MagnUM Pilot Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
MagnUM Pilot Study: Magnetic resonance guided high intensity focused ultrasound for palliative treatment of painful bone Metastases in cancer - a pilot study
IRAS ID
213138
Contact name
Afshin Gangi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 31 days
Research summary
Common cancers, such as breast and prostate, have a high chance of spreading to the bone forming tumours called “bone metastases”. Bone metastases can impact significantly on quality of life (QOL), causing severe pain, disability and risk of fracture. Once bone metastases have formed the cancer is often too advanced to cure and treatment focuses on relieving symptoms, maintaining QOL and improving life expectancy. Palliative radiotherapy and pain medication are the main treatments for bone pain. Whilst radiotherapy is successful for the majority of patients, up to 1/3 have an incomplete response despite receiving maximum treatment. High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is a technique that uses sound energy to burn bone metastases and the nerves that detect pain. The HIFU device sends high intensity sound through the body to target the bone metastasis without the need to cut or cause damage to the surrounding skin or tissues. At the same time, Magnetic Resonance Imaging guides the HIFU and monitors the heating. Unlike radiotherapy, there is no maximum dose, which means that HIFU can be used repeatedly when other treatments failed. The technique is already approved for treatment of benign tumours of the uterus and several small scale trials have shown promising results on safety and efficacy of HIFU for treating painful bone metastases. The pilot will compare pain and quality of life scores for 10 patients treated with HIFU to 10 control patients receiving medical treatment for radiotherapy resistant bone pain. The pilot will monitor safety and give preliminary evidence on the success of HIFU treatment. The primary aim is to evaluate the feasibility of carrying out a full scale clinical trial.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0225
Date of REC Opinion
5 May 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion