Active not recruitingOBSERVATIONAL

Intra-Pelvic Organ Motion for Cervix Cancer Patient Using Imaging

This study is for women with cervical cancer who are having radiotherapy. When you have radiotherapy, the treatment area often has to be quite large to make sure the tumour is fully treated, even if it moves a little. This can unfortunately affect healthy tissues nearby and cause side effects. This research aims to understand exactly how the tumour and surrounding organs inside the pelvis move during treatment. By using special scans, doctors hope to track these movements. The information gathered will help them figure out how to deliver radiotherapy more accurately in the future. The ultimate aim is to target the cancer more effectively, reduce harm to healthy tissues, and lessen side effects for patients.

At a glance

Status

Active not recruiting

Sponsor

University Health Network, Toronto

Enrolment target

Start

01 Feb 2008

Estimated completion

01 Feb 2029

Cervix Cancer

What is this study about?

When you have radiotherapy for cervical cancer, your body is treated with high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. A challenge for doctors is that even though you lie very still, organs and the tumour itself can subtly move inside your body, perhaps due to breathing or bladder and bowel changes. To make sure the tumour is always within the treatment zone, doctors have to make the treatment area a bit bigger than the tumour itself. This can mean that some healthy tissues around the tumour also receive radiation, which can lead to unwanted side effects.

This study wants to get a much clearer picture of how the cervical cancer and the healthy organs around it – like the bladder or bowel – actually move during radiotherapy. By carefully observing these movements, researchers hope to find ways to make radiotherapy beams even more precise. If they can accurately predict or account for this movement, they might be able to shrink the treatment area, focusing the radiation more directly on the cancer while sparing more of the healthy tissues.

Ultimately, the main goal of this research is to improve how radiotherapy is given. By understanding and modelling organ movement, doctors hope to reduce the side effects that many patients experience and make the treatment even more effective at controlling the cancer. This could lead to a better quality of life during and after treatment for people with cervical cancer.

Key takeaways

This study aims to make radiotherapy more targeted and reduce side effects for cervical cancer patients.
It involves extra MRI and CBCT scans during your radiotherapy treatment.
The scans will help doctors understand how organs move inside the body during treatment.
Your actual treatment will not change based on these research scans.
Participation will help improve future cervical cancer care.
You can withdraw from the study at any time without affecting your medical treatment.

Who may be eligible?

This study is looking for women aged 18 or over who have been diagnosed with cervical cancer through a biopsy. You would be considered if your doctors have decided that surgery is not the best option for you and that radiotherapy is the right treatment plan.

It's important that you are generally well enough to comfortably take part in the study activities. Your doctor will assess your overall health using a scale called ECOG, and you would need to be in the 0-2 range, which means you are quite active or only mildly limited.

You cannot join the study if you've already had radiotherapy to your pelvic area before. Also, if for any medical reason you can't have an MRI scan – for example, if you have certain metal implants in your body – then this study wouldn't be suitable for you.

Could this study suit you?

Answer these quick questions to see if you may be eligible. This is a guide only — the research team makes the final call.

Are you 18 years old or older?
Do you have a biopsy-confirmed diagnosis of cervical cancer?
Are you having radiotherapy for your cervical cancer (not surgery)?
Have you not had radiotherapy to your pelvis before?
Are you able to have an MRI scan (e.g., no pacemakers, certain metal implants)?
Are you generally well and active enough to comfortably take part in the study?

Answer every question to see your result.

What does participation involve?

If you decide to take part, you'll have a couple of extra magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at the very beginning, before your radiotherapy starts. One MRI will be done when your bladder is full, and another when it's empty. This is in addition to the usual planning CT scan you'd already be having.

During your course of radiotherapy, you'll have extra MRI scans, usually two or three times a week. These will be arranged at times that are convenient for you and ideally close to your actual radiotherapy appointments to minimise your time at the hospital. On the same day you have an MRI, you'll also have a quicker scan called a CBCT at the time of your treatment. It's important to know that none of these extra scans will change the radiotherapy treatment you are receiving; they are purely for research purposes.

All your scan images will be kept secure and private. If at any point you find the extra scans too much or too frequent, you can always ask to have fewer scans or even decide to leave the study entirely. The total duration of your participation would be for the length of your radiotherapy treatment.

Potential risks and benefits

The main benefit of taking part is that the information gathered from your scans will significantly help researchers understand how to make radiotherapy more precise for future patients with cervical cancer, potentially leading to fewer side effects and better outcomes. For you personally, there are no direct medical recommendations or changes to your treatment based on these research scans. The main risks involve the time commitment for the extra scans and the potential inconvenience. MRI scans are generally very safe, but if you have any metal in your body (like pacemakers or certain types of clips), they might not be suitable for you. You have the right to withdraw from the study at any time, for any reason, without it affecting your medical care.

Locations (1)

University Health Network
Verified postcode
Toronto, Canada

Common questions

Will this study change my radiotherapy treatment?

No, the extra scans are for research only and will not change the radiotherapy you receive.

Are MRI scans safe?

Yes, MRI scans are generally very safe and don't use radiation. However, certain metal implants can make them unsuitable.

Do I have to keep my bladder full for every scan?

At the start, you'll have scans with a full and empty bladder. During treatment, the focus is more on showing movement, so specific bladder instructions might be given if needed, but not necessarily for every scan.

What if I feel uncomfortable during the MRI?

MRI scans involve lying still in a tunnel. If you feel uncomfortable, you can tell the radiographer, and you can stop the scan if needed.

Can I leave the study at any time?

Yes, you can choose to leave the study at any point, and your decision will not affect your medical care.