EVALUATE

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Evaluation of multi parametric magnetic resonance imaging for characterising lymph node status, peritoneal and liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer

Funder: David Telling Trust and UHBristol Research Capability Funding (RCF)

Sponsor: University Hospitals Bristol

REC Number: 16/SW/0105

Status: In Follow Up

Whipple’s procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy) is the most common operation to treat pancreatic cancer.  It is a complex procedure, involving the removal of part of the pancreas and the first part of the small intestine (duodenum). The operation is only beneficial if the cancer has not spread outside the pancreas.   Doctors currently determine whether the cancer has spread by using a computed tomography (CT) scan to take pictures of the pancreas and surrounding organs. The CT scan does not pick up small tumours, so some patients have surgery unnecessarily, since their cancer spread can only be assessed visually when the abdomen is opened at surgery.  In these patients the Whipple’s procedure does not go ahead.

The EVALUATE study is looking at using another type of scan, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, to determine if small tumours that may have spread from the pancreas can be picked up.

The study will recruit 30 patients who are referred for surgery and ask them to undergo a MRI scan before surgery at CRIC Bristol.

The MRI will be assessed after the patients have had their surgical treatment. Doctors will attempt to identify from the MRI scan whether the cancer has spread and make a decision based on the MRI if the patient should have been referred for surgery or not.

The decision to proceed with the surgery based on the MRI scan will then be compared with the same decision made by the surgeon at surgery. If the MRI is good at doing this, it will improve the decision making process and prevent unnecessary surgery in some patients who are currently referred for a Whipple’s procedure.

Contact Information

Chief Investigator: Mr Reyad Abbadi, Consultant Surgeon, Bristol Royal Infirmary

E-mail: evaluate-study@bristol.ac.uk