Advances in imaging to assess response in pancreatic cancer AIR-PANC
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Advances in imaging to assess response in pancreatic cancer (AIR-PANC): A single centre feasibility study
IRAS ID
313810
Contact name
Aileen Duffton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 8 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Currently, we do not routinely assess response during radiotherapy treatment for pancreatic cancer and so patients will have a standard treatment delivered, based on their initial planning scan. Patients are then imaged at follow up with this imaging being used to assess treatment response and decide on further treatment options. More information i.e. more frequent or detailed imaging, captured during and after treatment could help to improve this decision making. In this study magnetic resonance (MR) images will be repeated at intervals during treatment; and a follow up MR scan will be planned for around 4 weeks after treatment. This will allow us to evaluate if repeat scanning is feasible in this patient group. We will also quantify and compare measurements at different treatment timepoints to investigate what they tell us about how the tumour is responding to radiotherapy.
Summary of Results
The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who were able to complete the required MRI scans at baseline and during treatment. Of the 17 patients approached, 15 (88%) agreed to take part in the study. Of those consented, 12 out of 15 patients (80%) successfully completed all planned MRI scans, demonstrating that repeated MRI scanning during the treatment pathway was feasible.Three patients (20%) did not complete all scans. One patient became too unwell to continue treatment, one patient withdrew in order to take part in another clinical trial, and one patient withdrew after completing the baseline MRI scan.
At the baseline, during treatment, and at follow-up scans, 100%, 91.7%, and 100% of participants respectively reported that they did not need any additional information before their scan. All participants (100%) reported that no extra information was needed about breath-holding instructions for any of the scans.
The proportion of participants who reported that it was “moderately” or “very” easy to remain in the required position during the scan was 61.6% at baseline, 58.3% during treatment, and 58.4% at follow-up. The proportion of participants who reported wanting to stop the scan before the end of the session was 23% at baseline, 33.3% during treatment, and 25% at follow-up.
The high proportion of patients who agreed to take part in the AIR-PANC study and who completed all planned scans demonstrates that the study approach was feasible. This is further supported by patients generally tolerating the MRI scans. Improving and simplifying the scanning sequences is a priority for the next phase of the study in order to improve patient comfort and experience. Image analysis results will be reported in future work.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
22/WS/0070
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jun 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion