Calcifications as markers for prostate image guided radiotherapy v1.0

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Calcifications as an alternative to surgically implanted fiducial markers for Prostate Image guided Radiotherapy (CASPIR): A prospective feasibility study

• IRAS ID

  174271

• Contact name

  Angela O'Neill

• Contact email

  aoneill533@qub.ac.uk / angela.o'neill@belfasttrust.hscni.net

• Sponsor organisation

  Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 29 days

• Research summary

  Advances in radiotherapy mean that very high doses of radiation can be delivered to the prostate. This is known to improve prostate cancer treatment outcomes. Accurate treatment delivery is really important to minimize treatment side effects. Image guided radiotherapy, known as IGRT, is an essential tool in ensuring treatment accuracy. However, the prostate can be difficult to see on radiotherapy images and bones in the pelvis are often used to check the patients’ position. Pelvic bones may not always represent the position of the prostate as the prostate can move because of changes in the bladder and bowel. Markers can be surgically placed within the prostate. These are visible on treatment images and show clearly the position of the prostate for treatment. The use of prostate markers is standard practice in many departments. It requires an additional hospital attendance for a surgical procedure which carries associated risks such as pain, bleeding and infection.
  Some men have naturally occurring calcifications, sometimes called stones, in the prostate. They can be 1mm to a few mm in size and often are present without causing any symptoms. They are often discovered on scans before treatment and they are visible on some types of treatment images. They may provide a useful marker for assessing treatment accuracy instead of surgically implanted markers. This study will investigate the potential role of prostate calcifications for image guided radiotherapy and how this could be introduced into clinical practice. The study aims to recruit 30 patients with prostate calcifications. All participants will also have fiducial markers implanted. This will allow a direct comparision of set-up accuracy measured using standard fiducial markers with prostate calcifications.

• REC name

  HSC REC A

• REC reference

  15/NI/0193

• Date of REC Opinion

  14 Oct 2015

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion