First site activated in EORTC STARBURST-1, the research project on muscle-invasive bladder cancer

The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) has activated the first site for the EORTC-2418-GUCG. Starburst-1 is a downstream project of the 1553-SPECTA platform, investigating the use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and the application of a scoring system (NacVI-RADS) to assess tumour response to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT).

About Starburst-1

Currently, patients diagnosed with muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) are scheduled for neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) immediately followed by surgery or radiotherapy. Because radiological and endoscopic assessment of response to NAT is suboptimal, patients proceed directly to radical treatment without any local re-assessment. With the risks and complications associated with cystectomy, not to mention the body image alteration, there is a growing interest in “bladder sparing” approaches.

This is not possible until clinical tools are validated to identify patients that could, if complete or near complete response were accurately diagnosed, benefit from bladder sparing strategies. This downstream project of the 1553-SPECTA platform will investigate the use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and the application of a scoring system (NacVI-RADS) to assess tumour response to NAT. In addition, the presence of circulating tumour DNA and urine tumour DNA will be investigated as well as molecular classifications of MIBC to demonstrate prognostic and treatment relevance. By combining all these elements, Starburst-1 aims to help identify patients most likely to respond to standard-of-care neoadjuvant therapy, supporting more personalised treatment decisions in muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Participating sites and collaborations

The activation of the first site marks a significant milestone for this important project, which will involve 20 centres across Europe. The study is led by EORTC’s Genito-Urinary Cancer Group (GUCG) and supported by La Ligue contre le cancer as academic partner. Industry support is provided by Ferring, Veracyte and Cepheid.

“The SPECTA platform is supported by Alliance Healthcare. Alliance Healthcare will become Cencora.”