Diagnosis and prognosis of glial brain tumours (DiProG) v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The use of multimodal MRI in clinical practice to aid diagnosis and prognosis for glial brain tumours
IRAS ID
290110
Contact name
Franklyn A Howe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
St George's, University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Brain tumours are very challenging in terms of patient management and treatment. Glial brain tumours are infiltrative and treatment boundaries hard to define. Clinical MRI provides key information for diagnosis, but the current gold-standard is analysis of a small tissue sample obtained with a surgical procedure (a biopsy). Tissue is now analysed to give genetic as well as information from microscopic analysis of the tissue. The combined information dictates treatment options and the overall likelihood of a longer patient survival time. However, surgical biopsies are risky for older patients and those with tumours in sensitive parts of the brain, and a small tumour tissue sample may not be representative of the whole tumour. We are researching advanced MRI to provide alternative markers to indicate tumour genetic characteristics (genotype), its grade of malignancy and likelihood of early malignant progression. We use Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) as part of a standard MRI exam, to assess tumour chemical content. We have recently developed a new type of diffusion MRI (dMRI) method, called quasi-diffusion imaging (QDI). QDI provides information on tissue structure, which varies by brain tumour type.
Our initial work indicates that combined information from MRI, MRS and dMRI, can provide increased accuracy for glial tumour diagnosis and evaluating future patient outcome. This could help minimise the need for biopsy in specific cases and allow for better treatment planning.
In this prospective study we will be recruiting patients with glial brain tumours to:
a) assess the accuracy of our combined MRI/MRS/dMRI(QDI) marker for determining which low-grade gliomas are most likely to show early progression;
b) evaluate whether the information from our new QDI method can indicate the genetic sub-type of the tumour;
c) evaluate whether information from QDI can help predict overall survival and progression free survival.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NW/0274
Date of REC Opinion
8 Dec 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion