New breast cancer clinical trial comes to South Australia

A new clinical trial funded by Icon Cancer Foundation is now underway at Icon Cancer Centre Windsor Gardens in South Australia, aiming to set a new standard of care for breast cancer treatment, with patient experience front and centre.

Initiated and designed by Radiation Oncologist and breast cancer specialist Professor John Boyages AM, the PUMA clinical trial compares two internationally recognised radiation doses used for partial breast irradiation (PBI) to help determine the best standard of care for women undergoing radiotherapy for early-stage breast cancer.

Now activated at Windsor Gardens, PUMA will be led by Principal Investigator and Radiation Oncologist Dr Scott Carruthers, with hopes to expand the study across Australia.

A simple trial with a global impact

Radiation dosing practices vary widely around the world, with no definitive answer on the optimal dose.

While multiple studies have tested shortened radiation regimens, very few have directly compared the patient-reported quality of life outcomes between different doses.

The PUMA study will compare 30 Gy versus 26 Gy – both delivered over five consecutive days – to assess which delivers the best outcomes in terms of tumour control and patient quality of life.

“PUMA is a quality-of-life study,” says Professor John Boyages. “It’s a simple trial but it could change practice. If the patient experience is the same for the higher dose – if there’s no difference in fatigue, skin changes or how the breast looks and feels – then we can support that dose as a new standard of care.”

For three-years PUMA will collect patient data on a variety of quality-of-life measures including breast appearance, sensitivity, pain, fatigue, mood, quality of sleep and ability to perform daily activities – all the questions which matter most to patients living with the after-effects of treatments.

Dr Scott Carruthers says the findings aim to guide best-practice radiation dosing, supporting more effective, personalised, and tolerable treatment options for women around the world.

“The PUMA trial is a very significant study as it will provide important data on the optimal radiation dose, potentially shaping practice worldwide. It will also help establish partial breast radiotherapy (PBI), with its clear advantages of less side effects, as a standard of care in selected patients“, Dr Carruthers said.

As the trial continues, there’s hope it can expand to more Icon Cancer Centre locations across Australia.