Cancer Clinical Trials in United Kingdom

RPL-001-16 is a Phase 1/2, open label, dose escalation and expansion clinical study of RP1 alone and in combination with nivolumab in adult subjects with advanced and/or refractory solid tumors, to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D), as well as to evaluate preliminary efficacy. Read Less

The MR BIO study aims to understand the changes in the tumour and normal tissues during a course of radiotherapy. This is accomplished by studying the MR images taken during each treatment session on the MR Linear accelerator (MR Linac). The overarching hypothesis is that changes in MR imaging and biological parameters from blood, tissue, or urine biomarkers can be measured during radiotherapy and associated with clinical outcome. The MR Linac is a new radiotherapy machine with an on board MR scanner. This enables us to take images with high resolution and target the tumours more precisely and also reduce the dose to normal tissues. All patients undergoing treatment in the MR Linac at the Christie hospital will be considered for enrolment regardless of tumour site being treated. The study participants will receive the standard of care treatment for their disease condition. In addition, they will be requested to give weekly blood and urine samples during the course of radiotherapy and at first follow up. On completion of radiotherapy treatment, the participants will continue to be on standard of care follow up protocol with the treating oncologist. A small cohort of ten healthy volunteers will also be recruited to the study to develop and select some of the MR sequences only; they will not provide blood or urine samples. The healthy volunteers will be scanned for no more than one hour per session for a maximum of two sessions in total. These optimised sequences can then be used in the patient cohort. Read Less

Background This study explores the effectiveness of Meditation Awareness Training (MAT), a second-generation mindfulness-based intervention, in enhancing quality of life, pain management, and psycho-spiritual wellbeing among cancer patients. Existing research underscores the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in alleviating psychological distress and improving overall quality of life for cancer patients. However, first-generation MBIs often exclude traditional Buddhist concepts such as impermanence and emptiness, Consequently, this can result in a superficial application that may not fully engage with the underlying causes of psychological distress or promote long-term spiritual and psychological growth. In contrast, second-generation MBIs like MAT aim to reintegrate these wisdom principles, potentially offering deeper psycho-spiritual benefits. By incorporating concepts like impermanence and emptiness, these interventions encourage a more holistic understanding and acceptance of life's challenges, fostering meaningful perspectives on illness and enhancing both spiritual and psychological wellbeing. This approach seeks to provide a more comprehensive and transformative experience for individuals, particularly those facing serious health challenges such as cancer. Aims The primary aim is to understand the effectiveness of MAT in individuals diagnosed with cancer. The study focuses on: Evaluating the impact of MAT on reducing psychological distress and enhancing pain management and quality of life. Exploring whether practising Buddhist wisdom concepts can foster meaningful perspectives on illness and life, thereby increasing spiritual wellbeing. Determining if MAT participation leads to the establishment of new daily practices and habits among cancer patients. Method The study employs a mixed-methods approach across three phases: Phase 1: A quantitative study using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design. Participants will be divided into an intervention group (MAT) and a treatment-as-usual (TAU) control group. The effectiveness of MAT will be assessed using psychometric scales at multiple time points (baseline, week 4, week 9 post-intervention, and six-month follow-up). Importantly, participants in the TAU group will be offered the MAT intervention after the completion of the RCT, ensuring that all participants have access to the potential benefits of the intervention. Phase 2: A qualitative exploration using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to gain insights into participants' lived experiences post-MAT intervention. This phase involves semi-structured interviews conducted at one month and six months post-intervention. Phase 3: A content analysis of diary entries collected from participants during the intervention to capture real-time reflections and experiences. Expected Outputs The study aims to provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of MAT in improving psychological and spiritual wellbeing among cancer patients. It is expected to offer insights into how Buddhist wisdom can be integrated back into clinical mindfulness practices to enhance their impact. The findings could inform clinical practices and contribute to the development of more holistic mindfulness-based interventions for cancer care. Project Timelines Recruitment: Began in November 2024. Phase 1: The RCT is aimed to begin in the first quarter of 2025, with the intervention lasting 8 weeks, followed by data collection at specified time points. Phase 2: Conduct interviews at one month and six months post-intervention. Phase 3: Collect and analyse diary entries throughout the 8-week intervention. The entire study is structured to ensure comprehensive data collection and analysis, allowing for both quantitative and qualitative insights into the MAT intervention's impact on cancer patients. Read Less

Yttrium-90, attached to microspheres, usually referred to as 90Y-microspheres or Y-90 radioembolisation, can be used in some cases to treat patients with liver tumours or liver metastasis. The treatment aim is to infuse the 90Ymicrospheres into the patient's liver. The microspheres get trapped in the lesions of micro-blood vessels while the yttrium-90, a radioactive compound, delivers radiation doses locally at these sites and damages the diseased cells. Therapy is performed in such a way the 90Y-microspheres are localised in the tumour areas minimising damage to the healthy liver tissue. This treatment requires many steps involving professionals from different medical disciplines. Patients are scanned in the nuclear Medicine Department on a gamma camera the day after the treatment. This scan is referred as Y-90 bremsstrahlung-SPECT. This posttherapy scan provides a 3-dimensional (3D) image of the distribution of the therapeutic agent in the patient's abdomen so an assessment of how much of the therapeutic agent has gone to the sites of disease can be performed. In this research project, the investigators would like to evaluate an alternative post-therapy scan to the one routinely performed on the gamma camera. The alternative scan is done on a PET-CT scanner and is referred to as Y90-PET-CT. This type of scan has been reported to provide improved quality images, providing more accurate information on the distribution of the patients therapeutic dose. For this research project, the investigators will invite a small number of patients undergoing this therapy to be scanned twice after treatment: with the current post-therapy scan on a gamma camera; and with the newly proposed scan method, Y90-PET-CT. Depending on the outcomes of this project, assessed by an expert panel of radiologists and medical physicists, the investigators will determine whether we will introduce this new scanning method into clinical practice in the future. Read Less

Patients with suspected or proven sigmoid colon adenocarcinoma, eligible for curative treatment whose MRI can be reviewed prior to surgery and has no decision regarding radical treatment are eligible. Patient are randomised to the control arm which the standard care of preoperative CT imaging and subsequent discussion by the Multidisciplinary Team or the interventional arm which has the additional use of MRI imaging and subsequent discussion by the Multidisciplinary Team. Patients are followed up at 1 and 3 years together with QoL questionnaires. Read Less

This study does not involve randomization or treatment. Eligible patients have colorectal adenocarcinoma with no metastases eligible for curative surgery. A pre operative staging scan must have been completed within 6 weeks prior to surgery. Two x 20ml blood samples will be taken from each patient, one prior to and one during or within 24hrs after surgery. Patients are annually followed up to 3 years. Read Less

ORIGINS - a multi-site sample collection study to establish patient-derived pre-clinical models for cancers Read Less

RP2-001-18 is a Phase 1, multicenter, open label, single agent dose escalation and combination treatment study of RP2 in adult subjects with advanced solid tumors, to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D), as well as to evaluate preliminary efficacy. Read Less

The goal of this observational study is to to look for changes within the brain, and changes in body-to-brain signals in people with cancer and people who do not have cancer. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Are there differences in areas of the brain known to be related to appetite control, food reward and motivation, between participants with cancer related weight loss and healthy volunteers 2. Do responses to questionnaires and computer based tasks suggest participants with cancer related weight loss have reduced appetite and reduced motivation to eat compared to healthy volunteers, and if so, do questionnaires suggest that this is associated with any other symptoms? Researchers will compare the structure and blood flow in relevant areas of the brain using MRI images between participants with cancer related weight loss and healthy volunteers. Participants will complete questionnaires and computer based tasks to allow researchers to assess areas of the brain which become more active in response to different stimuli. Some computer based tasks will be performed during the MRI scan. This is called functional MRI. A further objective is to obtain an archive of blood samples which will be stored securely for future analysis if relevant hormones or analytes are identified that may be relevant to metabolism or body composition Read Less

Surgical prehabilitation refers to pre-operative interventions aimed at increasing patients' physiological reserve so that they can better cope with the stress of surgery, avoid post-operative complications and have a faster recovery after surgery. Multimodal prehabilitation combines different aspects related to a healthy lifestyle including but not limited to; physical activity, nutritional education, anxiety coping strategies, alcohol moderation and smoking cessation. Although these aspects are well known, having a cancer diagnosis and the likelihood of an incoming operation during the weeks after diagnosis, place patients in a situation where they may be more receptive to adopting lifestyle changes aimed at promoting health. Such changes could be incorporated, not just in the short-term in preparation for surgery, but also in the medium- and long-term, improving patients' wellbeing and potentially reducing the risk of cancer reoccurrence and other diseases. Although the benefits of prehabilitation before surgery are understood, the effects it may have in non-insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes patients are unknown. This project aims to: (i) Analyse the effects of a multimodal prehabilitation programme vs. the current National Health Service (NHS) standard approach, on physical performance in cancer patients with non-insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes prior to surgery. (ii) Explore the impact of the programme on body composition and metabolic markers. (iii) Analyse the programme adherence, markers of well-being and quality of life during a post-surgery period of up to 12 months as well as its effects on clinical outcomes. Read Less

The goal of this intervention trial is to determine if palliative rehabilitation in addition to usual care is more effective than usual care at improving health-related quality of life in patients with incurable solid cancer. Read Less

The proposed study will employ a pragmatic mixed methods randomised parallel-group exploratory design to determine the feasibility of delivering self-acupuncture within an NHS cancer care setting. The trial will explore the feasibility and acceptability of all aspects of a definitive clinical trial of teaching cancer patients to self-administer acupuncture to alleviate symptoms of cancer and the side effects of conventional chemotherapy treatment. In addition the feasibility trial will provide preliminary data on effectiveness to inform the sample size calculation for a controlled clinical trial. Patients will be randomly allocated to receive either: 1) self-acupuncture in addition to standard care or 2) standard care alone. Participants randomised to the self-acupuncture arm will be asked to attend a 1.5 hour group workshop delivered by an experienced practitioners and teachers of self-acupuncture. Participants allocated to standard care will be offered training in self-acupuncture once the trial is complete to address any ongoing side effects from their cancer and its treatment. Patients will be recruited at the initiation of their chemotherapy cancer treatment from UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre. Participants will complete baseline outcome measures and be asked to complete follow up outcomes measures at the end of chemotherapy treatment, and 3 months post chemotherapy treatment. At the end of chemotherapy treatment participants will also be asked to take part in a qualitative telephone interview to explore their views on the design of the study and if allocated to self-acupuncture their views on the intervention. At 3 months post chemotherapy treatment those allocated to self-acupuncture will be invited to participate in a second qualitative interview to explore the long-term practice and effects of self-acupuncture. Qualitative interviews will also be conducted with stakeholders (acupuncturists delivering workshops and UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre staff) to explore their views on the feasibility of teaching cancer patients self-acupuncture. Read Less