Professor Sarah Berry gives us an overview of the first Healthspan Connect study.
What is PROSPECT-UK and who can join?
PROSPECT-UK is investigating dietary, lifestyle and other health-related risk factors associated with early-onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC). This sub-study is open to people aged 18+ years old, living in the UK. You will need to have an email address and be able to access web-based platforms on a smartphone, tablet or computer.
What will I have to do?
PROSPECT-UK is an online sub-study investigating risk factors associated with Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer (EOCRC). Please read the PROSPECT UK Information Sheet for more information.
We will ask you to complete annual lifestyle and diet surveys every 6 months to track your information over time. We will also ask to link to data held by organisations that include healthcare and education.
We may request some biological samples from you that include blood, stool and saliva. These collection kits will be sent to you at home and will be returned to us in the post. We will only request these samples from a small group of participants. We may also ask you to complete a digital food diary using the myfood24 platform.
Funding
This sub-study is funded as part of the Cancer Grand Challenges global research initiative. The PROSPECT-UK sub-study is supported through a broader award to the PROSPECT team, which has received funding from Cancer Research UK (CRUK), Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Institut National du Cancer (INCa). The total funding for the PROSPECT project is $25 million over a five-year period.
How do I join?
Before joining PROSPECT-UK, you will need to have signed up to Healthspan Connect via the Take Part page. You will then be told if you are eligible and will be told how to join.
Are there any advantages to taking part in the sub-study?
There will be no direct advantages to taking part in this sub-study, other than your involvement in the advancement of scientific research.
Are there any disadvantages to taking part in the sub-study?
The surveys may take some time to complete, but you can fill them in over multiple days and come back to questions if you need to take a break.
If you are part of the smaller group asked to provide samples, you may experience mild discomfort when providing certain ones, such as blood.
What happens if I want to leave the sub-study?
Taking part in PROSPECT-UK is voluntary and you can withdraw from the sub-study at any time.
If you want to withdraw from PROSPECT-UK, but would still like to be part of Healthspan Connect, please let the PROSPECT-UK team know by emailing healthspan@kcl.ac.uk.
If you would like to withdraw from the Healthspan Connect Programme of Research, details of how to withdraw can be found under Withdraw from Healthspan Connect.
How can I find out about the results of the sub-study?
PROSPECT-UK is a longitudinal sub-study, and therefore it will take some time for the sub-study team to gather enough data to start producing results.
When they do, the results will be published and shared on the News and blogs section of the Healthspan Connect website.
If you have any specific questions about sub-study results, please email healthspan@kcl.ac.uk.
What if I have any questions about the study?
If you have any questions about PROSPECT-UK, you may contact the sub-study team at healthspan@kcl.ac.uk. Please leave a message and mention the sub-study name (PROSPECT-UK) and how best to reach you.
Contact information is also available on the Contact page.
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