PerceIVe

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Power of liquid biopsy tracking in immunotherapy treated stage III and IV melanoma (PerceIVe)

  • IRAS ID

    344721

  • Contact name

    Arjun Modi

  • Contact email

    arjun.modi@rmh.nhs.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    CCR6083, CCR6083

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors has remarkably improved survival in advanced melanoma patients in the last decade. Long term responders following cessation of immunotherapy after completion of 2 years of treatment or earlier due to toxicities go on to surveillance with frequent radiological imaging 3-6 monthly up to 5-10 years. This not only exposes patients with a relatively low risk of recurrence to significant amounts of ionising radiation, but also increases the burden and cost on already stretched radiology departments.
    ctDNA, a form of DNA released by cancer cells into blood circulation has been studied and shown to have a role in detection, prognostication and correlation with tumour burden to assist with making treatment decisions across several cancers. While there is ongoing research into ctDNA in early stages of melanoma, there is very limited data on its role in detecting relapse or progression of disease in the advanced stages for patients on surveillance. Therefore, this study aims to assess the feasibility of using ctDNA for detecting disease relapse or progression at the
    point of radiological progression. We will also assess patient satisfaction of using ctDNA analyses through a simple survey.
    100 patients will be recruited over 12 months from multiple centres across the UK that treat high volume melanoma patients, at point of disease progression. We will collect biological samples including a routine plasma blood test, a finger prick and a urine sample which will be transferred to 4 relevant labs where they will undergo analyses. These include:
    - Plasma ctDNA (Manchester)
    - Finger prick blood spot ctDNA (Cambridge)
    - Urine cfDNA (Cambridge)
    - Immunophenotyping (IMUBiosciences)
    We hope that data from this pilot study will help to design a future validation study for establishing the optimal liquid biopsy for surveillance in advanced melanoma patients and streamline the surveillance process for our patients in the future.

  • REC name

    West of Scotland REC 5

  • REC reference

    24/WS/0161

  • Date of REC Opinion

    21 Nov 2024

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion