A study looking at setting up a database about bone health (BOnD)

Cancer type:

All cancer types

Status:

Open

Phase:

Other

Researchers want to collect information to better understand why and how cancer affects the health of bones. All of the information will be kept on a database.

This study is open to people attending The Christies NHS Foundation Trust.

More about this trial

A diagnosis of cancer can affect the bones. It can cause thinning of the bones and mean you have a higher risk of breaking them (fractures). There are many reasons for this, including:

your general health
cancer treatment
being less active because you have cancer and are having or have had treatment

In this study, researchers want to find out more about how the reasons above affect people’s bone health. They also want to find out more about how genes Open a glossary item affect bone health. To do this they want to set up a database to collect this information.

They hope that the information on the database can help doctors in the future to better assess a person’s risk to their bone health.

The aims of the study are to find out:

whether it is possible to set up a bone health database of people who have cancer
more about the risks to bone health
more about how a person’s genes might affect bone health

Who can enter

The following bullet points are a summary of the entry conditions for this study. Talk to your doctor or the study team if you are unsure about any of these. They will be able to advise you.

Who can take part

You may be able to join this trial if you are at least 18 years old and have or had cancer. And at least one of the following apply, you:

have been referred to The Christie Hospital for a bone density scan
have been referred to the metabolic bone clinic at The Christie Hospital
had another scan at The Christie Hospital that showed you had a bone fracture

Trial design

This is a feasibility study Open a glossary item . The team need up to 200 people to join.

You go to the metabolic bone clinic at The Christie Hospital for an appointment. This takes about an hour and is part of the standard of care of the metabolic bone clinic.

At the appointment you will:

•   have a physical examination Open a glossary item
•   have a bone density scan
•   have blood tests taken
•   have a grip test and jumping test to assess your muscle strength
•   have an assessment of your muscles and bones
•   fill in questionnaires about your quality of life and bone health

The team will also take an extra blood sample and a spit (saliva) sample. They will use these to look at your genes to find out more about how this might affect your bone health.

The study team will look at your medical records to find out the results of these tests. They will contact your GP for more information about your health. If you have been to other hospitals the team will contact them for the results of scans you had there.

All the information is stored on a safe and secure database. You will not be able to be identified by any of the information stored on the database.

Hospital visits

After your initial visit to the metabolic bone clinic, you go again at:

1 year
2 years

The team at the clinic will then let you know how often they want to see you.

Side effects

The study team are only collecting information from your medical records. So they do not expect there to be any side effects from taking part.

A bone density scan is a part of your standard care and is a safe procedure that uses radiation. The amount of radiation you receive from the scan is small and doesn't make you feel unwell.

We have more information about having a bone density scan.