RESPECT is enrolling!
The Registry on Percutaneous Electrochemotherapy (RESPECT) enrolled its first patient in January. RESPECT is a prospective observational study collecting data from patients with liver malignancies treated by percutaneous electrochemotherapy (pECT). The study aims to enrol 250 participants from different centres in Europe within the next two years, making it the first large-scale multicentric study on pECT for liver cancer.
Six institutions from three European countries have already been recruited: Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos (Vilnius, LT); University Hospital Regensburg (Rengensburg, DE); Braunschweig Municipal Hospital (Braunschweig, DE); Helios Park-Hospital Leipzig (Leipzig, DE), the European Institute of Oncology (Milan, IT) and MediClin Robert Janker Hospital (Bonn, DE). Three more, located in Italy, the UK, and Hungary, are expected to join shortly.
Dr. Lukas Luerken is the principal investigator at the University Hospital Regensburg, where the first patient was enrolled and treated:
CIRSE: What are your expectations regarding RESPECT?
Luerken: Percutaneous ECT is a relatively new method for the minimally invasive treatment of cancerous liver lesions and shows very promising results in first case series and case reports. Hopefully, RESPECT will help to provide a deeper understanding of the clinical value of pECT and the potential benefits of this innovative treatment method for patients with liver malignancies which could not be treated in a local curative manner in the past.
CIRSE: What is your motivation for participating in such a study, and where do you see the value in scientific societies like CIRSE conducting independent clinical research?
Luerken: Participating in international, multicentric studies which are sponsored by leading and independent scientific societies like CIRSE is very important to me, because these projects give physicians and researchers like me the opportunity to aggregate and coordinate research results to generate relevant clinical evidence for innovative treatment methods and grow the importance of IR. Without the support of an experienced and renowned society, this kind of multicentric and international collaboration would probably not be possible.
CIRSE: What are your expectations regarding RESPECT?
Luerken: Percutaneous ECT is a relatively new method for the minimally invasive treatment of cancerous liver lesions and shows very promising results in first case series and case reports. Hopefully, RESPECT will help to provide a deeper understanding of the clinical value of pECT and the potential benefits of this innovative treatment method for patients with liver malignancies which could not be treated in a local curative manner in the past.
CIRSE: What is your motivation for participating in such a study, and where do you see the value in scientific societies like CIRSE conducting independent clinical research?
Luerken: Participating in international, multicentric studies which are sponsored by leading and independent scientific societies like CIRSE is very important to me, because these projects give physicians and researchers like me the opportunity to aggregate and coordinate research results to generate relevant clinical evidence for innovative treatment methods and grow the importance of IR. Without the support of an experienced and renowned society, this kind of multicentric and international collaboration would probably not be possible.
If you are interested in participating in RESPECT or would like to receive further information on the research project, please contact:
Claire Poulet | RESPECT project manager
[email protected] | [email protected]