Austin, Texas-based Seton Healthcare Family, Dallas-based Texas Oncology, the Austin (Texas) Radiological Association and The University of Texas at Austin have developed a clinical partnership to study how advanced imaging methods may help fight and treat breast cancer.
The clinical study aims to use advanced MRI technology and analysis to make early predictions on how a patient's specific tumor will respond to chemotherapy, radiation therapy or hormone therapy before surgery.
Researchers plan to enroll 100 breast cancer patients from Seton Healthcare Family and Texas Oncology in the study, which officially began Oct. 1. Patients will be scanned with MRI equipment from Seton Healthcare Family, UT Austin and the Austin Radiological Association. The data from the MRI scans, combined with computer simulations and algorithms, will allow researchers to calculate how an individual’s body responds to therapy by measuring biological responses, including cell growth and how blood vessels deliver blood.
In previous clinical trials, research models correctly predicted patient outcomes with an 88 percent accuracy rate for a 42-person group.
Data collected during the clinical study will not be used to treat participants. Researchers will conduct a follow-up study in which they share data with physicians to help guide therapy if the initial study proves successful.
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