Barriers to Accrual and Enrollment in Brain Tumor Trials

Many factors contribute to the poor survival of malignant brain tumor patients, some of which are not easily remedied. However, one contributor to the lack of progress that may be modifiable is poor clinical trial accrual. Surveys of brain tumor patients and neuro-oncology providers suggest that clinicians do a poor job of discussing clinical trials with patients and referring patients for clinical trials. Yet, data from the Cancer Action Network of the American Cancer Society suggest that most eligible oncology patients asked to enroll on a clinical trial will agree to do so. To this end, the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) in collaboration with the Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) Working Group, patient advocacy groups, clinical trial cooperative groups including the Adult Brain Tumor Consortium (ABTC), and other partners are working together with the intent to double clinical trial accrual over the next five years. Here we describe the factors contributing to poor clinical trial accrual in neuro-oncology and offer possible solutions

Identification of design guidelines for a mobile oncology unit

This thesis will identify design considerations for future development of a mobile unit for delivery of Oncology services to those engaged directly or indirectly in cancer treatment. Mobile Oncology Units are relatively new to medical and design worlds but offer benefits as extensions of the healthcare system that provide care to those who would not normally receive it. This project targets rural communities, the elderly and those without transportation in West Virginia

East Midlands Research into Ageing Network (EMRAN) Discussion Paper Series

Academic geriatric medicine in Leicester . There has never been a better time to consider joining us. We have recently appointed a Professor in Geriatric Medicine, alongside Tom Robinson in stroke and Victoria Haunton, who has just joined as a Senior Lecturer in Geriatric Medicine. We have fantastic opportunities to support students in their academic pursuits through a well-established intercalated BSc programme, and routes on through such as ACF posts, and a successful track-record in delivering higher degrees leading to ACL post. We collaborate strongly with Health Sciences, including academic primary care. See below for more detail on our existing academic set-up. Leicester Academy for the Study of Ageing We are also collaborating on a grander scale, through a joint academic venture focusing on ageing, the ‘Leicester Academy for the Study of Ageing’ (LASA), which involves the local health service providers (acute and community), De Montfort University; University of Leicester; Leicester City Council; Leicestershire County Council and Leicester Age UK. Professors Jayne Brown and Simon Conroy jointly Chair LASA and have recently been joined by two further Chairs, Professors Kay de Vries and Bertha Ochieng. Karen Harrison Dening has also recently been appointed an Honorary Chair. LASA aims to improve outcomes for older people and those that care for them that takes a person-centred, whole system perspective. Our research will take a global perspective, but will seek to maximise benefits for the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, including building capacity. We are undertaking applied, translational, interdisciplinary research, focused on older people, which will deliver research outcomes that address domains from: physical/medical; functional ability, cognitive/psychological; social or environmental factors. LASA also seeks to support commissioners and providers alike for advice on how to improve care for older people, whether by research, education or service delivery. Examples of recent research projects include: ‘Local History Café’ project specifically undertaking an evaluation on loneliness and social isolation; ‘Better Visits’ project focused on improving visiting for family members of people with dementia resident in care homes; and a study on health issues for older LGBT people in Leicester. Clinical Geriatric Medicine in Leicester We have developed a service which recognises the complexity of managing frail older people at the interface (acute care, emergency care and links with community services). There are presently 17 consultant geriatricians supported by existing multidisciplinary teams, including the largest complement of Advance Nurse Practitioners in the country. Together we deliver Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment to frail older people with urgent care needs in acute and community settings. The acute and emergency frailty units – Leicester Royal Infirmary This development aims at delivering Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment to frail older people in the acute setting. Patients are screened for frailty in the Emergency Department and then undergo a multidisciplinary assessment including a consultant geriatrician, before being triaged to the most appropriate setting. This might include admission to in-patient care in the acute or community setting, intermediate care (residential or home based), or occasionally other specialist care (e.g. cardiorespiratory). Our new emergency department is the county’s first frail friendly build and includes fantastic facilities aimed at promoting early recovering and reducing the risk of hospital associated harms. There is also a daily liaison service jointly run with the psychogeriatricians (FOPAL); we have been examining geriatric outreach to oncology and surgery as part of an NIHR funded study. We are home to the Acute Frailty Network, and those interested in service developments at the national scale would be welcome to get involved. Orthogeriatrics There are now dedicated hip fracture wards and joint care with anaesthetists, orthopaedic surgeons and geriatricians. There are also consultants in metabolic bone disease that run clinics. Community work Community work will consist of reviewing patients in clinic who have been triaged to return to the community setting following an acute assessment described above. Additionally, primary care colleagues refer to outpatients for sub-acute reviews. You will work closely with local GPs with support from consultants to deliver post-acute, subacute, intermediate and rehabilitation care services. Stroke Medicine 24/7 thrombolysis and TIA services. The latter is considered one of the best in the UK and along with the high standard of vascular surgery locally means one of the best performances regarding carotid intervention

