The five-year SMART trial will test a faster, patient-friendly radiation schedule for glioblastoma, giving patients more time away from the clinic without compromising care.
Australian researchers have launched a national clinical trial to slash treatment time and improve quality of life for people with glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
The five-year Streamlining GlioblastoMA Radiation Therapy (SMART) trial, led by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), has secured $1.49 million from the Medical Research Future Fund’s National Critical Research Infrastructure – Innovative Trials scheme to test a faster, more patient-friendly radiation schedule.
Glioblastoma carries a grim prognosis, with average survival of just 12 to 18 months and more than half of patients dying within two years. Standard care requires six weeks of daily radiation therapy in addition to surgery and chemotherapy.
The SMART trial will condense treatment to four weeks using slightly higher doses per session, aiming to maintain disease control while cutting patients’ hospital time by a third.
Dr Joseph Sia, clinician researcher at WEHI’s Brain Cancer Research Laboratory and neuro-radiation oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital, will lead the trial.
“Treatment for brain cancer can be a challenging and exhausting journey – physically and emotionally,” Dr Sia said.
“We know time is precious for our patients so if we can cut the days they spend in hospital and give them more time to spend with those they love, this will make an enormous difference to their quality of life.”
The trial unites a multidisciplinary team of specialists in radiation oncology, medical oncology, neurosurgery, neuroimaging, health economics, biostatistics and bioinformatics.
WEHI chief investigators include Dr Lucy Gately, head of Neuro-Oncology at The Alfred Hospital, and Dr Jim Whittle, neuro-oncologist at Peter Mac and the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Co-Head of Research Strategy at The Brain Cancer Centre.
The phase 3 randomised controlled trial will embed within the Brain Registry Australia: Innovation and TraNslation (BRAIN) clinical registry and run with the Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO).
Recruitment is set to begin this year, targeting 330 patients invited by their treating clinicians at participating hospitals.
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Other collaborating investigators include Associate Professor Eng-Siew Koh (Liverpool Hospital, University of New South Wales), Professor Georgia Halkett (Curtin University), Professor Haryana Dhillon (University of Sydney), Dr Elena Meshcheriakova (University of Technology Sydney), Professor Mark Pinkham (Princess Alexandra Hospital), Associate Professor Andrew Morokoff (Royal Melbourne Hospital, University of Melbourne), Professor Martin Ebert (University of Western Australia) and Associate Professor Arian Lasocki (Peter Mac).
WEHI’s Brain Cancer Research Laboratory is supported by The Brain Cancer Centre, founded by Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer and established in partnership with WEHI with support from the Victorian Government.
