APHRODITE – WIP

IRAS ID: 250957

Welcome to the APHRODITE websit

If you are taking part in the APHRODITE trial, we would like to say a huge thank you for your help in developing ways in which we can improve cancer treatments.

This website provides some useful information about the trial as follows:

Background – what early rectal cancer is and the standard treatment for it.
About Our Trial – summary of what the APHRODITE trial is about.
On the Trial – what will happen to you on the trial, including a diagram of the treatment schedule.
Documents – patient newsletters, Patient Information Sheet and Key Facts Sheet available for download.
Meet The Team – the team working on the trial.
Who is Responsible for the Data? – a link to who is responsible for the data on the trial.
Useful links – links to the funder website, Leeds Radiotherapy Research Group and the trial twitter page for healthcare professionals.
Useful information for healthcare professionals – ISRTCN and IRAS numbers, details and site specific newsletters.

Background

Patients with small rectal cancers (i.e., early back passage cancers) would normally have surgery to remove the whole rectum to treat their cancer. However, there are some patients who are not suitable for surgery or would prefer not to have surgery.

There can be multiple reasons for this. One reason is that surgery could be thought to be too risky due to other medical problems, increasing the risks of having surgery. Another reason could be that because the patient would have difficulty looking after a stoma (bowel bag) following surgery. Or it could simply be that the patient strongly prefers to explore other treatment options rather than surgery.

For these patients radiotherapy or ‘chemoradiotherapy’ can be used which just means that radiotherapy is given at the same time as chemotherapy. The radiotherapy is given over 5.5 weeks and can lead to the cancer disappearing in about one third of patients.

Meet the Team

Professor Simon Gollins

Consultant Clinical Oncologist

Co-Chief Investigator

Professor Gollins is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist. He was based at the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre from 1998-2022 and was Clinical Director of Oncology for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board from 2010-2021. In this NHS practice he was responsible for regular outpatient clinics at the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre and Wrexham Maelor Hospital. He is now based at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, where as a Clinical Oncologist he is responsible for treating patients with cancer with both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. His subspecialty interests are upper and lower gastrointestinal cancer.
Professor Gollins qualified in medicine in 1988 at the University of Oxford, where he also carried out 3 years of laboratory research for a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Following medical jobs in Bath and Birmingham he gained his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 1991.
His oncology training took place at the Christie Hospital Manchester where he gained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists in 1994 and at Velindre Hospital Cardiff where he was also a Consultant Clinical Oncologist prior to moving to North Wales.
Professor Gollins was a Consultant Clinical Oncologist based at the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre from 1998-2022 and was Clinical Director of Oncology for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board from 2010-2021. In this NHS practice he was responsible for regular outpatient clinics at the North Wales Cancer Treatment Centre and Wrexham Maelor Hospital. As a Clinical Oncologist he was responsible for treating patients with cancer with both radiotherapy and chemotherapy and his subspecialty interests are upper and lower gastrointestinal cancer.
Professor Gollins has previously been North Wales Clinical Lead for the Wales Cancer Research Network, was appointed Honorary Professor at Bangor University in 2018 and was Chair of the Colorectal Group of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) from 2017-2021.

Dr Ane Appelt

Radiotherapy Physicist and Associate Professor

Co-Chief Investigator

Ane Appelt is a clinical radiotherapy researcher, with a background in medical physics and oncology. She works part-time in the NHS, in the radiotherapy department at St James’s University Hospital, and part-time at University of Leeds, where she is an Associate Professor of Radiotherapy Physics. Her main research focus is on improving radiotherapy treatment for lower gastrointestinal cancers, especially minimizing long term treatment toxicity.

Ane has a background in physics, but has spent the last decade working on cancer research in clinical radiotherapy in the UK and Denmark. She has degrees from Durham and University of Southern Denmark, including a PhD in Oncology. She has trained as a medical physicist in multiple hospitals in Denmark, and is a registered clinical scientist in the UK. Additionally, she has held a postdoctoral position at Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, with several long stays as visiting researcher at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Dr Samantha Noutch

Senior Trial Manager

Clinical Trials Research Unit

Samantha Noutch is a senior clinical trial coordinator, with a background in early phase clinical trial project management. Samantha has experience in running clinical trials in a project management and site management setting for both the pharmaceutical industry and academic trials.

Samantha has a background in neuropsychopathology and biomedical science, specialising in pharmacology. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Bradford, England.

APHRODITE – WIP

Welcome to the APHRODITE websit

Background

About Our Trial

On the Trial

Documents

Meet the Team

Professor Simon Gollins

Dr Ane Appelt

Dr Samantha Noutch

Who is Responsible for the Data

Useful Links

Useful Information for healthcare professionals

Who is Responsible for the Data

Useful Links