TYPE: New Zealand feasibility study
STATUS: In Follow Up
GCF CONTRIBUTION: $25,000

GCF donors are funding access to the MASTERPLAN clinical trial for 5 patients across 2 sites in the Christchurch and Wellington.

This randomised phase II trial will determine if the addition of SBRT to chemotherapy improves locoregional control for patients with high-risk operable, borderline resectable (BRPC) and locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC).

Surgical removal of tumour is the only potentially curative treatment for pancreatic cancer, but tumour recurs at the original site in approximately half of all patients. Any treatments that improve the rate of surgical removal of the tumour are likely to increase overall survival. In patients who cannot be cured, tumour growth in the pancreas often shortens life span and worsens quality of life by invading surrounding tissues. Treatments that control the growth in the pancreas may lengthen life and improve quality of life.

In patients with tumours that are too advanced for surgery (“locally advanced”) and those for whom surgery has a low chance of removing all tumour (“high risk” and “borderline resectable”), the standard of care is initial chemotherapy followed by reassessment of suitability for surgery.

SBRT enables the dose of radiotherapy to be increased by more precisely targeting the tumour, while avoiding surrounding tissue. This technique has been shown to improve survival rates and to reduce side effects in the treatment of other cancers, such as lung cancer, in comparison to standard external beam radiotherapy. It is hypothesised that SBRT may increase pancreatic tumour cell death, reduce the likelihood of cancer being left behind after surgery and therefore reduce the likelihood of tumour recurrence at the original site. In patients for who surgery is not possible, SBRT may delay tumour growth in the pancreas, resulting in longer survival and improved quality of life.