ATOM (Chief Investigator Dr Geoff Higgins) is managed by the Oncology Clinical Trials Office (OCTO) and sponsored by the University of Oxford. Target recruitment is 30 participants, 15 of which will receive the drug atovaquone, and 15 of which will not receive atovaquone.
This window of opportunity trial will assess whether atovaquone significantly reduces tumour hypoxia in adult patients with suspected non-small cell lung cancer. This will be assessed using a combination of functional imaging and circulating markers of hypoxia. If atovaquone is demonstrated to result in a reduction in tumour hypoxia, larger clinical trials will be conducted to determine whether this well-tolerated and inexpensive agent improves radiotherapy efficacy and clinical outcomes.