Characterising Immunocytochemical Expression Levels of Survivin
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Disarming Cancer Cells: Characterising Immunocytochemical Expression Levels of Survivin to Aid in Diagnosis, Prognosis and Therapy Management in Cancer
IRAS ID
198357
Contact name
Daniel Marques
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Greenwich University
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Survivin has been reported to be over-expressed in almost every type of human tumour and is thought to have an important role in cancer treatment resistance (by avoiding cell death). The targeting of survivin has therefore been the objective of many teams for a novel approach in cancer therapy with significant potential benefits. In addition, the localisation of the protein within the cell has been seen to vary (cytoplasmic and nuclear) in different cancers and stages; the significance of which to the patients cancer is yet to be properly elucidated.
This study will examine the immunocytochemical (ICC) expression of the protein survivin in archived patient samples in the cellular pathology department at Princess Royal University Hospital.Correlation with the defined parameters will be investigated to see if they corroborate with findings of previous studies in this area. The main parameters examined will be (1) nuclear and/or cytoplasmic protein expression and (2) benign vs malignant protein expression.
The standing hypothesis is that survivin expression in malignancy is such that it can discern it from benign conditions and perhaps more importantly help predict certain patients response to some forms of cancer therapy, thereby improving patient management. Each case parameter found on ICC analysis will be compared with the morphological report afterwards and where possible, information on patients response to treatment if available will be related to determine any possible correlation (samples will be anonymised; no link to existing patient cases are presented or kept. It is the aim of this study to determine a correlation between the parameters tested and the outcomes, providing an insight into the potential for survivin as a diagnostic, prognostic or predictive bio-marker.
With drugs currently being researched for targeting survivin, it is to be determined if cytology samples could provide sufficient and relevant information to help guide treatment.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/WM/0422
Date of REC Opinion
26 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion