LATEST NEWS: 15 July 2026

The TROG 18.01 NINJA trial has achieved the milestone of successfully completing participant recruitment, paving the way for improvements in radiation therapy treatment for prostate cancer.

The final participant was recruited by Canberra Hospital in July. There are now a total of 472 men with prostate cancer taking part in the trial, drawn from 19 cancer centres across Australia and two in New Zealand.

TROG is running the Novel Integration of New prostate radiation schedules with adjuvant Androgen Deprivation (NINJA) trial in collaboration with the Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP).

The study involves using state-of-the-art radiation technology and advanced imaging to compare two emerging and practice-changing schedules of radiation therapy treatment for patients with intermediate- and high-risk prostate cancer that has not metastasised.

While traditional radiation treatment for prostate cancer can require up to seven weeks of daily treatments, participants in the NINJA trial are completing one of two shorter schedules of radiation therapy called stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), as well as receiving androgen deprivation therapy.

One group of participants receive five stereotactic radiotherapy treatments over two weeks, while the other group receives two stereotactic treatments given one week apart, combined with a shorter version of conventional external beam radiotherapy

The trial, which is assessing the tolerability and efficacy of each technique, could lead to patients needing fewer treatments – radiation therapy could potentially be reduced from between 20 and 40 sessions to between five and 14 sessions.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, after skin cancer, with more than 28,000 cases diagnosed in Australia in 2025. About one in 12 men will get prostate cancer by the age of 70, and one in five will be diagnosed with the cancer in their lifetime.

Prof Jarad Martin, Radiation Oncologist at Genesis Care and Calvary Mater Newcastle, who is Co-Lead Investigator for the NINJA trial together with Dr Mark Sidhom from Liverpool Hospital, said the trial was building on emerging findings about better ways to deliver radiation therapy for prostate cancer.

“Radiation therapy is one of the most common treatments for prostate cancer, and the NINJA trial is helping us to find less onerous, more effective ways to provide that radiation therapy for patients,” said Prof Martin (pictured left).

“We are very grateful to the 472 men who have volunteered to take part in this trial, which is set to provide important evidence that could help change the way we treat prostate cancer in the future across Australia, New Zealand and globally.”

Congratulations to the NINJA research team and the many participating sites on reaching this significant milestone.

Read more about the TROG 18.01 – NINJA trial.