PROSPECTUS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
PROgnoStic and PrEdiCTive ImmUnoprofiling of Sarcomas (PROSPECTUS)
IRAS ID
207475
Contact name
Julie Curtis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
It has been demonstrated in a number of tumours that the tumour immune profile, i.e. the nature and extent of the infiltrating macrophages and lymphocytes, is of prognostic significance . This was first observed more than 20 years ago in melanoma patients and has now been recognized in multiple cancer types including pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer and others. These observations have underpinned further research into cancer's interaction with the immune system and resulted in recent significant therapeutic advances in a number of tumour types.
Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are a rare and heterogenous group of cancers. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment of localised tumours, of which a large proportion relapse. Existing treatments of relapsed or metastatic disease have generally limited effect, with average survival of advanced STS around 12 months. There are few studies of the tumour immune profile of STS and how it might inform prognosis or response to particular treatments. Further studies of how STS interacts with immune system are required to inform how a new generation of immunotherapeutics might be used to meet the large need for new treatments of STS
The aim of this study is to characterise the immune profile of tumours held within a large diagnostic tissue bank and correlate these findings with patient outcomes. This will provide valuable insight into which sarcoma subtypes have significant engagement with the immune system, and allow the stratification of conventional chemo- and radio-therapy, as well as providing a basis for the strategic clinical trial of newer immunotherapies.REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/EE/0213
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion