Can a clear surgical margin be achieved in ewing sarcoma of the extremities when based on measurements from post-chemotherapy imaging?
Richard Craig, Tim Theologis, Max Gibbons and Nick Athanasou
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, University of Oxford
The aim of surgery is to completely remove the primary tumour and reconstruct the affected area to allow near-normal functioning of the bone.
Currently, surgical plans are made based on the appearance of the tumour before chemotherapy takes place. As chemotherapy shrinks the tumour, it is thought that this method of planning results in an unnecessary amount of healthy tissue being surgically removed alongside the tumour. This study will recruit patients of all ages suffering from Ewing sarcoma to measure the surgically removed tumour specimens and determine if a new surgical plan is worth implementing.
It is hoped that this project will lead to new surgical plans being made after chemotherapy has taken place, and the tumour is smaller, to achieve a safer and less aggressive surgical procedure. Overall this aims to maintain a larger amount of normal, healthy, tissue following surgery to reduce any long-term functional burden patients may face.
Read Richard Craig's Strictly Research presentation.