What do participants need to do: Take part in an online focus group on 22 October 2026 6-7pm - register your interest by emailing insight@tenovuscancercare.org.uk
How long will it take? 1 hour
Will participants get paid? No
Is this for research, policy or services? Policy - Health Technology Wales Guidance is issued for all NHS trusts to follow (in the same way as NICE recommendations)
Who can take part? People with experience of radiotherapy treatment for prostate cancer in Wales – and/or carers of people with this experience.
Deadline: 08 October 2026
Location: Online
Health Technology Wales (HTW) produces evidence-based reviews of health technologies to inform guidance on their use to the NHS in Wales. They are currently conducting reviews of adaptive radiotherapy for prostate cancer and the use of biodegradable rectal spacers to reduce toxicity.
Adaptive Radiotherapy:
Real-time adaptive radiotherapy includes adapt-to-shape (ATS) techniques that use MRI images to check for any changes in a person's anatomy before radiotherapy is administered, so that the planned treatment can be adapted if necessary. This is done on the treatment day. The aim is to improve treatment accuracy and minimise toxicity.
Rectal Spacers:
Rectal spacers are temporary implants placed between the prostate and the rectum. By creating physical distance between them, they protect the rectum from high-dose radiation during prostate cancer therapy, with the aim of significantly reducing side effects like bleeding and bowel toxicity.
HTW are looking to gather people's lived experiences with prostate cancer and radiotherapy to better understand the potential impacts of this technology. If you have experience with adaptive radiotherapy and/or using rectal spacers, these will be gathered, but they would also like to know your thoughts and opinions on their use, even if you haven’t had the opportunity to use them.
The experiences gathered will form part of HTW’s evidence review, which will be used to frame guidance on the use of adaptive radiotherapy and rectal spacers in radiotherapy in prostate cancer for the whole of the NHS in Wales.
Tenovus Cancer Care are assisting HTW with their assessment by hosting an online focus group on 22 October 2026 6-7pm using Microsoft Teams.
Further information, including a briefing is available to request.
If you would like to find out more, or register your interest, please email the Insight Team at: insight@tenovuscancercare.org.uk
