Proteomic Profile in Women With Endometriosis (PROTEO-ENDO) Study

Endometriosis is a disease characterized by the growth of endometrium like tissue outside the uterus. It is the most common and complex gynecological complications in reproductive age woman and schoolgirls. Though the exact etiology of endometriosis is unknown, and the incidence is varying among age and women with infertility, however, it ranges from 2% to 10% within the general female population, estimating around 190 million women at reproductive age and schoolgirls globally and up to 50% in infertile women. The variable, non-specific and broad symptoms of endometriosis lead the clinicians not to easily diagnose the disease and it causes a lengthy delay between the onset of symptoms and confirmation of diagnosis. To date, there is no known non-invasive diagnostic method for endometriosis and no known cure for endometriosis, and treatment is usually aimed at controlling symptoms. New noninvasive non-imaging diagnostic methods, such as biomarkers in serum/blood, and urine have been proposed. However, a definitive diagnosis biomarker is not available yet. Despite the range of blood tests that have been investigated, and altered levels of cancer antigen (CA-125), cytokines, angiogenic, and growth factors, none of the biomarkers showed the definitive diagnosis of endometriosis. Hence this prospective case control study aims to explore non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers from menstrual blood and establish pathophysiology mechanism of the disease. This study is undergoing based on the Helsinki Declaration Guideline for Good Clinical Practice (GCP) standards. Ethical approval is obtained from the Joint Chinese University of Hong Kong and New Territories East Cluster (CUHK-NTEC) Clinical Research Ethics Committee, Hong Kong with reference number: 2023.126.