Dr Ellen Donovan
Academic and research departments
Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP), School of Biosciences.About
Biography
Current Role:
I am a Visiting Professor in the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP) at the University of Surrey.
I was appointed as a Research Adviser in the Research Design Service South East region in April 2017.
Background:
My professional career as a Healthcare Scientist (Medical Physicist) spans 25 years practice in the NHS. My specific clinical discipline has been Radiotherapy Physics (the application of physics to the radiation treatment of cancer). I am a member of the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine and have Health and Care Professions Council registration as a Clinical Scientist.
I completed a BA (Hons) Natural Sciences at Cambridge in 1987 and an MSc in Medical Physics at Aberdeen University in 1992. Subsequent to my PhD I began building a clinical academic career. I was awarded an NIHR/HEE Healthcare Scientist Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 2010 and then an NIHR Career Development Fellowship in 2013.
I am active in radiotherapy physics research.
My current RDS role gives me further insight into all NIHR funding schemes and the support available to those wishing to develop their clinical academic careers. I have a particularly interest in supporting those applying to the NIHR Career Development and Training schemes.
My qualifications
ResearchResearch interests
My main research interest has been the application of developments in radiotherapy systems to the improvement of radiotherapy for cancer patients, particularly those who have breast cancer. My current interest is in exploring the use of medical imaging information to obtain quantitative data (rather than visual information only) and how this might correlate to treatment outcomes.
Indicators of esteem
National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Mentor for Clinical Academics
Research interests
My main research interest has been the application of developments in radiotherapy systems to the improvement of radiotherapy for cancer patients, particularly those who have breast cancer. My current interest is in exploring the use of medical imaging information to obtain quantitative data (rather than visual information only) and how this might correlate to treatment outcomes.
Indicators of esteem
National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Mentor for Clinical Academics
Supervision
Postgraduate research supervision
I am a PhD supervisor in CVSSP on a project investigating quantitative features in medical images (radiomics). I supervise Masters level students on projects building tools to inform clinicians and patients on the long-term effects of the radiation treatment of cancer.
Teaching
I am a guest lecturer in radiotherapy physics and developing a clinical academic career for various organisations including Princes Teaching Trust, Institute of Physics and British Institute of Radiology.
Publications
Highlights
The results in this Lancet publication are practice changing for radiotherapy for breast cancer.
IMPORT LOW trial): 5-year results from a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial’
Coles CE, Griffin CL, Kirby AM, Titley J, Agrawal RK, Alhasso A, Bhattacharya I, Brunt A, Ciurlionis L, Chan C, Donovan EM et al and IMPORT Trialists
Lancet 390(10099) 1048-1060 2017
Journal Editor’s Pick for October 2012 and in top 10 most downloaded papers for September 2012 and October 2012
‘Second Cancer Incidence Risk Estimates using BEIR VII Models for Standard and Complex External Beam Radiotherapy for Early Breast Cancer’
Donovan EM, James H, Bonora M, Yarnold JR, Evans PM
Medical Physics 39 (10), 5814-24 (2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1118/1.4748332
Online Publication Date: 11 September 2012
This paper studies the sensitivity of a range of image texture parameters used in radiomics to: i) the number of intensity levels, ii) the method of quantisation to select the intensity levels and iii) the use of an intensity threshold. 43 commonly used texture features were studied for the gross target volume outlined on the CT component of PET/CT scans of 50 patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). All cases were quantised for all values between 4 and 128 intensity levels using four commonly used quantisation methods. All results were analysed with and without a threshold range of -200 HU to 300 HU. Cases were ranked for each texture feature and for all quantisation methods with the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient determined to evaluate stability. Results showed large fluctuations in ranking, particularly for low numbers of levels, differences between quantisation methods and with the use of a threshold, with values Spearman's Rank Correlation for many parameters below 0.2. Our results demonstrated the sensitivity of radiomics features to the parameters used during analysis and highlight the risk of low reproducibility comparing studies with slightly different parameters. In terms of the lung cancer CT datasets, this study supports the use of 128 intensity levels, the same uniform quantiser applied to all scans and thresholding of the data. It also supports several of the features recommended in the literature for such studies such as skewness and kurtosis. A recommended framework is presented for curation of the data analysis process to ensure stability of results.
