Spectroscopy in Ovarian Cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Molecular Spectroscopy in Identification and Assessment of Ovarian cancer
IRAS ID
288711
Contact name
Diana Frimpong
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Exeter
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
n/a, n/a
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Ovarian cancer is the sixth commonest cancer however no screening program exists. Five-year survival declines from 93% in stage 1 (early) disease to 13% in stage 4 (advanced) disease suggesting a crucial role for early
detection. In addition, the most important predictor of survival is complete removal of cancer tissue at surgery which is a subjective assessment as no standardized objective assessment exists.
This group will evaluate molecular spectroscopy, a technique that studies the relationship between light and the sample for analysis, for the detection of early changes in the blood suggestive of cancer and aid diagnosis.
Molecular spectroscopy will also be applied to the objective assessment of complete active cancer removal at surgery. This technique has been shown to be of value in early detection of oesophageal cancer and during surgery in breast cancer.
We plan to collect blood samples from up to 500 patients presenting with ovarian cancer symptoms. We will analyze their samples and then compare our results with their clinical conclusion (cancer or other gynecological pathology). The participant group that have a cancer diagnosis will be followed up with a blood test after
chemotherapy and at the end of treatment to evaluate for persistence or loss of blood changes over time.
At surgery, we will collect samples of normal, active cancer and areas of fibrosis (treated cancer) to be analysed. We expect to be able to discriminate between the different tissue types using their molecular fingerprints thus
providing an objective biomarker for the classification of chemotherapy treated versus active cancer tissue.
It is the intention of this group to be able to use this molecular information to develop a probe that can be applied during surgery to accurately detect active cancer tissue within areas treated with chemotherapy,therefore helping the surgical oncologist to decide which tissue areas to remove.REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NW/0092
Date of REC Opinion
7 May 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion