5 March 2025: TRIAL UPDATE

We’re excited to have now opened all Australian sites for the TROG 21.07 – SOCRATES HCC study, which is investigating the use of an advanced radiotherapy technique for early stage hepatocellular (HCC) cancer.

With the opening of a clinical trial site at St George Hospital in Sydney, NSW, there are now 20 centres across Australia recruiting patients for the study.

Every year, HCC claims thousands of lives and its incidence is rising in Australia, with cases increasing by almost eight-fold in the past 40 years.

While curative surgical options are recommended for early-stage HCC, most patients are not eligible for surgery. Instead, they are often faced with difficult treatment choices (such as thermal ablation or embolisation) which can be invasive, risky, or only partially effective.

Led by Chief Investigator Professor Alan Wigg from Flinders University in Adelaide, the SOCRATES HCC trial aims to determine whether the advanced radiation therapy technique, stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR), can offer a safer, more effective treatment for early-stage HCC.

We have now recruited 82 patients for the study, and a recent $200,000 grant from charity Tour-de-Cure has enabled the trial to expand its outreach to October 2026, with the aim of recruiting 218 patients to gather the vital evidence that is needed about the use of SABR therapy in this type of cancer.

Congratulations to Prof Wigg and all the researchers involved in the trial on reaching this significant milestone.

See more details about TROG 21.07 – SOCRATES HCC – A randomised controlled trial of Standard Of Care versus RadioAblaTion in Early Stage HCC.