Tumour Microenvironment in Vestibular Schwannoma

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Characterisation of the Tumour Microenvironment in Vestibular Schwannoma

• IRAS ID

  274046

• Contact name

  Andrew King

• Contact email

  andrew.king@manchester.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Manchester

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  Not applicable, Not applicable

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 7 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Vestibular schwannomas are tumours that arise from the hearing and balance nerve of the brain. They lead to symptoms such as hearing loss, tinnitus (a loud ringing in the ears) and problems with balance. Although these tumours are benign, the tumours themselves and the current treatments for them can significantly impact on the patients' quality of life. Currently there are three main treatment options for these tumours-'watch and wait' using MRI scans to monitor for tumour growth, radiotherapy and surgical removal of the tumour. Radiotherapy and surgery are used to treat these tumours, but both can have significant side effects. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new management strategies for these tumours.
  
  Recent research from our group has shown that inflammation plays a significant role in the growth of these tumours. The aim of our research is to try and find out more about how this inflammation starts, and if there are any processes in the tumour cells that we could target with drugs. Seek permission to access existing collections of archived tumour tissue held in the Pathology department and within an approved Biobank will allow us to complete analysis of tumour tissue. In addition, we will recruit patients with non-growing and newly diagnosed vestibular schwannomas from a specialist neurosurgical centre, Salford Royal NHS Hospital into our study. This will allow us to measure levels of inflammation in blood at different time points from patients with growing and non-growing tumours. Our analysis will help us understand how inflammation contributes to the growth of VS tumours. It in time lead to the development of a blood test that could help clinicians predict which tumours will grow and allow earlier, targeted intervention. This study will last for three years. This research is funded by the Eleanor Peel Trust.

• REC name

  North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  20/NW/0015

• Date of REC Opinion

  29 Jan 2020

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion