PRISMA: New Trial for Better Cancer Care – Funded by the National Center for Tumor Diseases

PRISMA, together with the trials RATIONALE and ImmProCure, is one of the first three projects supported under the new Overarching Clinical Trial (OCT2) funding line by the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT). The NCT is a long-term collaboration between the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), excellent partners in university medicine, and other outstanding research partners at various locations across Germany. The trial is funded with over two million euros and runs for four years. Six university hospitals are involved in the NCT: Regensburg, Würzburg, Erlangen, Augsburg, Berlin, and Cologne. The trial is led by Anne Herrmann, Professor of Medical Sociology at the University of Regensburg.

Many cancer patients do not receive optimal patient-centered care. They feel overwhelmed by the flood of information following a cancer diagnosis and struggle to navigate the healthcare system.

PRISMA addresses this issue by developing and testing innovative communication strategies to optimize cancer care for patients and their families during and after treatment. PRISMA stands for "A pilot randomized phase II trial on social prescriptions and micro learning to improve care for cancer patients and their support persons," a randomized phase II trial on social prescriptions and micro-learning to optimize care for those affected and their families.

The trial will test three key components:

• Web-based Micro-learning Modules: Short, easy-to-understand videos designed to help patients and their families better understand the disease and treatment.
• Social Prescriptions: Brief, personalized recommendations for non-medical services such as physical activity and psychosocial counseling.
• Stepwise Treatment Concept with Continuous Feedback: A digital system that regularly tracks the health status of participants and allows the treatment team to respond early to individual needs.

Various scientific methods will be used to examine how effective these strategies are and how they can be successfully integrated into daily clinical practice. Among other things, the trial will assess whether the PRISMA strategies improve the quality of life for patients and relieve the healthcare system. The insights gained will help medical professionals ensure the best possible cancer care.

Patient involvement plays a crucial role. This is especially important because cancer treatment should not be decided without the input of the patients – they must be actively involved. Therefore, patient representatives will accompany PRISMA from the outset. They will provide the perspectives of those affected and ensure that their needs and desires are incorporated into the development and testing of the new care approaches.

PRISMA is led from the Regensburg site, where the Medical Sociology team cooperates with the Department of Internal Medicine III at the University Hospital Regensburg (Director: Wolfgang Herr). In collaboration with the university hospitals in Würzburg, Erlangen, Augsburg, Berlin, and Cologne, the trial aims to bridge research and clinical practice to make a significant contribution to improving oncology care.