MASS_Cancer v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Muscle Ageing Sarcopenia Study_Cancer; establishing a sarcopenia cohort for advances in prevention, diagnosis and treatment
IRAS ID
303446
Contact name
Alastair Greystoke
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research & Development, The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 3 months, 0 days
Research summary
Cancer patients suffer from muscle loss through sarcopenia (the progressive age-related accelerated loss of muscle mass and function) and cachexia (cytokine-mediated degradation of muscle). Sarcopenia is associated with poor survival across tumour types and stages, and complications of therapy.
Our principle objective is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of recruiting participants from certain cancer cohorts to undergo detailed studies of muscle mass and function. A wealth of data will be collected during this study to understand the causes of loss of muscle mass and function in certain cancer patient groups, ultimately aiming to improve sarcopenia prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Our secondary objectives include: to identify the most feasible ways to measure and monitor changes in muscle mass and function; understand the impact of cancer treatment on muscle mass and function; and explore the relationships between gene expression, muscle mass, function and biomarkers of sarcopenia frailty.
MASS_Cancer aims to recruit 60 participants from the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, aged 16 years and older, from 3 key cohorts:
1. Patients diagnosed with thoracic malignancy and a Rockwood Clinical frailty score of ≥4.
2. Patients diagnosed with HPB malignancies and a Rockwood Clinical frailty score of ≥4.
3. Patients previously treated for a paediatric malignancy, and in long term “survivorship” follow-up.There will be two study visits 6-12 weeks apart for cohorts 1 and 2, and one study visit for cohort 3. Participants will undergo the following tests: quality of life and cognitive questionnaires; physical activity monitoring; blood pressure; assessment of body fat and muscle; height and weight; physical performance tests; blood tests; urine sample; stool sample and diet questionnaire (optional); retrospective analysis of muscle bulk and muscle quality from CT scans performed as standard care; and nail-fold capillary assessment. Participants in cohorts 1 and 2 will be invited to undergo an optional biopsy of muscle in the thigh under local anaesthetic.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/NE/0084
Date of REC Opinion
27 May 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion