IPSECC study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of psychological stress on endometrial cancer growth and chemotherapy efficiency (IPSECC) - A feasibility study
IRAS ID
336418
Contact name
Melanie Flint
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Brighton
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
The main aim (primary objective) of this study is to evaluate if a future large-scale study is possible to examine how psychological stress, specifically the release of the stress hormone cortisol, affects the spread of endometrial tumours and the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Additional aims (secondary objectives) include creating 3D mini tumour models of patient-derived tumour tissue in the laboratory (ex vivo organoid modelling), determining how stress hormones affect cancer cells, understanding what tumour tissue behaves like in stressed patients, and exploring if stress levels in patients relate to disease behaviour and treatment response.
Our theory is that stress hormones impact endometrial cancer in two ways. First, they confuse pathways related to tumour spreading (metastasis), allowing cancer cells to grow and move throughout the body. Second, they shift the body's defence system away from protecting against cancer (protective immunity), allowing cancer cells to avoid being attacked by the immune system (immune evasion).
To test our theory, we have gathered a skilled team with unique expertise in surgery, oncology, translational cancer research, and molecular profiling. We plan to test our theory in patients with endometrial cancer by applying ex vivo organoid modelling and by asking patients questions about their stress levels. We aim to find out how their reported stress levels and cortisol levels change throughout treatment. We want to see if these stress changes are connected to how tumours behave and respond to treatment in the lab-grown models. We will be checking in with patients at five different time points, starting before they begin treatment and then approx. every 3 months for one year.
The results of this study will open the door to conducting a clinical trial and help us understand if the biochemical changes during stress can impact how aggressive a tumour becomes and how well it responds to therapy.REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/LO/0439
Date of REC Opinion
12 Jul 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion