A pilot study using MR to assess cervix motion during radiotherapy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot study using Magnetic Resonance (MR) to assess cervix motion during radiotherapy treatment.
IRAS ID
220020
Contact name
Anthea Cree
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
The standard treatment for cervical cancer, which is too big to remove with an operation, is chemotherapy and radiotherapy given at the same time (followed by another type of radiotherapy called brachytherapy). This treatment is, however, associated with long term side effects in around half of patients, with up to 10% of patients suffering from severe side effects. \n\nRadiotherapy treatment is planned by doctors using pictures from a single CT scan taken before starting treatment. During a course of radiotherapy, the pelvic organs such as the cervix and uterus can change position. This means that a generous margin needs to be allowed around the tumour to ensure that the whole tumour is covered and treated during radiotherapy, which in turn increases the risk of long term side effects. \n\nThere have been a number of studies looking at the movement of pelvic organs in cervical cancer which also investigate different ways of adapting radiotherapy treatment. These have included altering the margins based on individual motion, creating a ’plan of the day’ (where two or more different radiotherapy plans are created with the best fit chosen each day) and other techniques to adapt the radiotherapy.\n\nMost of these studies have been carried out using a type of scan called a cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) which often gives poor quality images with little contrast between the soft tissues. Magnetic Resonance (MR) scans allow doctors to visualise the tumour and normal tissues more effectively and is already used for imaged guided brachytherapy treatment.\n\nThis study will explore the role of MR imaging in adaptive radiotherapy for cervical cancer and will test the development of a number of treatment strategies.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0300
Date of REC Opinion
1 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion