INTERIOR v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
INvesTigating the use of livEr mR Images for biO-adaptation in Radiotherapy
IRAS ID
347335
Contact name
Robert Chuter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 10 days
Research summary
Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for liver cancer when surgery isn't possible (either due to the location of the tumour or because of the patient's health). All radiation does some damage to healthy organs as well as the tumour as the beams of x-rays pass through the patient's body. For this reason, there are tight controls on how much radiation healthy organs can receive to minimise the likelihood of side effects and complications. When treating cancers in the liver, radiotherapy must ensure that here is enough functioning liver after treatment to avoid a condition known as radiation induced liver disease (RILD), which can be life threatening. This is a particular problem for patients with a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), who often already have poor liver function from conditions like cirrhosis.
Currently, when deciding how much radiation we can safely give to the tumour, we assume that the whole of the liver is functioning equally well, however, we know this not to be the case. This study wants to investigate if we can use an advanced imaging technique known as iron-corrected T1 quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (cT1 qMR), to map which parts of a patients liver are functioning and which parts are not. When we are planning the radiotherapy treatments, we will then use this information to prioritise the healthy parts of the liver.
We haven't yet validated how well cT1 qMR works so patients on this study will receive their treatment as usual. The results of this study will be used to make sure cT1 qMR is reliable for these patients and if it is possible to make treatment plans that use their information. We will also investigate if the images can be used to show changes over the course of treatment.
REC name
London - Stanmore Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/PR/0141
Date of REC Opinion
6 Mar 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion