Informing a clinical trial into re-irradiation

What’s the title of the study?

STA:RTUPP (second time around re-irradiation treatment using protons or photons).

What’s the study about?

Sometimes, when someone has had radiotherapy to treat cancer, they need a second course of radiotherapy to the same part of the body at a later date. This can happen when they develop a new cancer in the same body part. This is called re-irradiation. 

During a first course of radiotherapy, the healthy parts that surround a cancer get some radiotherapy. And with re-irradiation these healthy parts get more radiotherapy. This means that re-irradiation can sometimes have a higher risk of serious side-effects compared to the first course of radiotherapy. 

Modern radiotherapy is good at targeting the cancer and not the healthy parts of the body. And certain new techniques, such as Proton Beam Therapy or MR-linac could give even more targeted therapy, and be a more effective way to give re-irradiation. 

Researchers hope to carry our clinical trials on these new techniques to find out which cancers they’re most effective for, and whether they’re effective treatment options.

They first want to find out how people affected by breast cancer feel about these types of treatments, in order to shape their trial.

Who’s organising it?

Name of project lead: Dr Louise Murray

Job title: Yorkshire Cancer Research Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant Clinical Oncologist

Organisation: University of Leeds

Email address: startupp@leeds.ac.uk

Phone number: 0113 206 8952

Who can take part?

You can take part if you or someone close to you have been offered re-irradiation. 

Why do you want me to be involved? 

By sharing your opinions, you’ll help researches understand what matters to people affected by breast cancer, who may need re-irradiation, or support someone through the treatment.

This will help them develop a trial that could inform how people receive re-irradiation in the future, and reduce the side effects that people experience.

What will you ask me to do?

You’ll be invited to an interview with the researchers, which can be over the phone or via video call.

The interview will last about 1.5 hours and will be scheduled at a time that works for you.

During the call, you’ll be asked about topics such as:

• How you feel about re-irradiation as a treatment option 
• Whether you have any concerns about re-irradiation 
• How you feel about clinical trials for new treatments
• Whether you’d be interested in helping to shape a clinical trial

You’ll be offered a £20 voucher to thank you for your time.

How do I get involved?

If you have any questions, or would like to get involved, please get in touch with the research team by emailing startupp@leeds.ac.uk, or calling 0113 206 8952. Or you can text 0771 908 5743.

When’s the deadline?

31 May 2025