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Vibrational Spectroscopy for Endometrial Cancer Diagnosis

Recruiting
Conditions
Endometrial Cancer
Endometrial Hyperplasia
Interventions
Behavioral: Information about clinical risk factors for endometrial cancer and endometrial hyperplasia
Procedure: Blood and endometrial tissue sampling
Procedure: Lymph node sampling
Registration Number
NCT05026073
Lead Sponsor
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of vibrational spectroscopic techniques, Raman spectroscopy and Attenuated Total Reflection - Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), to accurately differentiate endometrial tissue, lymph nodes and blood samples with womb cancer or endometrial hyperplasia from healthy controls.

Detailed Description

Womb cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women, with rising incidence worldwide. Current diagnostic strategies are time consuming, invasive and have limited accuracy, furthermore there is no population-wide screening. Treatment depends on patients' health, type of disease and spread at the time of diagnosis. Most women will be offered surgery, however the role of lymph node dissection in early stage disease remains controversial.

There is therefore a need for an objective, accurate test, able to detect pre-cancer and cancer early and able to identify metastatic node involvement, so that lymph node excision is performed only when necessary.

Attenuated Total Reflection - Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy are non-invasive, objective techniques that use the interaction of light within tissues to gain detailed information about the chemical composition of biological samples. These methods have shown tremendous potential for improving diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

This study aims to use Vibrational Spectroscopy to examine blood plasma and serum, endometrial biopsies via Pipelle device and pelvic/para-aortic lymph nodes for the presence of endometrial pre-cancer and cancer changes. The analyses will be performed on fresh (wet) as well as dried samples.

The ultimate goal is to develop a point-of-care test and an intra-operative tool for endometrial cancer screening and diagnosis. Such a test could speed up endometrial cancer diagnosis, reduce treatment delays and individualise patients care.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
150
Inclusion Criteria
  1. Endometrial cancer group:

    • Established histopathological diagnosis of cancer of the endometrium (any stage and subtype)
    • Patients must be eligible for primary staging surgery (any route, e.g. laparoscopy and laparotomy)
  2. Endometrial hyperplasia group:

    • Established histopathological diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia (with or without atypia)
    • Treatment with hysterectomy deemed necessary
  3. Control group

    • Healthy with benign disease, non-malignancy
    • Undergoing hysterectomy (any route, e.g. laparoscopy and laparotomy)
Exclusion Criteria
  • Patient's refusal / inability to consent
  • Synchronous gynaecological cancer (ovary, cervix, fallopian tubes)
  • Previous pelvic radiotherapy
  • Previous hysterectomy
  • Undiagnosed vaginal bleeding
  • Previous endometrial ablation

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Group 2 Endometrial Hyperplasia:Information about clinical risk factors for endometrial cancer and endometrial hyperplasiaWomen with histological diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia (with or without atypia) undergoing hysterectomy
Group 1 Endometrial Cancer:Information about clinical risk factors for endometrial cancer and endometrial hyperplasiaWomen with histological diagnosis of cancer of the endometrium (any type) undergoing hysterectomy
Group 1 Endometrial Cancer:Lymph node samplingWomen with histological diagnosis of cancer of the endometrium (any type) undergoing hysterectomy
Group 3 Controls:Information about clinical risk factors for endometrial cancer and endometrial hyperplasiaHealthy women undergoing hysterectomy for a benign reason
Group 1 Endometrial Cancer:Blood and endometrial tissue samplingWomen with histological diagnosis of cancer of the endometrium (any type) undergoing hysterectomy
Group 2 Endometrial Hyperplasia:Blood and endometrial tissue samplingWomen with histological diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia (with or without atypia) undergoing hysterectomy
Group 3 Controls:Blood and endometrial tissue samplingHealthy women undergoing hysterectomy for a benign reason
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Vibrational Spectroscopy diagnostic accuracyBaseline

The primary outcome of the study will be to evaluate the correct classification of cases of endometrial cancer, endometrial hyperplasia and controls by Raman and ATR-FTIR spectral analysis, compared to histopathology as the standard of reference. The outcome will be measured with sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative predictive values and likelihood ratios.

The diagnostic accuracy will be documented for pipelle samples, endometrial samples from hysterectomy specimens, pelvic/para-aortic lymph nodes, blood serum and plasma.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Discriminating wavenumbersBaseline

Identification of the most important wavenumbers that distinguish between normal, hyperplasia and cancer

Sub-analysis of endometrial cancer and hyperplasia sub-typesBaseline

sub-analysis of segregation percentages for pre-cancerous changes (non-atypical / atypical hyperplasia) and cancer subtypes

Test reliabilityBaseline

Calculation of inter- and intra- user classification variability

Multivariate analysis of patient and tumour characteristicsBaseline

Multivariate analysis of variance will be calculated to account for factors potentially affecting test performance (histological subtype, menopausal status, age, co-morbidities, hormonal treatment)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

🇬🇧

Nottingham, England, United Kingdom

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