of experience in different areas. In this episode of the Trial Talk podcast, two members of the Unit’s PPI Group, Richard Stephens and Ian Newsome, discuss what PPI means to them; how they got involved as patient representatives in clinical research; and how the MRC CTU at UCL embeds PPI into our trials.

Resources:
• Our PPI group: www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/patients-publi…our-ppi-group/
• PPI resources: www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/patients-publi…ppi-resources/
• Testing Treatments: Better Research for Better Healthcare (book): www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK66204/

For more information and to access the transcript: bit.ly/3KlKtak
For questions or feedback on the podcast series, message us at mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk
As a listener, your opinion is very valuable to us.
Please help us to improve the podcast in the future by filling in this short survey: forms.office.com/e/PjfjQ5Mn6g

Other details:

Date of episode recording: 2024-05-29T00:00:00Z
Duration: 00:34:43
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Charlotte Hartley
Guests: Ian Newsome, Richard Stephens
Producer: Charlotte Hartley

An estimand is a description of the research question a trial seeks to answer, which can help researchers better understand how their study should be designed and analysed. Estimands also provide a clear way to communicate treatment effects to different stakeholders. This episode of the Trial Talk podcast features Principal Research Fellow Brennan Kahan, exploring how triallists could benefit from using estimands. Brennan also discusses his recent paper which aims to demystify new guidance on the use of estimands.

Resources:
• The estimands framework: a primer on the ICH E9(R1): www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-076316
• 'We must let the research question drive study methods' opinion piece: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9908044/
• Estimands in cluster-randomized trials: choosing analyses that answer the right question: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9908044/

For more information and to access the transcript: bit.ly/4dazsWF

For questions or feedback on the podcast series, message us at mrcctu.engage@ucl.ac.uk

As a listener, your opinion is very valuable to us. Please help us to improve the podcast in the future by filling in this short survey: forms.office.com/e/PjfjQ5Mn6g

Date of episode recording: 2024-04-25T00:00:00Z
Duration: 00:21:29
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Charlotte Hartley
Guests: Brennan Kahan
Producer: Charlotte Hartley