Volatile Organic Compound Assessment in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Recruiting

• Conditions: PDAC - Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma; Pancreatic Cancer
• Interventions: Diagnostic Test: Breath test; Diagnostic Test: Collection of matched samples of breath, biofluids and pancreatic tissue

• Registration Number: NCT05727020
• Lead Sponsor: Imperial College London

Brief Summary

Patients with early pancreatic cancer often have symptoms that could also be caused by many common benign conditions, or no symptoms at all. Jaundice, weight loss and pain are 'red flag' symptoms of pancreatic cancer that are linked to incurable disease. At the moment only patients with 'red flag' symptoms are urgently referred for diagnostic testing to find out if they have the cancer. As a result, late diagnosis is a common feature of pancreatic cancer. This leads to limited treatment options being available to patients by the time they are diagnosed, and ultimately results in poor survival rates.

There is a clear need to improve earlier detection of pancreatic cancer so that patients with pancreatic cancer can be identified earlier and faster, enabling them to start treatment more quickly.

The study team is developing a non-invasive breath test that detects small molecules called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may be altered by pancreatic cancers. For patients with non-specific symptoms, this test would help general practitioners (GPs) to identify those patients that may indeed have an underlying pancreatic cancer, who would benefit from referral for specialised pancreatic cancer tests.

Detailed Description

Bioresource study to identify pathways responsible for VOC production: A total of 192 patients will be recruited to provide samples to create a pancreatic biobank. This will be comprised of two groups, each containing 96 patients: (i) patients undergoing resection for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC); (ii) control patients undergoing pancreatic resection for benign pancreatic disorders (e.g. intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, pancreatic mucinous cystic neoplasms, chronic pancreatitis). The following biosamples will be collected from each patient: breath, saliva, blood, urine, pancreatic tissue, duodenal aspirate. Collected samples will be stored in a biobank and will be utilised in a wide range of studies to investigate the mechanisms of VOC production in PDAC. The following analyses will be undertaken: volatolomics, metabonomics / lipidomics, metagenomics / microbiome analysis, transcriptomics, and culture experiments (to establish bacterial, immune and organoid cultures).

VAPOR 1 clinical study: A total of 771 patients will be recruited for the development of this non-invasive PDAC detection model. This will be comprised of three groups, each containing 257 patients: (i) patients with PDAC; (ii) control patients with specified benign pancreatic disorders (new-onset diabetes mellitus, or chronic pancreatitis); (iii) control patients with non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms but a radiologically-normal pancreas. Participants will be required to fast for 6 hours prior to breath sampling. After rinsing their mouth with water, patients will be asked to provide breath samples by exhaling into single-use breath collection bags. Breath will be transferred using a precision pump into thermal desorption (TD) storage tubes. Breath samples will be analysed in accordance with existing quality-controlled processes.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2022-12-15
• Study First Submitted: 2023-01-23
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-02-03
• Study First Posted: 2023-02-14
• Status Verified: 2025-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-01-23
• Last Update Posted: 2025-01-27
• Primary Completion: 2025-04
• Study Completion: 2025-04

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 963

Inclusion Criteria

• Males and females
• Adult patients ≥ 18 years old
• VAPOR 1: patients with either a) Histologically confirmed PDAC*; b) New-onset diabetes mellitus or chronic pancreatitis; or c) Non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms, but a radiologically-normal pancreas
• VAPOR Bioresource: patients undergoing pancreatic resection for a) Histologically confirmed PDAC*; or b) Benign pancreatic disorders e.g. intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, pancreatic mucinous cystic neoplasms, chronic pancreatitis

Note: *Patients undergoing surgery for suspected PDAC (without pre-operative histological confirmation) may be recruited assuming PDAC is confirmed within the resected specimen.

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients who have already received chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery for their PDAC
• History of another cancer within the previous five years
• Previous upper gastrointestinal surgery
• Patients who are unable to provide a breath sample
• Pregnant women
• Patients unable to provide informed written consent
• VAPOR 1: Patients with active infection, receiving immunosuppressive medications or antibiotics within the preceding eight weeks
• VAPOR Bioresource: Patients receiving immunosuppressive medications within the preceding eight weeks

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
VAPOR 1 - Control patients with non-specific GI symptoms and a normal pancreas	Breath test	257 patients with non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms but a radiologically-normal pancreas will be recruited to provide breath samples. Imaging to confirm a normal pancreas (CT / MRI / ultrasound) must have occurred within the preceding 12 months.
VAPOR Bioresource - Control patients with benign pancreatic disorders	Collection of matched samples of breath, biofluids and pancreatic tissue	96 patients with benign pancreatic disorders (such as intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, pancreatic mucinous cystic neoplasms, chronic pancreatitis) will be recruited to provide samples of breath, saliva, blood, urine, pancreatic tissue and duodenal aspirate.
VAPOR 1 - PDAC (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma)	Breath test	257 treatment-naive patients with histologically-confirmed\* PDAC will be recruited to provide breath samples. \*Patients that are due to undergo surgery for suspected PDAC (without pre-operative histological confirmation) may still be recruited despite the lack of pre-operative histological confirmation, assuming PDAC is subsequently confirmed within the resected specimen.
VAPOR 1 - Control patients with benign pancreatic disorders	Breath test	257 patients with new-onset diabetes mellitus or chronic pancreatitis will be recruited to provide breath samples. New-onset diabetes is defined as: HbA1c≥48mmol/mol (6.5%), diagnosed within the preceding 6 months.
VAPOR Bioresource - PDAC (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma)	Collection of matched samples of breath, biofluids and pancreatic tissue	96 treatment-naive patients with histologically-confirmed\* PDAC will be recruited to provide samples of breath, saliva, blood, urine, pancreatic tissue and duodenal aspirate. \*Patients that are due to undergo surgery for suspected PDAC (without pre-operative histological confirmation) may still be recruited despite the lack of pre-operative histological confirmation, assuming PDAC is subsequently confirmed within the resected specimen.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Levels of VOCs present in breath of subjects with PDAC and controls	24 months	Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) will be used to identify the levels (measured in parts per billion, ppb) of certain cancer-associated VOCs in breath

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Characterisation of bacterial species in saliva samples, pancreatic tissue samples and duodenal aspirate samples of subjects with PDAC compared to controls	24 months	Bacterial species present will be identified (measured) using sequencing techniques such as 16s or whole genome sequencing.; * Bacteria within the saliva samples will be cultured and species isolated; * Bacteria from pancreatic biopsies will be separated from the tissue, and will be cultured to isolate the bacterial species; * Bacteria derived from duodenal aspirate will be cultured and species isolated
Levels of volatile metabolites present in headspace of the urine of subjects with PDAC and controls	24 months	Headspace sampling techniques will be used for headspace collection from urine samples. GC-MS will be used to determine the levels (measured in parts per billion, ppb) of certain cancer-associated VOCs within the headspace of urine.
Levels of VOCs produced by the bacteria isolated from saliva samples, pancreatic tissue samples and duodenal aspirate samples of subjects with PDAC	24 months	The cancer-associated bacterial species isolated and identified as part of Outcome Measure 3 will then be re-cultured within a controlled environment. Headspace and media sampling will be performed to identify and measure the levels of volatile metabolites (measured in parts per billion, ppb) present using GC-MS and LC-MS (Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) techniques.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; 🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom