Exploring RNA breast cancer screening
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using a novel transcriptomic discovery platform to detect unique RNA signatures in Breast Cancer
IRAS ID
338451
Contact name
Jo Morling
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Nottingham
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Currently, breast cancer is diagnosed via three main pathways. The first relies on a patient attending with a symptom. The second is via the NHS breast screening programme. The third is via surveillance of high-risk patients.
Across many cancers, state-of-the-art techniques to detect cancer via blood tests are being developed. These detect genetic material that indicate a cancer and prompt further investigations. This has the potential to increase early diagnosis of cancer, a key factor in improving survival. The ability to detect an abnormality while not detected abnormalities that are false is a limitation of these techniques. The acceptability of this test to patients is another potential benefit or barrier to its application and is being explored in a separate allied project. The role of genomics in cancer diagnosis and care has been highlighted as part of the Accelerating genomic medicine in the NHS strategy.
Wobble genomics’ unique platform uses a novel technique to detect specific genetic changes in blood. The initial study of 100 cancer patients and matched non-cancer patients demonstrated this test can accurately detect cancer as distinct and separate to non-cancer. Further, it has revealed targets for cancer therapies that have never been reported. Such neo-antigens can be used to develop cancer vaccines.
To test the potential application of this technique in the diagnosis of breast cancer and the potential novel targets for new therapies, more samples need to be tested. The study will involve inviting patients who attend breast clinic to provide a blood test which will be taken on the day of surgery for cancer patients and on the day of clinic attendance for controls. This will be processed and analysed by Wobble genomics. Patient proceeding to neoadjuvant therapy will be invited to provide further samples at the time of treatment decision (pre-treatment), routine blood sampling interval during their oncology treatment and on the day of surgery (post-treatment) to correlate neoantigens with pathological response. Data that is collected as part of routine care will be anonymised and shared to aid analysis.
The impact of this study would be both in a powerful diagnostic test for breast cancer and the detection of novel targets for therapies.REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/SC/0075
Date of REC Opinion
5 Mar 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion