ACORRN was established in response to the sharp decline in the number of clinical academics and radiation biologists over the past ten years. The network was launched in 2005 to help revitalise radiotherapy and radiobiology research in the UK by networking and supporting individuals and groups. ACORRN is governed by a Steering Committee, comprising members of the UK research community and receives advice from an International Scientific Advisory Committee. Since its inception ACORRN has established a national office to support researchers, providing practical advice and assistance on funding streams, grant applications, ethics legislation and approval as well as facilitating collaborative research meetings. ACORRN has also developed several working parties, research interest groups and an interactive website (www.acorrn.org) which is actively used within the research community. The website serves as a hub of information allowing researchers to locate and contact each other and search for information on projects, institutions and opportunities, quickly and easily.
Background: Treatment related toxicity is common after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Our group has developed and validated an electronic Patient Reported Outcome questionnaire (ePRO) to assess symptoms and toxicity in lung cancer patients receiving (chemo)radiotherapy treatment. We assessed the need for volunteer support in clinics to assist patients in completing ePROs. Methods: Lung Cancer patients attending outpatient or radiotherapy clinics at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester were consented and asked to complete a Patient Reported Outcomes questionnaire using an electronic device (a touchscreen). Trained volunteers were available if patients required help such as verbal or physical assistance. The primary objective was to determine the need for volunteers to assist lung cancer patients in completing ePROs. Results: 27/86 (31.4%) of patients who consented to this study required assistance to complete the ePRO. After questioning, we found that only 7/86 (8.1%) would have relied on volunteers for assistance as the majority of patients had a companion that could have provided help. 81/86 (94.2%) of patients were satisfied with the use of a touchscreen tablet to complete the ePRO. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the introduction of ePROs in lung cancer outpatient clinics is feasible, even without the use of volunteers for the majority of patients. The implementation of ePROs would allow large volumes of high quality (chemo)radiotherapy toxicity data to be collected accurately and quickly. This is essential for the development of predictive models of outcome using populationbased data, which could allow the personalisation of (chemo)radiotherapy treatment for lung cancer patients.
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