Aims: To determine the effect of image-guided radiotherapy on the dose distributions in breast boost treatments. Materials and methods: Computed tomography images from a cohort of 60 patients treated within the IMPORT HIGH trial (CRUK/06/003) were used to create sequential and concomitant boost treatment plans (30 cases each). Two treatment plans were created for each case using tumour bed planning target volume (PTV) margins of 5 mm (achieved with image-guided radiotherapy) and 8 mm (required for bony anatomy verification). Dose data were collected for breast, lung and heart; differences with margin size were tested for statistical significance. Results: A median decrease of 29 cm (range 11-193 cm) of breast tissue receiving 95% of the prescribed dose was observed where image-guided radiotherapy margins were used. Decreases in doses to lungs, contralateral breast and heart were modest, but statistically significant (P < 0.01). Plan quality was compromised with the 8 mm PTV margin in one in eight sequential boost plans and one third of concomitant boost plans. Tumour bed PTV coverage was 91%) of the prescribed dose in 12 cases; in addition, the required partial breast median dose was exceeded in nine concomitant boost cases by 0.5-3.7 Gy. Conclusions: The use of image guidance and, hence, a reduced tumour bed PTV margin, in breast boost radiotherapy resulted in a modest reduction in radiation dose to breast, lung and heart tissues. Reduced margins enabled by image guidance were necessary to discriminate between dose levels to multiple PTVs in the concomitant breast boost plans investigated.
Purpose To determine whether voluntary deep-inspiratory breath-hold (v-DIBH) and deep-inspiratory breath-hold with the active breathing coordinator™ (ABC-DIBH) in patients undergoing left breast radiotherapy are comparable in terms of normal-tissue sparing, positional reproducibility and feasibility of delivery. Methods Following surgery for early breast cancer, patients underwent planning-CT scans in v-DIBH and ABC-DIBH. Patients were randomised to receive one technique for fractions 1-7 and the second technique for fractions 8-15 (40 Gy/15 fractions total). Daily electronic portal imaging (EPI) was performed and matched to digitally-reconstructed radiographs. Cone-beam CT (CBCT) images were acquired for 6/15 fractions and matched to planning-CT data. Population systematic (Σ) and random errors (σ) were estimated. Heart, left-anterior-descending coronary artery, and lung doses were calculated. Patient comfort, radiographer satisfaction and scanning/treatment times were recorded. Within-patient comparisons between the two techniques used the paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results Twenty-three patients were recruited. All completed treatment with both techniques. EPI-derived Σ were ≤1.8 mm (v-DIBH) and ≤2.0 mm (ABC-DIBH) and σ ≤2.5 mm (v-DIBH) and ≤2.2 mm (ABC-DIBH) (all p non-significant). CBCT-derived Σ were ≤3.9 mm (v-DIBH) and ≤4.9 mm (ABC-DIBH) and σ ≤ 4.1 mm (v-DIBH) and ≤ 3.8 mm (ABC-DIBH). There was no significant difference between techniques in terms of normal-tissue doses (all p non-significant). Patients and radiographers preferred v-DIBH (p = 0.007, p = 0.03, respectively). Scanning/treatment setup times were shorter for v-DIBH (p = 0.02, p = 0.04, respectively). Conclusions v-DIBH and ABC-DIBH are comparable in terms of positional reproducibility and normal tissue sparing. v-DIBH is preferred by patients and radiographers, takes less time to deliver, and is cheaper than ABC-DIBH. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Radiomics involves the extraction of information from medical images that are not visible to the human eye. There is evidence that these features can be used for treatment stratification and outcome prediction. However, there is much discussion about the reproducibility of results between different studies. This paper studies the reproducibility of CT texture features used in radiomics, comparing two feature extraction implementations, namely the MATLAB toolkit and Pyradiomics, when applied to independent datasets of CT scans of patients: (i) the open access RIDER dataset containing a set of repeat CT scans taken 15 min apart for 31 patients (RIDER Scan 1 and Scan 2, respectively) treated for lung cancer; and (ii) the open access HN1 dataset containing 137 patients treated for head and neck cancer. Gross tumor volume (GTV), manually outlined by an experienced observer available on both datasets, was used. The 43 common radiomics features available in MATLAB and Pyradiomics were calculated using two intensity-level quantization methods with and without an intensity threshold. Cases were ranked for each feature for all combinations of quantization parameters, and the Spearman’s rank coefficient, rs, calculated. Reproducibility was defined when a highly correlated feature in the RIDER dataset also correlated highly in the HN1 dataset, and vice versa. A total of 29 out of the 43 reported stable features were found to be highly reproducible between MATLAB and Pyradiomics implementations, having a consistently high correlation in rank ordering for RIDER Scan 1 and RIDER Scan 2 (rs > 0.8). 18/43 reported features were common in the RIDER and HN1 datasets, suggesting they may be agnostic to disease site. Useful radiomics features should be selected based on reproducibility. This study identified a set of features that meet this requirement and validated the methodology for evaluating reproducibility between datasets.
