Background
Approximately half of all cancer patients receive radiotherapy as part of their cancer treatment. The dose of radiation given is limited because of a risk of damaging the normal tissues and organs that surround the tumour. Patients vary in how they react to radiation. About 5% of patients (5 out of every 100) are sensitive and at risk of having side effects. It is known that genetics influence a patient’s risk of developing side-effects and a number of assays/approaches have been explored to assess a patient’s sensitivity to radiation. In recent years, researchers have developed predictive models and biological tests to try to identify before the start of treatment those patients who are sensitive. However, these methods are not yet ready to use in the clinic.
Goal
The goal of the REQUITE project is to establish a multinational cohort of patients in order to validate known predictors and biomarkers of adverse reactions and late toxicity after radiotherapy and to eventually develop prediction models that can be useful when implemented in a clinical setting.
Methods
This multi-centre observational study is one of the largest study of its kind collecting blood samples and standardised data longitudinally from 4,400 cancer patients, including yearly follow-up data on side-effects following radiotherapy. Several hospitals in seven European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, UK) and in the US participate in this study. Patients were enrolled until 2017 and followed up in the first two to three years after radiotherapy. In Germany, hospitals in Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Freiburg, Darmstadt, Speyer, Ludwigshafen and Baden-Baden were involved.
This prospective observational study enables validation of models that predict a patient’s risk of developing long-term side-effects following radiotherapy. It will also allow for the validation of promising biomarkers / approaches and will be a unique (eventually widely accessible) resource for studying the relationships between side-effects and quality-of-life.
Since side-effects can occur years after treatment, assessment of symptoms beyond the first two years after treatment is important. Therefore, the follow-up of the patients is being extended to a minimum of five years after radiotherapy.
The REQUITE study 