Trial Talk

Immunotherapy drugs fight cancer by helping the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells. These drugs have revolutionised cancer treatment over the last decade, improving survival for many people with different types of cancer. However, researchers are still unsure of the best way to give immunotherapy, which can come with unpredictable side effects. 

In this episode, Clinical Fellow Sophie Merrick discusses how the REFINE trial hopes to address this problem, by testing if giving immunotherapy less frequently can still treat the cancer effectively, whilst improving the quality of life for patients, reducing side effects and costs. 

For more information and to access the transcript: www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-stories/2023/july/new-podcast-episode-the-refine-trial-how-can-we-improve-the-way-we-give-cancer-immunotherapy/

Date of episode recording: 2023-04-19
Duration: 00:16:57
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Berta Terre-Torras
Guests: Sophie Merrick
Producer: Berta Terre-Torras

Running a clinical trial means collecting a lot of data from the trial participants. But some of this data might be collected and stored in healthcare systems, as well as in clinical trial case report forms. What if we could avoid this doubling up, save time and resources, improve recruitment and reduce missing data? In this episode we explore the opportunities and challenges of using healthcare systems data in clinical trials, with Dr Macey Murray and Professor Matt Sydes. 

Resources: 

British Heart Foundation Data Science Centre webinar (Macey Murray) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzQeMUUG7tQ 

How to get your own crocheted duck - https://twitter.com/drmakerbaker/status/1628122224971419665?s=20

For more questions or feedback on the series, contact us at [email protected] 

For more information and access to the transcript of this episode: bit.ly/3NKtKjs

Date of episode recording: 2023-06-26
Duration: 00:25:39
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Charlotte Hartley
Guests: Macey Murray, Matt Sydes
Producer: Charlotte Hartley

Neonatal sepsis is a life-threatening infection that affects up to 3 million babies per year globally. In an effort to identify better treatments, the NeoSep1 clinical trial evaluates new antibiotic combinations for newborn babies with sepsis. To learn more about the trial, we speak to Adrie Bekker and Cristina Obiero, principal investigators of the trial in South Africa and Kenya, Reenu Thomas, a neonatologist from South Africa, and Francesca Schiavone, the clinical project manager of the NeoSep1 trial in London.

For more information and to access the transcript: https://bit.ly/3MSKkw5

Date of episode recording: 2022-11-24
Duration: 00:21:13
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Berta Terre-Torras
Guests: Reenu Thomas; Adrie Bekker; Cristina Obiero; Francesca Schiavone
Producer: Berta Terre-Torras

214,000 newborn babies die of sepsis caused by infections that are resistant to antibiotics every year. This is a major problem worldwide, but disproportionally affects low- and middle- income countries. Reenu Thomas and Adrie Bekker, two neonatologists from South Africa, and Francesca Schiavone, clinical project manager at the MRC CTU at UCL in London, discuss the challenges of treating neonatal sepsis and present the results from an observational study (NeoOBS), which assessed mortality rates of babies with sepsis.

For more information and to access the transcript: https://www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-stories/2023/may/new-podcast-episode-neonatal-infections-part-1-the-neoobs-study-and-the-global-challenge-of-neonatal-sepsis/

Date of episode recording: 2022-11-24
Duration: 23:49
Language of episode: Enlish
Presenter:Berta Terre-Torras
Guests: Reenu Thomas, Adrie Bekker, Francesca Schiavone
Producer: Berta Terre-Torras

For World TB Day, this episode explores the global burden of tuberculosis (TB) and how growing antibiotic resistance can complicate treatment options. Andrew Nunn, a Professor of Epidemiology, discusses his work on the STREAM2 trial, which investigated how treatment for multi-drug resistant TB could be shortened and made more acceptable for patients. Further information is available on the STREAM Stage 2 study page at www.mrcctu.ac.uk and results from STREAM2 are published open access in The Lancet.

For more information and to access the transcript: https://www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk//media/2327/stream2-podcast-transcript.docx

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-24
Duration: 00:19:59
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Charlotte Hartley
Guests: Andrew Nunn
Producer: Charlotte Hartley

We have an ethical obligation to offer results to trial participants. Annabelle South explores the challenges of sharing results and talks about the best ways of communicating results from an ovarian cancer trial. As a final note, Annabelle reflects on what should be the next steps to ensure that all trial participants find out about the results. This is part 2 of “Sharing results of clinical trials with participants”.

Link to Part 1: https://soundcloud.com/trial-talk-podcast/sharing-results-of-clinical-trials-with-participants-part-1

For more information and to access the transcript: https://www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-stories/2022/november/new-podcast-episode-sharing-results-of-clinical-trials-with-participants-part-2/

Clinical trials depend on people volunteering to take part, often at increased risk or inconvenience. Research shows that most trial participants want to know what the trial finds, but many never get to find this out. Annabelle South talks about why sharing results is important and how the Show RESPECT study tested different ways of sharing results with participants.

In this episode we explore why sharing results with participants is important, based on findings from the Show RESPECT study (published doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003798 )

More than 50% of people living with cancer that need radiotherapy in low- and middle-income countries can't have it. Ajay Aggarwal presents the ARCHERY study, an exciting trial looking at the benefits of using artificial intelligence (AI) for radiotherapy treatment planning, which could improve access to high-quality cancer treatment globally.

For questions or feedback on the series, message us on [email protected]

For more information and to access the transcript: www.mrcctu.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-stories/2022/october/trial-talk-podcast-launches-with-episode-on-artificial-intelligence-for-planning-radiotherapy-treatment/