Objective: The purpose of the work was to estimate the dose received by the heart throughout a course of breath-holding breast radiotherapy. Methods: 113 cone-beam CT (CBCT) scans were acquired for 20 patients treated within the HeartSpare 1A study, in which both an active breathing control (ABC) device and a voluntary breath-hold (VBH) method were used. Predicted mean heart doses were obtained from treatment plans. CBCT scans were imported into a treatment planning system, heart outlines defined, images registered to the CT planning scan and mean heart dose recorded. Two observers outlined two cases three times each to assess interobserver and intraobserver variation. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between ABC and VBH heart dose data from CT planning scans, or in the CBCT-based estimates of heart dose, and no effect from the order of the breath-hold method. Variation in mean heart dose per fraction over the three imaged fractions was,6 cGy without setup correction, decreasing to 3.3 cGy with setup correction. If scaled to 15 fractions, all differences between predicted and estimated mean heart doses were
Purpose To compare mean heart and left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) doses (NTDmean) and positional reproducibility in larger-breasted women receiving left breast radiotherapy using supine voluntary deep-inspiratory breath-hold (VBH) and free-breathing prone techniques. Materials and methods Following surgery for early breast cancer, patients with estimated breast volumes >750 cm3 underwent planning-CT scans in supine VBH and free-breathing prone positions. Radiotherapy treatment plans were prepared, and mean heart and LAD doses were calculated. Patients were randomised to receive one technique for fractions 1–7, before switching techniques for fractions 8–15 (40 Gy/15 fractions total). Daily electronic portal imaging and alternate-day cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging were performed. The primary endpoint was the difference in mean LAD NTDmean between techniques. Population systematic (Σ) and random errors (σ) were estimated. Within-patient comparisons between techniques used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results 34 patients were recruited, with complete dosimetric data available for 28. Mean heart and LAD NTDmean doses for VBH and prone treatments respectively were 0.4 and 0.7 (p < 0.001) and 2.9 and 7.8 (p < 0.001). Clip-based CBCT errors for VBH and prone respectively were ⩽3.0 mm and ⩽6.5 mm (Σ) and ⩽3.5 mm and ⩽5.4 mm (σ). Conclusions In larger-breasted women, supine VBH provided superior cardiac sparing and reproducibility than a free-breathing prone position.
We describe a feasibility study testing the use of gold seeds for the identification of post-operative tumour bed after breast conservation surgery (BCS). Fifty-three patients undergoing BCS for invasive cancer were recruited. Successful use was defined as all six seeds correctly positioned around the tumour bed during BCS, unique identification of all implanted seeds on CT planning scan and ⩾3 seeds uniquely identified at verification to give couch displacement co-ordinates in 10/15 fractions. Planning target volume (PTV) margin size for four correction strategies were calculated from these data. Variability in tumour bed contouring was investigated with five radiation oncologists outlining five CT datasets. Success in inserting gold seeds, identifying them at CT planning and using them for on-treatment verification was recorded in 45/51 (88%), 37/38 (97%) and 42/43 (98%) of patients, respectively. The clinicians unfamiliar with CT breast planning consistently contoured larger volumes than those already trained. Margin size ranged from 10.1 to 1.4mm depending on correction strategy. It is feasible to implant tumour bed gold seeds during BCS. Whilst taking longer to insert than surgical clips, they have the advantage of visibility for outlining and verification regardless of the ionising radiation beam quality. Appropriate correction strategies enable margins of the order of 5mm as required by the IMPORT trials however, tackling clinician variability in contouring is important.
Background Whole-breast radiotherapy (WBRT) is the standard treatment for breast cancer following breast-conserving surgery. Evidence shows that tumour recurrences occur near the original cancer: the tumour bed. New treatment developments include increasing dose to the tumour bed during WBRT (synchronous integrated boost) and irradiating only the region around the tumour bed, for patients at high and low risk of tumour recurrence, respectively. Currently, standard imaging uses bony anatomy to ensure accurate delivery of WBRT. It is debatable whether or not more targeted treatments such as synchronous integrated boost and partial-breast radiotherapy require image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) focusing on implanted tumour bed clips (clip-based IGRT). Objectives Primary – to compare accuracy of patient set-up using standard imaging compared with clip-based IGRT. Secondary – comparison of imaging techniques using (1) tumour bed radiotherapy safety margins, (2) volume of breast tissue irradiated around tumour bed, (3) estimated breast toxicity following development of a normal tissue control probability model and (4) time taken. Design Multicentre observational study embedded within a national randomised trial: IMPORT-HIGH (Intensity Modulated and Partial Organ Radiotherapy – HIGHer-risk patient group) testing synchronous integrated boost and using clip-based IGRT. Setting Five radiotherapy departments, participating in IMPORT-HIGH. Participants Two-hundred and eighteen patients receiving breast radiotherapy within IMPORT-HIGH. Interventions There was no direct intervention in patients’ treatment. Experimental and control intervention were clip-based IGRT and standard imaging, respectively. IMPORT-HIGH patients received clip-based IGRT as routine; standard imaging data were obtained from clip-based IGRT images. Main outcome measures Difference in (1) set-up errors, (2) safety margins, (3) volume of breast tissue irradiated, (4) breast toxicity and (5) time, between clip-based IGRT and standard imaging. Results The primary outcome of overall mean difference in clip-based IGRT and standard imaging using daily set-up errors was 2–2.6 mm (p
Local cancer relapse risk after breast conservation surgery followed by radiotherapy has fallen sharply in many countries, and is influenced by patient age and clinicopathological factors. We hypothesise that partial-breast radiotherapy restricted to the vicinity of the original tumour in women at lower than average risk of local relapse will improve the balance of beneficial versus adverse effects compared with whole-breast radiotherapy. IMPORT LOW is a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial done in 30 radiotherapy centres in the UK. Women aged 50 years or older who had undergone breast-conserving surgery for unifocal invasive ductal adenocarcinoma of grade 1-3, with a tumour size of 3 cm or less (pT1-2), none to three positive axillary nodes (pN0-1), and minimum microscopic margins of non-cancerous tissue of 2 mm or more, were recruited. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive 40 Gy whole-breast radiotherapy (control), 36 Gy whole-breast radiotherapy and 40 Gy to the partial breast (reduced-dose group), or 40 Gy to the partial breast only (partial-breast group) in 15 daily treatment fractions. Computer-generated random permuted blocks (mixed sizes of six and nine) were used to assign patients to groups, stratifying patients by radiotherapy treatment centre. Patients and clinicians were not masked to treatment allocation. Field-in-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy was delivered using standard tangential beams that were simply reduced in length for the partial-breast group. The primary endpoint was ipsilateral local relapse (80% power to exclude a 2·5% increase [non-inferiority margin] at 5 years for each experimental group; non-inferiority was shown if the upper limit of the two-sided 95% CI for the local relapse hazard ratio [HR] was less than 2·03), analysed by intention to treat. Safety analyses were done in all patients for whom data was available (ie, a modified intention-to-treat population). This study is registered in the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN12852634. Between May 3, 2007, and Oct 5, 2010, 2018 women were recruited. Two women withdrew consent for use of their data in the analysis. 674 patients were analysed in the whole-breast radiotherapy (control) group, 673 in the reduced-dose group, and 669 in the partial-breast group. Median follow-up was 72·2 months (IQR 61·7-83·2), and 5-year estimates of local relapse cumulative incidence were 1·1% (95% CI 0·5-2·3) of patients in the control group, 0·2% (0·02-1·2) in the reduced-dose group, and 0·5% (0·2-1·4) in the partial-breast group. Estimated 5-year absolute differences in local relapse compared with the control group were -0·73% (-0·99 to 0·22) for the reduced-dose and -0·38% (-0·84 to 0·90) for the partial-breast groups. Non-inferiority can be claimed for both reduced-dose and partial-breast radiotherapy, and was confirmed by the test against the critical HR being more than 2·03 (p=0·003 for the reduced-dose group and p=0·016 for the partial-breast group, compared with the whole-breast radiotherapy group). Photographic, patient, and clinical assessments recorded similar adverse effects after reduced-dose or partial-breast radiotherapy, including two patient domains achieving statistically significantly lower adverse effects (change in breast appearance [p=0·007 for partial-breast] and breast harder or firmer [p=0·002 for reduced-dose and p
Aims: To measure cardiac tissue doses in left-sided breast cancer patients receiving supine tangential field radiotherapy with multileaf collimation (MLC) cardiac shielding of the heart and to assess the effect on target volume coverage. Materials and methods: Sixty-seven consecutive patients who underwent adjuvant radiotherapy to the left breast (n=48) or chest wall (n=19) in 2009/2010 were analysed. The heart, left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), whole breast and partial breast clinical target volumes (WBCTV and PBCTV) were outlined retrospectively (the latter only in patients who had undergone breast-conserving surgery [BCS]). The mean heart and LAD NTD and maximum LAD doses (LAD) were calculated for all patients (NTD is a biologically weighted mean dose normalised to 2Gy fractions using a standard linear quadratic model). Coverage of WBCTV and PBCTV by the 95% isodose was assessed (BCS patients only). Results: The mean heart NTD (standard deviation) was 0.8 (0.3) Gy, the mean LAD NTD 6.7 (4.3) Gy and the mean LAD 40.3 (10.1) Gy. Coverage of the WBCTV by 95% isodose was
Aims To evaluate the feasibility and heart-sparing ability of the voluntary breath-hold (VBH) technique in a multicentre setting. Materials and methods Patients were recruited from 10 UK centres. Following surgery for early left breast cancer, patients with any heart inside the 50% isodose from a standard free-breathing tangential field treatment plan underwent a second planning computed tomography (CT) scan using the VBH technique. A separate treatment plan was prepared on the VBH CT scan and used for treatment. The mean heart, left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) and lung doses were calculated. Daily electronic portal imaging (EPI) was carried out and scanning/treatment times were recorded. The primary end point was the percentage of patients achieving a reduction in mean heart dose with VBH. Population systematic (Σ) and random errors (σ) were estimated. Within-patient comparisons between techniques used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results In total, 101 patients were recruited during 2014. Primary end point data were available for 93 patients, 88 (95%) of whom achieved a reduction in mean heart dose with VBH. Mean cardiac doses (Gy) for free-breathing and VBH techniques, respectively, were: heart 1.8 and 1.1, LAD 12.1 and 5.4, maximum LAD 35.4 and 24.1 (all P
Voluntary inspiration breath hold (VIBH) for left breast cancer patients has been shown to be a safe and effective method of reducing radiation dose to the heart. Currently, VIBH protocol compliance is monitored visually. In this work, we establish whether it is possible to gate the delivery of radiation from an Elekta linac using the Microsoft Kinect version 2 (Kinect v2) depth sensor to measure a patient breathing signal. This would allow contactless monitoring during VMAT treatment, as an alternative to equipment–assisted methods such as active breathing control (ABC). Breathing traces were acquired from six left breast radiotherapy patients during VIBH. We developed a gating interface to an Elekta linac, using the depth signal from a Kinect v2 to control radiation delivery to a programmable motion platform following patient breathing patterns. Radiation dose to a moving phantom with gating was verified using point dose measurements and a Delta4 verification phantom. 60 breathing traces were obtained with an acquisition success rate of 100%. Point dose measurements for gated deliveries to a moving phantom agreed to within 0.5% of ungated delivery to a static phantom using both a conventional and VMAT treatment plan. Dose measurements with the verification phantom showed that there was a median dose difference of better than 0.5% and a mean (3% 3 mm) gamma index of 92.6% for gated deliveries when using static phantom data as a reference. It is possible to use a Kinect v2 device to monitor voluntary breath hold protocol compliance in a cohort of left breast radiotherapy patients. Furthermore, it is possible to use the signal from a Kinect v2 to gate an Elekta linac to deliver radiation only during the peak inhale VIBH phase.
