A Phase 2 interventional study of IMRT in Pancreatic Cancer, sponsored by Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-08.
Sponsored by Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust · Phase 2, Interventional, and Supportive care
Pain from advanced pancreatic cancer is often difficult to control. This pain commonly occurs when the cancer affects a network of nerves in the abdomen called the coeliac plexus. Even strong pain medicines, including morphine and related drugs, may not give enough relief. Some patients may have a procedure called a coeliac plexus block, but this is invasive, not widely available, and does not always work.
Radiotherapy is widely used to relieve cancer-related pain in other cancers, but it is not commonly used in the UK for pancreatic cancer pain. Studies carried out in the United States and Amsterdam have investigated the use of radiotherapy to help control pain in pancreatic cancer and have shown benefit for many patients. However, these studies were not specifically designed to target the coeliac plexus nerve region, which is thought to be an important source of pain in pancreatic cancer.
Recent research suggests that radiotherapy directed at this nerve area may reduce pain in many patients with limited side effects. This study is therefore being carried out to investigate whether targeting this nerve area using a short course of radiotherapy can safely and effectively improve pain control in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
The radiotherapy in this study will be delivered using a widely available technique called Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). IMRT is an advanced form of radiotherapy that allows radiation beams to be shaped very precisely to the treatment area while reducing radiation exposure to nearby healthy tissues and organs. IMRT is routinely used in the NHS to treat many different types of cancer, including prostate, head and neck, lung, and gastrointestinal cancers. In this study radiotherapy is not being given with the intention of treating the cancer itself, but rather to help alleviate pain related to the cancer.
The main outcome we will measure is whether pain improves by a meaningful amount using a questionnaire called the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), which assesses pain severity and its impact on daily life. We will also measure changes in pain medication, treatment side effects, overall survival and patients' overall impression of change after treatment. Participants will be followed up for up to 12 months after radiotherapy treatment.
If this study shows a promising signal of benefit, radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer pain could become more widely used across the UK. Because IMRT is available at most radiotherapy centres, many patients could receive treatment closer to home.
3,896 studies on the registry are indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms; 1,007 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 52 is above the median of 47 across 2,932 interventional studies indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms.
Browse Pancreatic Neoplasms studies →Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is the lead sponsor of 273 studies on the registry; 53 are open to participants now.
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If the participant is receiving systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT), the following minimum must be achievable:
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
A planned gap after a treatment, so that its effects can lessen before the study treatment or a study assessment. Ask the study team and the doctor who prescribed it before changing any medicine.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Washout period
A planned gap after a treatment, so that its effects can lessen before the study treatment or a study assessment. Ask the study team and the doctor who prescribed it before changing any medicine.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants receiving IMRT to the Coeliac Plexus
Radiation: IMRT
IMRT to the Coeliac Plexus for pain management
To assess the clinical benefit of IMRT radiotherapy to the coeliac plexus in achieving a clinically meaningful reduction in participant-reported pain in participants with inoperable advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
Clinically meaningful pain response will be defined as a ≥30% reduction from baseline in the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Pain Severity Score, with either stability (no change from baseline) or reduction in opioid analgesic requirement as measured by oral morphine milligram equivalents (MME).
Time frame: 3 Years
No study locations are listed for this record.
Start is estimated for Sep 2026; primary completion for Sep 2029, 36 months later.
Of 324 non-industry phase 2 interventional studies under Pancreatic Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 60 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 36 and three quarters within 80. This study's planned 36 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 393 studies reached it within 57 months; a quarter within 35 and three quarters within 80.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Jul 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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