Improving Quality of Life in Rectal Cancer Patients: Development and Evaluation of a MRI-guided Radiation Boost Strategy

Abstract

The 'cohort multiple Randomized Controlled Trial' design is an efficient and representative alternative to collect patient-reported outcomes and to evaluate experimental treatments in a routine care setting. It was implemented succesfully in a routine care rectal cancer setting and has resulted in satisfactory response rates to questionnaire and rates of patients randomized in trials. Since boost radiation can be used to increase the rate of pathological responses in rectal cancer patients undergoing chemoradiation, a new MRI-guided treatment was developed and is currently being evaluated using the cmRCT design in order to increase the percentage of patients that can proceed to organ-preserving treatment stratagies instead of radical surgery. Thereby, boost radiation aims to improve patients' qualty of life.