Additional publications
‘Dicentric dose estimates for patients undergoing radiotherapy enrolled in the RTGene study to assess 1) blood dosimetric models and 2) the new Bayesian method for gradient exposure.’
Moquet J, Higueras M, Donovan EM, Boyle S, Barnard S, Bricknell C, Sun M, Gothard L, Manning G, Cruz-Garcia L, Badie C, Ainsbury E, Somaiah N
Radiation Research. doi: 10.1667/RR15116.1.2018.
‘A dosimetric comparison of breast radiotherapy techniques to treat locoregional lymph nodes including the internal mammary chain’
Ranger A, Dunlop A, Hutchinson K, Convery H, Maclennan MK, Chantler H, Twyman N, Rose C, McQuaid D, Amos RA, Griffin C, deSouza NM, Donovan EM, Harris E, Coles CE, Kirby AM.
Clinical Oncology 30(6) 346-353 2018
‘FDXR is a biomarker of radiation exposure in vivo’
O’Brien G, Cruz-Garcia L, Majewski M, Grepl J,Abend M, Port M, Tichý A, Sirak I, Malkova A, Donovan E, Gothard L, Boyle S, Somaiah N, Ainsbury E, Ponge L, Slosarek K, Miszczyk L, Widlak P, Green E, Patel N, Kudari M, Gleeson F, Vinnikov V, Starenkiy V, Artiukh S, Vasyliev L, Zaman A, Badie C
Scientific reports | 8:684 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-19043-w 2018
‘Influence of confounding factors on radiation dose estimation in in vivo validated transcriptional biomarkers’
Cruz-Garcia L, O’Brien G, Donovan E, Gothard L, Boyle S, Laval A, Testard I, Ponge L, Woźniak G, Miszczyk L, Candéias S, Ainsbury E, Widlak P, Somaiah N, Badie C
Health Physics 115(1) 90-101 2018
‘Low-cost Kinect Version 2 imaging system for breath hold monitoring and gating: proof of concept study for breast cancer VMAT radiotherapy’
Edmunds DM, Gothard L, Khabra K, Kirby AM, Madhale P, McNair H, Roberts D, Tang KK,Symonds-Tayler R Tahavori F, Wells K, Donovan EM
Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics 19(3) 71-78 2018
Coles CE, Griffin CL, Kirby AM, Titley J, Agrawal RK, Alhasso A, Bhattacharya I, Brunt A, Ciurlionis L, Chan C, Donovan EM et al and IMPORT Trialists
Lancet 390(10099) 1048-1060 2017
Bartlett FR, Donovan EM, McNair HA, Corsini LA, Colgan RM, Evans PM, Maynard L, Griffin C, Haviland JS, Yarnold JR, Kirby AM
Clinical Oncology, 29(3) E51-E56 2017
‘Improving the efficiency of breast radiotherapy treatment planning using a semi-automated approach’
Mitchell RA, Wai P, Colgan R, Kirby AM, Donovan EM
Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics DOI: 10.1002/acm2.12006 November 2016
‘The feasibility of using Microsoft Kinect v2TM sensors during radiotherapy delivery’
Edmunds DM, Bashforth SE, Tahavori F, Wells K, Donovan EM
Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics 17(6) 446-453 2016
‘Mean heart dose variation over a course of breath-holding breast cancer radiotherapy’
Dunkerley N, Bartlett FR, Kirby AM, Evans PM, Donovan EM
The British Journal of Radiology 89 (1067) pp: 20160536 (2016)
‘Voluntary breath-holding for breast cancer radiotherapy is consistent and stable’
Colgan R, James M, Bartlett FR, Kirby AM, Donovan EM
British Journal of Radiology 88 (1054) pp: 20150309 (2015) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20150309
‘The UK HeartSpare Study (Stage IB) : Randomised comparison of the voluntary breath-hold technique and prone treatment in larger-breasted women’
Bartlett FR, Colgan R, Donovan EM, McNair HA, Carr K, Evans PE, Griffin C, Locke I, Haviland JS, Yarnold JR, Kirby AM
Radiotherapy and Oncology 114, 66-72, 2015
Invited Editorial : ‘The IMPORT HIGH Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT) Study: A model for assessing IGRT’
E.M. Donovan, E.J Harris, M. Mukesh, C.E. Coles, P.M. Evans on behalf of the IMPORT Trials Management Group.
