Is Radiation-before-pathology a Feasible Approach in the Palliative Oncology Setting? A Pragmatic Clinical Trial

ConditionCancer
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot listed
Trial typeObservational
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorDavid Palma

About this trial

When a doctor suspects cancer, often a biopsy is taken for testing to confirm if cancer is present. Usually, doctors would wait for the results of a biopsy before delivering radiation, but this may lead to a patient having to wait for a treatment that he or she urgently needs.

With long wait times for biopsies in Canada, this may lead to symptoms and risks of complications from cancer in the meantime. Therefore, this study is being done to answer the following question: Is it safe and feasible to deliver radiation before obtaining a biopsy in a carefully selected group of patients who urgently need radiation treatment.

Eligibility criteria

Qualifiers

Age 18 years or older

Willing to provide informed consent

Palliative treatment intent: either metastatic or incurable locally advanced disease

Tissue diagnosis is not required for determination of dose/fractionation scheme

Disqualifiers

Participant is potentially eligible for curative treatment

Clinical suspicion of lymphoma o Some features may be suggestive of lymphoma, including fever or night sweats (for example - B symptoms excluding weight loss), or imaging showing well-defined, homogenous lymphadenopathy. These findings are not exclusion criteria specifically, but should be considered by the clinician in formulating their differential diagnosis.

Trial design

Treatments tested in this trial

  • Not listed

Trial groups

No trial groups listed

Sponsors and collaborators

David Palma

Lead sponsor

London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's

Sponsor institution