Goggle Augmented Imaging and Navigation System for Fluorescence-Guided Surgery

Surgery remains the only curative option for most solid tumors. The standard-of-care usually involves tumor resection and sentinel lymph node biopsy for cancer staging. Surgeons rely on their vision and touch to distinguish healthy from cancer tissue during surgery, often leading to incomplete tumor resection that necessitates repeat surgery. Sentinel lymph node biopsy by conventional radioactive tracking exposes patients and caregivers to ionizing radiation, while blue dye tracking stains the tissue highlighting only superficial lymph nodes. Improper identification of sentinel lymph nodes may misdiagnose the stage of the cancer. Therefore there is a clinical need for accurate intraoperative tumor and sentinel lymph node visualization. Conventional imaging modalities such as x-ray computed tomography, positron emission tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound are excellent for preoperative cancer diagnosis and surgical planning. However, they are not suitable for intraoperative use, due to bulky complicated hardware, high cost, non-real-time imaging, severe restrictions to the surgical workflow and lack of sufficient resolution for tumor boundary assessment. This has propelled interest in fluorescence-guided surgery, due to availability of simple hardware that can achieve real-time, high resolution and sensitive imaging. Near-infrared fluorescence imaging is of particular interest due to low background absorbance by photoactive biomolecules, enabling thick tissue assessment. As a result several near-infrared fluorescence-guided surgery systems have been developed. However, they are limited by bulky hardware, disruptive information display and non-matched field of view to the user. To address these limitations we have developed a compact, light-weight and wearable goggle augmented imaging and navigation system (GAINS). It detects the near-infrared fluorescence from a tumor accumulated contrast agent, along with the normal color view and displays accurately aligned, color-fluorescence images via a head-mounted display worn by the surgeon, in real-time. GAINS is a platform technology and capable of very sensitive fluorescence detection. Image display options include both video see-through and optical see-through head-mounted displays for high-contrast image guidance as well as direct visual access to the surgical bed. Image capture options from large field of view camera as well high magnification handheld microscope, ensures macroscopic as well as microscopic assessment of the tumor bed. Aided by tumor targeted near-infrared contrast agents, GAINS guided complete tumor resection in subcutaneous, metastatic and spontaneous mouse models of cancer with high sensitivity and specificity, in real-time. Using a clinically-approved near-infrared contrast agent, GAINS provided real-time image guidance for accurate visualization of lymph nodes in a porcine model and sentinel lymph nodes in human breast cancer and melanoma patients with high sensitivity. This work has addressed issues that have limited clinical adoption of fluorescence-guided surgery and paved the way for research into developing this approach towards standard-of-care practice that can potentially improve surgical outcomes in cancer

Pet Imaging Of Early Therapeutic Response In Solid Tumors

An important pillar of precision medicine for oncology is the ability to identify patients who respond to treatment early into their therapy. Positron emission tomography (PET) allows physicians and researchers to measure changes in tumor behavior prior to noticeable differences in morphology. Objective: Determine the utility of multiple tracers for PET in assessing early changes in tumor activity that result from treatment. Methods: Two tracers for PET were studied. 64Cu-labeled liposomes were used to assess changes in liposome delivery two solid colon tumors early into treatment with bevacizumab (Bev). 18F-FMAU thymidine analog (1-(2\u27-deoxy-2\u27-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)thymine), was utilized to detect early response to cisplatin treatment in non-small cell lung tumor models. Scans were analyzed before and after short-term therapy to determine changes in tracer retention which suggest therapeutic response. Results: In each study PET was able to detect changes in tumor behavior which occurred early into treatment. After two injections of Bev over one week, liposome delivery was significantly reduced as measured by PET. In lung tumors, 24 hours of cisplatin treatment induced significant drops in 18F-FMAU retention in cisplatin sensitive tumors compared to resistant tumors. Conclusion: PET imaging with a variety of tracers can provide information about tumor response to a broad spectrum of treatments. Thus, PET is a powerful tool for personalized therapy of cancer