Clinical Oncology 27(1) 3-5 2015.
‘A multicentre observational study evaluating image-guided radiotherapy for more accurate partial-breast intensity-modulated radiotherapy: comparison with standard imaging technique.’
Harris E, Mukesh M, Jena R, Baker A, Bartelink H, Brooks C, et al
Efficacy Mech Eval 2014;1(3)
‘The Impact of Image Guidance on Dose Distributions in Breast Boost Radiotherapy’
Donovan EM, Brooks C, Mitchell RA, Mukesh M, Coles CE, Evans PM, Harris EJ
Clinical Oncology 26 (11) 671-676 2014, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2014.05.013
‘Voluntary breath-hold technique for reducing heart dose in left breast radiotherapy’
Bartlett FR, Colgan R, Carr K, N Clements, Donovan EM, McNair HA, Landeg S, Locke I, Haviland J, Evans PE, Yarnold JR, Kirby AM
J. Vis. Exp. (89), e51578, doi:10.3791/51578 2014.
‘Multileaf Collimation Cardiac Shielding in Breast Radiotherapy :Cardiac doses are reduced but at what cost?’
Bartlett FR, Evans PE, Donovan EM, Locke I, Yarnold JR, Kirby AM
Clinical Oncology 25(12) 690-696 2013
‘The UK HeartSpare Study: Randomised evaluation of voluntary deep-inspiratory breath-hold in women undergoing breast radiotherapy.’
Bartlett FR, Colgan RM, Carr K, Donovan EM, McNair HA, Locke I, Evans PM, Haviland JS, Yarnold JR, Kirby AM.
Radiotherapy and Oncology 108 (2) 242-247 2013.
‘Second Cancer Incidence Risk Estimates using BEIR VII Models for Standard and Complex External Beam Radiotherapy for Early Breast Cancer’
Donovan EM, James H, Bonora M, Yarnold JR, Evans PM
Medical Physics 39 (10), 5814-24 (2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1118/1.4748332
Online Publication Date: 11 September 2012
Editor’s Pick for October 2012 and in top 10 most downloaded papers for September 2012 and October 2012
‘How does imaging frequency and soft tissue motion affect the PTV margin size in partial breast and boost radiotherapy’
Harris EJ, Donovan EM, Coles CE, de Boer HCJ, Poynter A, Rawlings C, Wishart GC, Evans PM
Radiotherapy and Oncology 103 166-171 2012.
‘Clinical implementation of kilovoltage conebeam CT for the verification of sequential and integrated photon boost treatments for breast cancer patients’
Donovan EM, Castellano I, Eagle S, Harris E.
British Journal of Radiology November 2012 85:e1051-e1057; published ahead of print May 2, 2012, doi:10.1259/bjr/28845176
‘First results of the randomised UK FAST Trial of radiotherapy hypofractionation for treatment of early breast cancer (CRUKE/04/015).’
FAST Trialists group, Agrawal RK, Alhasso A, Barrett-Lee PJ, Bliss JM, Bliss P, Bloomfield D, Bowen J, Brunt AM, Donovan E, Emson M, Goodman A, Harnett A, Haviland JS, Kaggwa R, Morden JP, Robinson A, Simmons S, Stewart A, Sydenham MA, Syndikus I, Tremlett J, Tsang Y, Wheatley D, Venables K, Yarnold JR.
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 100(1), 93-100, 2011.
‘Evaluation of implanted gold seeds for breast radiotherapy planning and on treatment verification: a feasibility study on behalf of the IMPORT trialists’
C E Coles, E J Harris, E M Donovan, P Bliss, P M Evans, J Fairfoul, C MacKenzie, C Rawlings, I Syndikus, N Tywman, J Vasconcelos, S L Vowler, J S Wilkinson, R Wilks, G C Wishart, J Yarnold.
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 100(2), 276-81, 2011.
