SarcoSIGHT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
SarcoSIGHT: A Randomised-Control Trial of Fluorescence Guided Sarcoma Surgery Versus the Standard of Care
IRAS ID
1012390
Contact name
Kenneth Rankin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
ISRCTN Number
10805164
Research summary
Sarcomas are rare cancers that can arise anywhere in the body, at any age. The cornerstone of treatment is surgery. Standard of care surgery for sarcoma involves using pre-operative images of the tumour and hand palpation to find and remove the tumour. The surgeon must remove the cancer in its entirety, with healthy tissue surrounding the tumour, to minimise the chance of it coming back (recurrence). Removal of sarcomas is difficult; there is a careful balance to be made between removing just enough normal tissue to ensure no tumour is left behind to cure the disease while not taking away too much normal tissue and causing disability. This is compounded by a lack of established technologies to guide the surgeons during the procedure. A new technology has been developed which involves injecting patients with a dye called indocyanine green (ICG). ICG collects and stays in the tumour but drains quickly from normal tissue. During the operation, the surgeon can see the tumour glowing on a monitor when imaged using a near-infrared camera. This is called Fluorescence Guided Surgery (FGS). Patients of all ages with intermediate to high grade sarcoma are potentially eligible to take part. The trial will randomly allocate patients to receive either standard of care surgery or FGS using ICG. The trial will take place in up to 20 sarcoma centres across the UK and will include 500 patients (250 in each arm) over a period of 30 months. Patients will be asked to complete some brief questionnaires relating to their quality of life before their operation and then at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. The aim of the trial is to determine if FGS using ICG allows the surgeon to remove the tumour in its entirety more often than with standard of care surgery.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/YH/0224
Date of REC Opinion
8 Dec 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion