Around 1 in 5 people diagnosed with cancer in the UK take part in a clinical trial.
A study looking at a way to check if chemotherapy is working for non Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma (BiLD)
Cancer type:
Blood cancers
High grade lymphoma
Hodgkin lymphoma
Low grade lymphoma
Lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Status:
Results
Phase:
Other
This study compared MRI scans with PET-CT scans to see how well chemotherapy for non Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma was working.
This study was open between 2014 and 2017 for people to join. These results were written up in 2018.
More about this trial
Doctors use chemotherapy to treat non Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma. During treatment they use CT scans or PET-CT scans to see if the treatment was working.
For these scans you need to have a small amount of 
either as a drink or injection.
In this study the researchers wanted to see if they could use a particular type of MRI scan called Diffusion Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging. It looks at the movement of water which shows up differently in cancer tissue and healthy tissue. So you don’t need to have any radioactive substance for this scan.
The team wanted to see if the Diffusion Weighted Magnetic Resonance Scan could predict how well chemotherapy was working.
Summary of results
The researchers found that the MRI scan was able to show how well chemotherapy was working.
About this study
11 people joined this study. Everyone had a PET-CT scan and an MRI scan:
- before starting chemotherapy
- 8 days later
- and 6 weeks after finishing chemotherapy
Results
The researchers compared the PET-CT scans and the MRI scans of each person:
- before starting chemotherapy
- and 8 days later of each person
They found that the PET-CT scans and the MRI scans at both times showed the same result for everyone.
Conclusion
These results suggest that an MRI scan was able to show how well chemotherapy worked. But the number of people in this study was small and a larger study with more people would confirm this.
Where this information comes from
We have based this summary on information from the research team. As far as we are aware, the information they sent us has not been reviewed independently () or published in a medical journal yet. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Recruitment start:
Recruitment end:
How to join a clinical trial
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.
Chief Investigator
Dr Shireen Kassam
Supported by
Elimination of Leukaemia Fund
King's College London
Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
Freephone 0808 800 4040
Last review date
CRUK internal database number:
12350
Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.
Around 1 in 5 people take part in clinical trials
