Welcome to the PLATO website
PLATO is a research study that consists of 3 separate trials in anal cancer (ACT3, ACT4 and ACT5). The study aims to find out the best doses of radiotherapy (in combination with chemotherapy) for patients with different stages of anal cancer (how big the cancer is and whether it has spread).
The usual treatment for anal cancer involves a combination of chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs) and radiotherapy (high energy X-rays). Often the same dose of radiotherapy is given to patients with early and more advanced anal cancer.
Recent improvements in radiotherapy mean that we can look at giving different radiotherapy doses to treat the cancer whilst limiting the number of side effects.
The study has now closed to recruitment and the patients are in follow up.