Proton beam clinical trial first for Velindre

Team Proton Beam

12 November 2024

APPROACH is a clinical trial looking at proton beam therapy for people with a brain tumour called oligodendroglioma and is the first of its kind for brain tumours at Velindre.

Patients with this type of brain tumour first have surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. The next step is usually radiotherapy followed by chemotherapy.

Standard brain radiotherapy for oligodendroglioma can cause long-term side effects that can develop years after treatment. These can include memory problems and difficulty processing information, both of which can impact on the patient’s quality of life.

In the APROACH trial, patients are randomised into two groups – one group receives standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the other group has proton beam therapy and chemotherapy. Researchers will compare the two groups, assessing side effects, quality of life and survival rates.

Proton beam therapy is an advanced type of radiotherapy that uses a beam of highly charged proton particles to target the tumour and deliver smaller doses of radiotherapy to the healthy brain.

Dr James Powell is co-investigator on this clinical trial. 
“We do not expect any difference in controlling tumour growth between the two types of radiotherapy, as proton beam therapy delivers the same dose of radiotherapy to patients as the standard treatment.  

“What we will measure is whether using this targeted form of radiotherapy reduces the side effects and improves the quality of life for patients with oligodendroglioma.

“To assess the long-term side effects, we will monitor all patients for five years after their treatment.

“This is an exciting new treatment option for patients on the clinical trial and we hope this will lead to advancements in care for people with this specific type of brain tumour.”

Bethan Thomas is the first patient in Wales to receive proton beam therapy on the APPROACH clinical trial.

“I was planning to have radiotherapy anyway, outside of the trial. But being part of the trial meant even if I was randomised to receive radiotherapy, I would be closely monitored with regular visits with the consultant and regular scans for five years.

“Proton beam therapy isn’t widely available to everybody, and it certainly isn’t available in Wales so to have the potential to take part in the trial and have the best treatment, it was a bit of a no brainer for me!”

Proton beam therapy is only available in two NHS centres in the UK – University College Hospital in London and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester. Patients from Wales will have their proton beam therapy at University College London Hospital in London.

APPROACH is led by researchers at the University of Leeds and is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Medical Research Council (MRC) partnership.