A Trial of 5 Fraction Prostate SBRT Versus 5 Fraction Prostate and Pelvic Nodal SBRT
This study will look at the safety of curative radiotherapy to the prostate and lymph glands given in 5 visits, in men with high risk localised prostate cancer. The purpose of the research is to test an advanced type of external beam radiotherapy called stereotactic body radiotherapy (also known as SBRT) in 1128 participants with high risk localised prostate cancer (that is, prostate cancer that has not spread beyond the prostate gland but is at high risk of growing quickly or spreading). Importantly, this treatment delivers a potentially curative dose of radiotherapy in only 5 treatments over two weeks. Half the participants in the trial will receive radiotherapy to the prostate, the other half will have radiotherapy to the prostate as well as the surrounding lymph nodes. The investigators will follow patients in the trial for at least three and half years to see which treatment is best. The investigators will be looking at whether it is safe to give this treatment by reviewing any side-effects that occur and also assessing whether giving SBRT to the lymph nodes as well as the prostate reduces the chance of prostate cancer returning. The treatment will take place at NHS radiotherapy centres that are experienced in giving SBRT and radiotherapy to the pelvic nodes, and have been quality assured to deliver these treatments
Phase
3Span
408 weeksSponsor
Institute of Cancer Research, United KingdomSouthend
Recruiting
Comparison Trial of Open-tip Pulsed Needle Biopsy and Conventional Core Biopsy in Axillary Lymph Nodes
It is the standard of care in the United Kingdom for women with suspected or confirmed breast cancer to undergo ultrasound of the ipsilateral axilla prior to surgery in order to detect nodal metastatic disease. Women with invasive breast cancer and normal axillary ultrasound will then undergo operative sentinel lymph node biopsy. This is usually at the same time as the surgical removal of the breast cancer by wide local excision or mastectomy but may be done as a separate procedure before (e.g. where neoadjuvant chemotherapy is planned) or after (e.g. if a non-operative diagnosis of invasive breast cancer was not made prior to surgery). Women who are found to have a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (i.e. have axillary metastatic disease) normally undergo axillary node clearance (ANC) at a subsequent operation. This policy may change in the future, as evidence from the American Z0011 study suggests that women with low volume axillary metastatic disease do as well with no further axillary surgery plus standard adjuvant treatment as those that undergo ANC. Women who have abnormal lymph nodes on axillary ultrasound undergo tissue sampling with core needle biopsy (CNB), usually 14 Gauge (14G) under local anaesthetic or with fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Women with proven axillary nodal metastases will then usually undergo axillary node clearance at the same operation as surgical removal of the primary tumour. The number of women who need to undergo more than one operation can therefore be minimised by maximising the number of women with axillary metastatic disease in whom this diagnosis is made preoperatively. Meta-analyses of published studies and more recent studies suggest that ultrasound has a sensitivity of ~60% and specificity of ~80% for the detection of metastatic lymph nodes. Although no randomised comparisons of 14G core needle biopsy (CNB) and FNAC have been performed, several studies have suggested that CNB is more accurate. Ultrasound-guided biopsy of nodes subsequently proven at surgery to contain metastases has a sensitivity of ~80% and a specificity of 100% and is more likely to be positive in those women with a higher nodal burden. Numerous studies suggest that increasing the volume of tissue removed may increase the diagnostic yield. Recently a new biopsy device indicated for the use in breast and axillary lymph nodes (NeoNavia biopsy system, NeoDynamics, Sweden) has become available. It incorporates a pneumatic needle insertion mechanism that is intended to provide better control of needle progression and enable stepwise insertion without noticeable deformation or displacement of surrounding tissue as visualized under ultrasound. Furthermore a new method of tissue acquisition is employed that has pre-clinically shown a significantly higher sampling yield compared to CNB. These characteristics indicate that the device could be well suited for axillary lymph node biopsies. Initial clinical results indicate that in axillary lesions deemed "technically difficult", i.e. where prior US-guided biopsies with CNB or FNA had yielded non-diagnostic histology results, the NeoNavia device performed successfully, thereby significantly altering clinical management.
Phase
N/ASpan
246 weeksSponsor
NeoDynamics ABSouthend
Recruiting
MIDI (MR Imaging Abnormality Deep Learning Identification)
An automated strategy for identifying abnormalities in head scans could address the unmet clinical need for faster abnormality identification times, potentially allowing for early intervention to improve short- and long-term clinical outcomes. Radiologist shortages and increased demand for MRI scans lead to delays in reporting, particularly in the outpatient setting. Furthermore, there is a wide variation in the management of incidental findings (IFs) discovered in 'healthy volunteers.' The routine reporting of 'healthy volunteer' scans by a radiologist poses logistical and financial challenges. It would be valuable to devise automated strategies to reliably and accurately identify IFs, potentially reducing the number of scans requiring routine radiological review by up to 90%, thus increasing the feasibility of implementing a routine reporting strategy. Deep learning is a novel technique in computer science that automatically learns hierarchies of relevant features directly from the raw inputs (such as MRI or CT) using multi-layered neural networks. A deep learning algorithm will be trained on a large database of head MRI scans to recognize scans with abnormalities. This algorithm will be trained to classify a subset of these scans as normal or abnormal and then tested on an independent subset to determine its validity. If the tested neural network demonstrates high diagnostic accuracy, future research participants and patients may benefit, as not all institutions currently review their research scans for incidental findings and clinical scans may not be reported for weeks in some cases. In both research and clinical scenarios, an algorithm could rapidly identify abnormal pathology and prioritize scans for reporting. In summary, the aim is to develop a deep learning abnormality detection algorithm for use in both research and clinical settings.
Phase
N/ASpan
313 weeksSponsor
King's College Hospital NHS TrustSouthend
Recruiting
Suprachoroidal Visco-buckling for the Treatment of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment
After being informed about the study and the potential risks, the eligible patients who have given written consent to the treatment will be randomized into treatment (vitrectomy, cryo and gas) or control (viscobuckle vitrectomy) group.
Phase
N/ASpan
152 weeksSponsor
King's College Hospital NHS TrustSouthend
Recruiting