A trial looking at magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to help diagnose and treat children and young people with brain stem tumours (CNS 2004 11)

Please note this trial is no longer recruiting patients.

This trial is looking at a new type of scan called a Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) scan to find out if it can help to diagnose and treat children and young people who have a brain tumour of the brain stem. This trial is for children and young people up to the age of 21. We use the term ‘you’, but of course if you are a parent, we are referring to your child.

A small number of children and teenagers have a brain stem tumour. The brain stem runs down from the centre of the brain and connects with the spinal cord.

A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan is one of the tests used to diagnose and follow the treatment of children with brain stem tumours. This scan uses magnetism to build up a picture of the brain. It can tell the doctors where in the brain your tumour is and how big it is. If you have treatment, such as radiotherapy, an MRI scan can also pick up any tumour that has left behind. So this test is a good way of finding out how well treatment has worked. But this scan does not give the doctors all the information they would like.

A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) scan is similar to an MRI scan. Earlier trials suggest that the MRS scans may also be able to give information about the type of brain tumour, how quickly it is growing and whether certain treatments will work. The doctors running this trial want to find out if this is the case.

By using MRS scans in several hospitals in the UK, doctors aim to collect a lot of information about this test that will hopefully help them to understand brain stem tumours better and to improve their treatment.

Recruitment

Start 01/10/2004

End 04/05/2012

Phase

Other

Who can enter

You can enter this trial if you

Have a brain tumour of the midbrain, pons or medulla and this can be confirmed with an MRI scan
Are a patient at one of the hospitals taking part in this trial
Are between 0 and up to 21 years

You cannot enter this trial if you

Can't have a scan using magnetic resonance for medical reasons
Are over the age of 21 years at diagnosis

Trial design

If you take part in this trial, you will have regular MRS scans. You will still have routine MRI scans, either at a separate appointment or at the same time as the MRS.

You will have these scans at the start of the trial or when you are first diagnosed and at various points after treatments. These appointments will be arranged with you on an individual basis and your doctor will explain when and how often they will take place.

If you have surgery to treat your brain tumour, the doctors may also ask you if you can be part of another study, related to this one. The trial doctors will ask if they can take a small sample of the tumour that is removed during your operation. They will also ask for a blood test. This blood and the appearance of the tumour sample in the laboratory will then be compared to the results of the MRS scans. This is called a ‘biological study’- it is looking at the biology of brain tumours.

If you do not want you to take in the biological study, you can say no. You can still take part in this MRS scan trial.

Hospital visits

In some hospitals, a MRS scan is carried out routinely as part of an MRI scan. Your MRI scan can take about 30 to 45 minutes. The MRS scan will add about 10 to 15 minutes on to the length of the scan.

In other hospitals, an MRS scan is not carried out routinely as part of an MRI scan. If this applies to your hospital, you will have a routine MRI scan, then an MRS scan. Your doctor will tell you whether you will have one scan or two separate scans. Two separate scans may involve 2 separate visits to the hospital.

Side effects

You would have MRI scans as part of your diagnosis and treatment, whether you take part in this trial or not. These scans are used routinely for children and young people with brain tumours.

You can read more about having this scan by clicking on MRI scan.

MRI and MRS scans are similar scans, so possible side effects are the same. The only difference is that with an MRI scan, you may have an injection of a dye into a vein in your arm, to help make the pictures clearer.

MRI and MRS scan are completely painless, although you will need to lie still during the test and the machinery is very noisy. You may also feel ‘closed in‘ or claustrophobic because the table you lie on will move into a tube or cylinder while the scan is carried out.

Depending on your age and how you feel about having a scan, the doctor may talk to you about having sedation to help you relax or to put you to sleep during the test. You will be offered some headphones to protect your ears from the noise, you may be able to listen to music.