The Tennessean Opinion Piece Spotlights the PCORI-Funded CEASAR Trial

Ralph Conwill—a prostate cancer survivor and a patient partner on a PCORI-funded study—wrote about his involvement in the research process for a perspective piece published by Nashville’s The Tennessean. In it, he notes that he serves as “an equal partner ... alongside the scientists in what is a truly patient-centered approach.”

The PCORI-funded Comparative Effectiveness Analysis of Surgery and Radiation for Localized Prostate Cancer, or CEASAR, Study evaluated three years of post-treatment outcomes of 2,550 men from across the country who received various prostate cancer treatments. The results of the study will help men with localized prostate cancer and their doctors make treatment choices based on what is most important to them.

Had PCORI research findings come out before his prostate cancer diagnosis, Conwill says his treatment decision making would have been easier.

Conwill is now assisting researchers in putting these results into practice. A PCORI-funded Dissemination and Implementation award is allowing them to put the findings into a shared decision making tool called WiserCare developed by researchers at UCLA. Patients with prostate cancer and their clinicians are testing how well the aid helps them make treatment choices at three medical centers; two in California and one in Tennessee.

The decision aid assesses the patient’s preferences for outcomes of care and meshes that information with CEASAR findings about outcomes experienced by similar men who had different treatment options. It provides the patient with a summary to review prior to meeting with his physician. The patient’s physician receives a summary as well.