Detecting transitional cell carcinoma from haematuria
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Detecting TRANSitional cell carcinoma from haematuria: a study of urinary TissUe FactOr (TransTuFo)
IRAS ID
194215
Contact name
Anthony Maraveyas
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
The most common form of bladder cancer is called transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), and is often quite hard to diagnose due to a lack of symptoms specific to the disease. Passing blood in the urine (haematuria) is the most common initial symptom of TCC and patients who have blood in their urine are referred for tests to rule out the presence of TCC.
If the cancer can be detected at an early stage, the outlook for the patient is often very good and in most cases the bladder can be saved. If it is found at a more advanced stage, it is much more difficult to treat and cure, and the bladder is often removed. Detecting TCC early is therefore crucial to increase the chances of a cure without severe impact on quality of life.
The method currently used to diagnose TCC is called cystoscopy; this is an invasive, uncomfortable and relatively expensive procedure. Being able to simply study urine for a marker that detects the cancer would be an ideal situation and, if as good as cystoscopy, could replace this as a first test. Researchers have been studying certain proteins found in urine to see if they might serve as a marker of TCC; however so far no marker alone or in combination with others has been accurate enough.
A set of new laboratory tests have been developed that can be used to measure the levels of different forms of a protein called tissue factor in a sample of urine. There is evidence from an initial study to suggest that these tests may serve as a good way to detect the presence of bladder cancer, and we now need to compare them against the standard of care (i.e. cystoscopy).
In this study, the different forms of tissue factor will be measured in urine samples collected from patients referred to the haematuria clinic at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust (HEYHT). These values will be linked to whether or not the patient is diagnosed with cancer, and this will be used to determine the accuracy of the tests compared to cystoscopy.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0078
Date of REC Opinion
11 Mar 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion