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Article History

Received: 7 July 2018

Accepted: 11 September 2018

First Online: 19 September 2018

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: This study is in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study is registered on (NCT03491176).Patients within the institution, who are scheduled for definitive radiotherapy, will be identified by either an attending physician or research fellow in the Department of Radiation Oncology. During clinic appointments, potential subjects will be informed of their eligibility and asked if they would be interested in research participation. In the privacy of the exam room, the treating physician or research fellow will discuss all aspects of the study with potential subjects and answer any questions. Interested subjects then have a consent interview with the research nurse or research data coordinator in the exam room or other private area (i.e. patient education/consultation room). Subjects will be given a copy of the Informed Consent and will be further instructed about the study and the elements of the consent document. The subject will be given as much time as needed to review and discuss the study and consent and the research nurse or research data coordinator will answer any remaining questions. The treating physician is also available to address any questions or concerns the subject may have. Subjects who agree to participate will sign the protocol-specific informed consent. Non-English speaking patients will be consented using an MD Anderson Translator and a verbal translation preparative sheet using MD Anderson policies for Informed Consent translation in that patient’s primary language. Once two patients have been consented in a given language, the research nurse or research data coordinator will request institutional translation of the entire consent into that language. Patients may withdraw from the study at any time without any penalty. If a patient withdraws, any blood or tissue not already used will not be used for further studies.

: Not applicable

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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