There are plenty of terms and acronyms in the medical field. Below, we have listed some that you may hear in relation to this study.
5-ALA 5-AminoLevulinic Acid – also known as the Pink Drink.
Blinded - A blinded clinical trial means that one or more parties are unaware of the treatment being received.
CI - Chief Investigator; this is the person who has designed, conducts, and is responsible for reporting the study.
CRF - Case Report Form; documents used in a trial to collect data from patients.
CTU - Clinical Trials Unit; a specialist unit that has been set up specifically to design, conduct, analyse, and publish clinical trials and studies.
DFS - Deterioration Free Survival
DSMC - Data Safety and Monitoring Committee; an independent group of experts who monitor patient safety and treatment efficacy data while a clinical trial is ongoing, and can recommend the continuation or termination of a trial.
DTI - Diffusion Tensor Imaging. A refinement of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that allows the doctor to measure the flow of water and track the pathways of white matter in the brain. DTI is able to detect abnormalities in the brain that do not show up on standard MRI scans.
Economic analysis - Analysis of trial data, alongside costs of the medical therapy under study, so that cost-effectiveness of treatments can be assessed.
EORTC - European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer
GCP - Good Clinical Practice; it is the international ethical, scientific, and practical standard to which all clinical research is conducted.
GP - General Practitioner
GTR - Gross Total Resection
HRA - Health Research Authority
HRQoL - Health Related Quality of Life
ICF - Informed Consent Form
IDEAL - Idea, Development, Exploration, Assessment, Long-term study
ITT - Intention To Treat
iUS - Intraoperative Ultrasound
MDT - Multi Disciplinary Team
mHz - Mega Hertz
mm - millimetre
MOCA - The Montreal Cognitive Assessment
MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
NDS - Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences; a multi-disciplinary research department whose mission is to lead discovery, innovation and education in surgical sciences.
NIHR - National Institute for Health Research; this is the organisation that has funded this study.
NHS - National Health Service
NiUS - Navigated Intraoperative Ultrasound
OCTRU - Oxford Clinical Trials Research Unit.
OS - Overall Survival.
PFS - Progression Free Survival
PI - Principal Investigator; the person delegated responsible for the leadership and conduct of a research study at their site.
PIL - Participant/ Patient Information Leaflet
PPI - Patient and Public Involvement; a PPI Representative usually is someone who has had either personal experience of the health condition being studied, or someone not involved with the trial design, so as to provide a different perspective, that can help with enrolment of participants and retaining participants until the trial has finished.
Protocol - A document that describes how a clinical trial will be conducted, and ensures the safety of the trial subjects and integrity of the data collected.
QLQ - Quality of Life Questionnaire
QLQ-BN20 - Quality of Life Questionnaire Brain
QLQ-C30 - Quality of Life Questionnaire Cancer
QoL - Quality of Life
R&D - NHS Trust R&D Department
Randomisation - A process of allocating patients to the different treatment arms we are assessing in this study. It is the best way of ensuring that the results of trials are not biased by the way participants are selected.
REC - Research Ethics Committee
RGEA - Research Governance, Ethics & Assurance Team, University of Oxford
SITU - Surgical Intervention Trials Unit
SOP - Standard Operating Procedure
Sponsor - An individual, company, institution, or organisation which takes responsibility for the initiation, management and/or financing of a clinical trial.
TMG - Trial Management Group; this includes individuals responsible for day-to-day management of the trial, and to monitor all aspects of the conduct and progress of the trial.
TMZ - Temozolomide
TSC - Trial Steering Committee; this is to provide the overall supervision of the trial, the members of which should be independent of investigators, funders, and sponsors, and will consider and act on recommendations of the Data Safety and Monitoring Committee (DSMC).
UKCRC - United Kingdom Clinical Research Collaboration.
US - Ultrasound
WHO - World Health Organisation
