ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S5845

RTT - Education, training, advanced practice and role developments

ESTRO 2024

department in 2013. Ten years on, the aim of this study is to bridge the evidence gap by providing quantitative data on the impact of CTRs on RT trial set-up and recruitment.

Material/Methods:

One of the CTR roles is to maintain an up-to-date registry of all trials involving RT and requiring CTR involvement. A report was generated from EDGE v2, the local portfolio management system, which included Radiotherapy Management Group (RMG) approval date, trial opened and closed dates and recruitment figures for all relevant studies. The report underwent cross-verification with departmental records to identify any missing trials thereby ensuring data completeness. Data from 2012-2022 were included in the analysis and was sub-divided by RMG approval year. Duration to open a study was measured as the time between RMG approval and open date. The mean duration to open a study was calculated for each year. To adjust for COVID-related trial suspension, mean ‘COVID adjusted’ durations were calculated by subtracting 120 days for trials in set-up over that period. All trial related work was suspended for 4 months from April 2020. Individual trials restarted following a risk assessment, therefore 120 days was the minimum applicable suspension for each trial.

Annual trial recruitment and CTR whole time equivalent (WTE) positions were also calculated for each calendar year.

Results:

One hundred RT involved trials that utilised CTR resource were identified.

The annual number of RMG approved trials varied between 3 and 13, with an overall increase over time. Despite this increase, the mean time taken to open a trial decreased from 525.3 days in 2012 to 290 days in 2021 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Duration of trial set-up

The number of open studies increased from 9 in 2012 to 42 in 2022, during which period annual patient recruitment increased from 82 to 211 (Figure 2). There was a substantial decrease in patient recruitment during 2020, as expected, due to the COVID-related suspension of trial work that included patient recruitment.