"A randomised trial of Supine versus Prone breast radiotherapy (SuPr study): comparing set-up errors
and respiratory motion"
Kirby A, Helyer A, Convery H, E M Donovan, Evans P M, Yarnold J R.
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 100(2), 221-6, 2011.
‘Radiotherapy planning with IMRT and tomotherapy to modulate dose across the breast to reflect recurrence risk (the IMPORT HIGH tria)’’
E M Donovan, L Ciurlionis, J Fairfoul, H James. H Mayles, S Manktelow, A Raj, Y, Tsang, N Tywman, J R Yarnold, C E Coles
International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 79(4) 1064-1072, 2011.
‘Prone versus supine positioning for whole and partial-breast radiotherapy : A comparison of non-target tissue dosimetry’
A M Kirby, P M Evans, E M Donovan, H M Convery, J S Haviland, J R Yarnold
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 96(2), 178-84, 2010.
‘Characterisation of target volume changes during breast radiotherapy using implanted fudicial markers and portal imaging’
E J Harris, E M Donovan, J R Yarnold, C E Coles, P M Evans
International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 73(3) 958-966, 2009.
‘An investigation into methods of IMRT planning applied to breast radiotherapy’
E M Donovan, J R Yarnold, E J Adams, A Morgan, A J P Warrington, P M Evans
British Journal of Radiology, 81, 311-322, 2008
*‘Randomised trial of standard 2D radiotherapy (RT) versus intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in patients prescribed breast radiotherapy’
E M Donovan, N. Bleakley, E. Denholm, P. Evans, L. Gothard, J. Hanson, C. Peckitt, S. Reise, G. Ross, G. Sharp
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 82(3), 254-264, 2007
‘Accuracy and precision of an external marker tracking system for radiotherapy treatments’
E M Donovan, P Brabants, P M Evans, J R N Sy,onds-Tayler, R Wilks,
British Journal of Radiology, 79, 808-817, 2006
‘Initial patient imaging with an optimized radiotherapy beam for portal imaging’
S Flampouri, H A McNair, E M Donovan, P M Evans, M Partridge, F Verhaegen, CM Nutting,
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 76, 63-71, 2005.
‘Comparison of a lung fitting algorithm with CT data for tangential fields in radiotherapy of the breast’,
R J Wilks, P J Childs, E M Donovan,
British Journal of Radiology, 77, 414-419, 2004
'Dose-position and dose volume analysis of standard wedged and intensity modulated treatments in breast radiotherapy"
E M Donovan, N F Bleackley, P M Evans, S F Reise, J R Yarnold,
British Journal of Radiology 75:967-973, 2002.
'Evaluation of Compensation in Breast Radiotherapy - A Planning Study using Multiple Static Fields'
E M Donovan, U Johnson, G Shentall, P M Evans, AJ Neal, JR Yarnold,
International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 46(3), 2000.
The Delivery of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy to the Breast Using Multiple Static Fields'
PM Evans, E M Donovan, M Partridge, P J Childs, DJ Convery, S Eagle, V N Hansen, B L Suter, J R Yarnold Radiotherapy and Oncology, 57, 79-89, 2000.
'Practical Implementation of Compensators in Breast Radiotherapy'
PM Evans, E M Donovan, N Fenton, V N Hansen, I Moore, M Partridge, S F Reise, B Suter, J RN Symonds-Tayler, J R Yarnold,
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 49, 255-265,1998.
'Short Communication': A filter for breast imaging on a radiotherapy x-ray simulator', J Utting, B Suter,
E M Donovan, The British Journal of Radiology, 73, 886-891, 2000.
'Short Communication: Clinical implementation of a computer controlled milling machine for compensating filter production',
M Partridge, E Donovan, N Fenton, S Reise, S Blane,
The British Journal of Radiology, 72, 1099-1103, 1999.
Technical Note 'An intercomparison of IMRT delivery techniques: a case study for breast treatment" M Partridge, S Aldridge, E M Donovan, P M Evans,
Physics in Medicine and Biology 46, N1-N11, 2001.
Technical Note: Radiological Thickness Measurement using a Liquid Ionisation Chamber Portal lmaging Device'
P M Evans, E M Donovan, M Partridge, A M Bidmead, A Garton, C Mubata,
Physics in Medicine and Biology, 44, N89-97, 1999.