Clatterbridge launches pioneering radiotherapy clinical trials

The trials, PRINCE and APPROACH, represent significant advancements in the field of radiotherapy and offer new hope to patients at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre (CCC) with advanced lung cancer and rare brain tumours.

The PRINCE trial, part of the wider TOURIST trial platform, is a phase III randomised controlled trial focusing on patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

This trial aims to understand if high-dose palliative radiotherapy in combination with palliative systemic therapy can help patients with their quality of life and prolong their life expectancy.

Dr Tony Pope, consultant clinical oncologist and principal investigator for the PRINCE trial, emphasised the importance of this research: "These trials ask valuable questions and are available to a wide group of patients in whom we are always striving to improve outcomes over and above the advances made in systemic therapy over the past few years.

“Radiotherapy is a powerful tool in our fight against cancer, and it is uncommon to see research focused on patients where cancer has spread outside the chest, so it is great to see this trial.”

The APPROACH trial is a phase III multicentre trial for patients with oligodendroglioma, a rare type of brain tumour. This study compares photon radiotherapy versus proton radiotherapy (PBT) to determine if there is a neurocognitive benefit in both the short and long term.

Proton radiotherapy, which has only recently become available in the UK, has unique properties that minimise the dose to healthy cells, potentially reducing treatment side effects. Patients on the trial will receive either photon radiotherapy at CCC or PBT at The Christie in Manchester.

Dr Shaveta Mehta, consultant clinical oncologist and Deputy Director for Clinical research at CCC, who is also the principal investigator for the APPROACH trial, said: “We are very excited to have a trial opportunity that gives the option to have proton treatment for eligible patients with this rare cancer, which is otherwise not available under the NHS.

“This trial is vital to guide us on the role of protons to minimise long-term side effects with radiotherapy that could have a significant impact on the patient’s quality of life.”

Dr Gillian Heap, Director of Research Operations at CCC, said: “Radiotherapy research is vital to pushing forward the options for treatment and care of our patients and it is fantastic to see the launch of these two important and fascinating studies. We wish the researchers well with their work.”