IMAGE Trial

The IMAGE trial examines the effectiveness of PET scanning for patients with advanced ovarian cancer compared to CT scanning. 

Prior to surgery, ovarian cancer patients currently receive CT scans to determine the extent of the disease. Patients with disease outside of the abdomen usually then receive upfront chemotherapy rather than surgery. 

However, CT scans are not accurate enough and diagnostic errors are common.  Images of the chest can be blurred by breathing motion. ‘Gating’ is a technique that freezes the respiratory motion to improve images of the chest. IMAGE studies the value of gated PET/CT compared to current standard imaging techniques (CT scan) in patients with ovarian cancer. 

This study will allow us to diagnose the extent of cancer far more accurately than with current imaging methods.  This information will immediately assist clinical decision-making. 

As of November 2019 the trial has completed the recruitment phase, recruiting a total of 84 patients from both the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital and Mater Health Services.