RAMAN-MOSS study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mechanisms and origins of spectral signatures: defining colorectal cancer/polyp/adenoma by Raman spectroscopy
IRAS ID
303620
Contact name
Dean Harris
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Swansea Bay University Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Bowel cancer is one of the commonest cancers worldwide. Early diagnosis is vital for improving outcomes but challenging as symptoms are not specific and are common to other non-cancer conditions. The current gold standard for diagnosis of bowel cancer is colonoscopy. However, colonoscopy is not without risk and services are under huge pressure due to increasing demand causing long waiting times for the patients who need it most.
In collaboration with Swansea University, we have developed a blood test that works by shining laser light onto a blood sample and measuring how much light is scattered off molecules in that sample. This creates a unique ‘fingerprint’ result that is specific to cancer. Our early results show that the test is very good at identifying patients with a high likelihood of having bowel cancer.
We aim to understand the underlying causes of the differences between the blood sample fingerprints measured in patients with and without bowel cancer. By better understanding the origin of the signals, the accuracy of the test could be improved, leading to better cancer detection. It will achieve this by tracking the patterns measured in the blood test from the blood samples back to the tumour. This will include investigating the role of the gut organisms that inhabit the bowel, the effect of the fasting state, lipids and bowel preparation on the results of the blood test.
Adult participants will include those with a diagnosis of bowel cancer, significant bowel disease requiring an operation, patients who undergo routine lipid, or procedures requiring bowel preparation and control participants. They will undergo blood tests and provide faecal samples. For patients having an operation as part of their care, a small portion of tissue that has been removed will be studied.
REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/PR/1616
Date of REC Opinion
30 Dec 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion