§ Lord Ironsideasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the randomised clinical trial (START), designed to establish whether or not fraction sizes greater than 2 Gy lead to improved results in radiotherapy treatment for breast cancer, has begun; what the total cost of the trial is expected to be; how many United Kingdom Radiotherapy Treatment Centres have qualified as participants and when the trial will be completed. [HL3110]
§ Baroness HaymanThe United Kingdom Co-ordinating Committee on Cancer Research (UKCCCR) Standardisation of Breast Radiotherapy (START) Trial has not yet begun. It is hoped to begin in the autumn.
Costs for the study are as follows:
We understand that 28 centres are currently waiting to be registered by the radiotherapy Quality Assurance team, which has so far visited and checked 13 of these centres.
Main START Trial: £714,317 Radiotherapy Quality Assurance programme: £452,177 Health economic evaluation: £9,060 The Trial will last for five years.