RIA (Research and Innovation Action)
ImmunoSABR is funded by the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. Grant No 733008.
01/01/2017 – 31/12/2024 (7 years)
Maastricht University
VIEW PARTNERS >Technical University of Denmark
Academic Hospital Maastricht
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Universita Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore
Netherlands Cancer Institute
Universitair Ziekenhuis Ghent
Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc
Centre Oscar Lambret
University of Tübingen
University College London
Technische Universitaet Dresden
Stichting Katholieke Universiteit
Philogen
Health Innovation Ventures
ptTheragnostic
European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC)
Metastatic cancer is responsible for 90% of cancer deaths worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises 85% of all lung cancer cases. The majority of patients are diagnosed at the time of metastatic disease (stage IV), when treatment options are limited and 5-year survival rates are drastically reduced (<6% in stage IV). These patients nearly always develop multidrug resistance to many forms of chemotherapy and targeted agents or immunotherapy work only in a fraction of patients.
NSCLC is an immunosensitive disease. Therefore, patients with limited metastatic NSCLC might be the first subgroup of patients to benefit from this novel approach to cancer therapy. The main objective of ImmunoSABR will be to obtain clinical proof of concept for our bi-modal curative treatment strategy, by conducting a randomised phase II clinical trial in patients with less than 10 metastases from Non Small Cell Lung Cancer. Predictions are that ImmunoSABR will prolong progression-free survival (PFS) while maintaining quality of life and at the price of only mild, transient toxicity.
Why it matters
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) comprises 85% of all lung cancer cases. The majority of these patients are diagnosed at the time the cancer has metastasised, meaning it has spread beyond the primary tumour. This is when treatment options are limited, and survival rates are very low. These patients mainly receive care to relieve pain, but without aiming to cure the cancer itself. Radiotherapy uses radiation to kill cancer cells, while immunotherapy uses the immune system to fight cancer, but neither provides a cure by itself. ImmunoSABR is treating NSCLC with fewer than 10 metastases with a combination of radiotherapy and immunotherapy, testing the synergistic effects of the two therapies. It is proposed that this will result in longer survival without progression of the disease. In February 2020 the first patients have been enrolled in the ImmunoSABR clinical trials. If you are also interested in the clinical trials, please leave us your contact here.
Find out more about ImmunoSABR clinical trials here
“Approximately half of all cancer patients should be given radiotherapy. However, at least a quarter of those who need it do not receive it. Clearly, this represents such a missed opportunity as we strive to optimise outcomes for cancer patients.”
Lydia Makaroff, ECPC Past DirectorWhat ECPC does
ECPC supports the management, dissemination and exploitation of the ImmunoSABR project. This entails conveying information about the ImmunoSABR trial to our own network, other relevant European patient organisations, and the public. ECPC is also organising a dedicated patient consultation session to discuss the ImmunoSABR trial, providing a platform for panel discussions with patients regarding clinical trial design. ECPC has already provided input for the development of the project’s informed consent forms and the related patient brochure. Furthermore, ECPC is hosting the final ImmunoSABR conference combined with a stakeholder workshop at the European Parliament to disseminate project results.

This project is funded by the European Union.
Publications
- Will immunotherapy really change radiotherapy?
- How Advances in Imaging Will Affect Precision Radiation Oncology.
- Fractal-based radiomic approach to predict complete pathological response after chemo-radiotherapy in rectal cancer.
- Non-linear conversion of HX4 uptake for automatic segmentation of hypoxic volumes and dose prescription.
- Multi-Scale Modeling and Oxygen Impact on Tumor Temporal Evolution: Application on Rectal Cancer During Radiotherapy.
- Development and validation of a radiomic signature to predict HPV (p16) status from standard CT imaging: a multicenter study.
- 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET)-Radiomics of metastatic lymph nodes and primary tumor in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) - A prospective externally validated study.
- More relevant publications