Evaluation of FTIR analysis of sputum to detect lung cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy as a Diagnostic Tool for Lung Cancer Diagnosis through Retrospective Sputum Data Analysis
IRAS ID
236833
Contact name
Paul Lewis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Swansea University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Lung cancer is a major health concern, with over 46,000 new cases diagnosed in the UK in 2014. Patients usually have a poor prognosis, with 5-year survival rate of <10% of lung cancer patients. This is primarily due to late-stage diagnosis. Diagnosis of lung cancer is usually performed through X-ray, and CT-scan guided bronchoscopy. These procedures are time consuming, costly and can be stressful for the patients.
Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is a rapid, low-cost and non-invasive technology, capable of accurately generating information on the molecular structure of biological samples. We have been developing FTIR for analysis of sputum samples from COPD (SPEDIC study), in order to identify diagnostic spectral markers. Through the MedLung study we have also discovered markers to diagnose lung cancer. We would like to calculate the clinical sensitivity and specificity of FTIR to help distinguish lung cancer from non-cancer related respiratory-disease building on previous work carried out by our group (Lewis et al. 2010).In this study we are seeking to compare FTIR data previously generated for sputum from lung cancer patients (n>200)(Medlung) with sputum samples from confirmed non cancer related respiratory disease controls obtained from SPEDIC study. Patients from both Medlung and SPEDIC have given their consent for analysis of their samples in future ethically approved research. New REC approval is sought for use of the data collected from SPEDIC (a COPD diagnostic study) to be compared to lung cancer data collected through Medlung. This data analysis project will not involve new patients or new sample collection but will provide data to further support the results of our previous work, with greater sample numbers for the positive and negative cancer groups to confirm and strengthen previous findings.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NE/0293
Date of REC Opinion
12 Sep 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion