Backing World Cancer Day
Globally, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men over 45. Every year more than 1.4 million men are diagnosed with prostate cancer worldwide, with 375,000 lost to the disease.
Through the efforts of our Mo community, Movember has been able to invest funds globally in almost $360M AUD in over 600 biomedical research projects and close to $218M AUD in clinical quality and survivorship projects.
But despite huge advances in treatment and care over the last 20 years, prostate cancer remains the second highest cause of cancer-related deaths in men worldwide.
Too many men living with prostate cancer have poor physical and mental health – often as a result of their treatment or a healthcare system that struggles to support their needs.
Our goal is to reduce the number of men dying from prostate cancer and improve the quality of life for those living with the disease.
That’s why we’re backing World Cancer Day’s call to eliminate health inequities by addressing their root causes and ensuring that everyone has access to quality health services when, where and how they need them.
We’re proud to be funding these three new prostate cancer projects, aimed at tackling inequalities in healthcare and delivering better personalised care for all men.
Personalised active surveillance
Many prostate cancers have a low risk of spreading and can be safely monitored using an approach called Active Surveillance (AS). However, about a quarter of patients will opt out of AS and pursue active treatments, which carry the risk of lifelong side effects, despite their cancer showing no signs that it's spreading.
Movember is supporting the global collaborative Personalised Active Surveillance program which will see 29 teams from around the world, working together to develop a personalised and ‘risk-adjusted’ approach to AS. This new approach would reduce the burden of unnecessary tests and treatments for those living with lowest-risk prostate cancer. The research teams will also look at addressing potential disparities in access to good quality AS.
Health equity grants
Men from groups marginalised by poverty, race, ethnicity, or class may not have access to healthcare they need and may face higher illness severity as a result. There are currently unacceptable differences in prostate cancer survival rates and quality of care for some groups of men, based on their race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. Movember is funding the Health Equity Grants program which will focus on strengthening the evidence base of new approaches that address inequalities in prostate cancer care and treatment. We hope to announce the successful proposals mid-2024.
Personalised Prostate Cancer Initiative
Movember is funding a new program that will improve the monitoring and management of men during and after their prostate cancer treatment. Delivered in clinical settings, using Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs), the program is aimed at enabling health systems to be be able to deliver more personalised care. The program will also look to address inequalities related to geography, race, or socio-economic status.