Pilot and feasibility data to support development of a National Bone Metastasis Virtual Registry

Bone metastases (BM) occur in many common cancers including breast, prostate, lung, kidney. Patients with bone metastasis suffer major bone complications including pain requiring radiotherapy, pathological fractures, need for surgery, spinal cord compression and reduced life expectancy. These have a huge impact on patients and substantial NHS resource costs. Sheffield has an international reputation in both laboratory and clinical bone metastasis studies, eg highlighted by our hosting an International Cancer and Bone Conference (July 2024).

There is a need for stronger, more-coordinated research to improve the management of BM, which has been identified as a priority by the James Lind Alliance. Specific studies have been limited, however, by the challenges of identifying the patient cohort, which is distributed across different diagnoses and clinical teams. The aim of our overall programme (BoneCare), led from Sheffield, is to develop a national clinical Trial Within a Cohort (TWiC), to enable assessment of a range of strategies for the integrated management of BM, comprising all demographic groups, including those from deprived populations. TWiC studies represent a novel methodology for efficient trial design in a real world context. Within the next 12 months, we urgently need to obtain retrospective feasibility data to support a large 5-year Y&H-led NIHR application to achieve this.

​01/01/2025

6 months