Biospecimens for the Evaluation of Endometriosis Associated Pain
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Biospecimens for the Evaluation of Endometriosis Associated Pain (BEEAP)
IRAS ID
294803
Contact name
Dharani Hapangama
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 4 days
Research summary
Endometriosis is a highly prevalent chronic disease affecting approximately 10% of women of childbearing age. Patients commonly present with pain, which can be debilitating and reduces the quality of life for many young women. Severe forms of endometriosis can invade adjacent organs, including the bowel, known as deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE).
Women often present to their GPs with symptoms associated with endometriosis, necessitating hospital referral and costly, invasive tests involving specialist scans and keyhole surgery before a diagnosis of endometriosis can be made.
We believe that patients blood harbour information in the form of protein markers, allowing us to identify women with endometriosis without the need to undergo expensive and invasive tests. In order to test our theory, we shall recruit 100 patients with varying degrees of endometriosis and 50 patients without endometriosis.
Patients will be asked to complete a detailed symptom questionnaire, and a series of both invasive (womb biopsy, peritoneal washings) and non-invasive (blood, urine, saliva) samples will be collected. We shall compare the presence of protein markers between the invasive and non-invasive samples and compare how the presence of protein markers differs according to the severity of endometriosis.
Our goal is to create a non-invasive and cost-effective test that identifies women with endometriosis, allowing their accurate sub-categorisation according to the severity of the disease. A non-invasive diagnostic test would be a significant breakthrough in the management of patients with endometriosis.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/SW/0102
Date of REC Opinion
25 Aug 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion