Dear All
We have received the following request to share with you from the research team running the ATARI trial:
Could you bring your patient experience to help us deliver a clinical trial for gynaecological cancers?
We are looking for people who have lived experience of gynaecological cancers, which are cancers that start in the ovaries, cervix or endometrium (womb). Your thoughts and opinions are invaluable and would help guide our ongoing cancer research trial, ‘ATARI’.
No previous experience in clinical research or patient advocacy is needed. We will provide all the information and any other support you may need to contribute.
About the ATARI Trial
Over 18,000 people each year are diagnosed with gynaecological cancers in the UK, and more treatment options are needed for those whose cancer comes back after treatment with chemotherapy and immunotherapy. With the ATARI trial, we are asking whether a new drug called ceralasertib when given on its own, or together with other drugs called olaparib and durvalumab, is helpful in treating gynaecological cancers that have returned. The trial is also trying to find out which patients are best suited to these drugs based on changes within their cancer.
ATARI is already underway, it opened in 2019 and aims to include up to 174 patients from the UK, France or Canada. The trial has nearly finished recruiting participants, but it is still open for some people with specific types of womb cancer who have been treated with immunotherapy.
Patients with experience of gynaecological cancer have helped guide the trial so far, but we now need your help to continue to ensure the patient’s voice is heard.
What do we need your help with?
We are looking for two people with lived experience of gynaecological cancer. As ATARI continues over the next 2-years, we would like to invite you to share your thoughts and opinions on the trial. This may include telling us how you feel about the research and your views on key trial changes or decisions. We may also ask for your help with patient or public-facing trial information, such as how to communicate the ATARI trial results.
We would like you to consider all aspects of the trial from the patient’s perspective and represent perspectives beyond your own personal experience. With your help, we can make sure the trial is carried out with patients in mind and that the trial is communicated in a clear and understandable way. We would like to find patient advocates who can bring a range of views, particularly those who belong to groups under-represented in research.
Commitment required
You should ideally be able to attend at least four virtual (online) meetings per year (during office hours), up to 1.5 hours each, with additional communication between meetings. We can offer you reimbursement for your time and expenses.
Who will you be working with?
You will work closely with the trial team at the Institute of Cancer Research - Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU) to deliver the trial over the next couple of years. The lead researchers for ATARI are Professor Susana Banerjee (Royal Marsden Hospital) and Professor Judith Bliss (ICR-CTSU).
If you would like to find out more, please email the trial team at Atari-icrctsu@icr.ac.uk by Monday 14th April 2025, and we would be happy to share more information or have an informal chat about the role.
Best wishes
Anna
Ovacome Support
