A study looking at advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to assess brain tumours

This study is looking to see if a new type of MRI scan is useful for assessing brain tumours.

Brain tumours are often assessed using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. MRI scans give a clear picture of where the tumour is in the brain and how big it is. This helps doctors to decide which treatment is best.

But standard MRI scans do not give information about blood flow in the brain. Or which chemicals are where in the brain, and how they move around. There are new ways of doing MRI scans that may be able to give doctors this type of information. Doctors hope that this information will help them decide how and when to treat brain tumours. But they are not sure yet how useful the new scans will be.

The aim of this study is to find out how useful advanced MRI scans are to assess brain tumours.

Recruitment

Start 01/02/2002

End 30/09/2012

Phase

Other

Who can enter

You can enter this trial if you

Have a primary brain tumour
Are a patient at Hope Hospital in Salford, near Manchester
Are at least 18 years old

You cannot enter this trial if you

Are not able to have an MRI scan - if you have certain types of metal surgical clips or plates in your body, or a pacemaker for example
Have cancer that has spread to your brain from another part of your body (a secondary brain tumour)

Trial design

This study will recruit about 200 patients from Hope Hospital in Salford.

All the people taking part will have standard MRI scans and advanced MRI scans during the same appointment. You will have these scans at the same points as you would have a standard MRI scan if you were not taking part in the trial (at diagnosis, after treatment etc).

The scans used in this study are

1. A standard MRI scan with an injection of contrast medium 2. A scan that shows pathways in the brain (diffusion weighted imaging) 3. A scan that shows the flow of blood and cerebral-spinal fluid (CSF) in the brain (quantitative flow measurement) 4. A scan to show how and when chemicals move around the brain (chemical shift imaging)

All patients taking part will have scans 1, 2 and 3. But only some patients will have scan 4. This will depend on other test results and the type of brain tumour you have.

Hospital visits

You will go to Hope Hospital to have the MRI scans. You would have standard MRI scans as part of your treatment even if you weren’t taking part in this trial. So you won’t have to make any extra trips to the hospital as a result of the trial.

You may have surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy as part of your treatment for your brain tumour. This will depend on the type, size and position of your tumour. Your doctor will discuss the treatment options with you.