Pilot Investigation of Ultrasound Imaging and Spectroscopy as Early Indicators of Locally- Advanced Breast Cancer Response to Neoadjuvant Treatment
This work explores the possibility of using ultrasound imaging and spectroscopy as a way of monitoring cell death, hence, tumour response to treatment. The hypothesis here is that it can be used as a way of monitoring early response to cancer treatment and predicting which patients continue on in their therapy to have a complete pathological response as a primary endpoint and tumour size decrease as a secondary endpoint. If this work is successful it could be used in the future early on in a cancer patient's treatment to predict whether or not a course of chemotherapy or radiotherapy is going to be successful. For example, in patients in which the analysis indicates a poor response the chemotherapy regimen could be changed to a more efficacious one or for those receiving radiotherapy predicted to have a poor response a radiosensitizing agent could be used to improve outcome.
• Histologically or cytologically confirmed locally advanced breast carcinoma which has not been treated with any first-line therapy and will be treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy or neoadjuvant combined chemo-radiotherapy
• Measurable disease by ultrasound, or MRI performed within 28 days prior to treatment
• Eastern Co-operative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status of 0 or 1
• Life expectancy of at least 6 months
• Patients should have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document. Signed informed consent must be obtained prior to any study specific procedures