Visceral adiposity as a risk factor for gastrointestinal (GI) cancers

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  CT-based Assessment for evaluating Visceral adiposity as a risk factor for gastrointestinal tract cancers using radiomic techniques (CAVITY GI)

• IRAS ID

  357507

• Contact name

  James Kinross

• Contact email

  j.kinross@imperial.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Imperial College London

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 8 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  Original title
  CT-based Assessment for evaluating Visceral adiposity as a risk factor for Gastrointestinal tract cancers

  Lay Title
  Using existing medical scan records to calculate the amount of fat around an individual’s organs and whether this fat relates to a heightened risk of gastrointestinal tract cancers.

  Aims
  To study the fat around the organs, deep inside the belly (called visceral fat) to establish if this can help us identify who might get oesophageal (food pipe) or bowel cancer.

  Why is this important?
  Oesophageal and bowel cancers affect many people and being overweight can raise the chance of getting these cancers. Measuring weight or body mass index (BMI) does not indicate the amount or location of excessive fat. This study looks at the type of fat around the key abdominal organs using special scans to see if it is a better indicator about the chance of getting oesophageal or bowel cancer.

  Methods
  We will look at existing body scans (called CT scans) from at least 840 adults. 260 of them had cancer, the rest didn’t. We will measure the type of fat around the key abdominal organs and the amount of muscle tissue they have to see if there is a link to cancer.

  No new scans or tests will be done. Personal details will be removed from the study and kept private.

  How could this potentially benefit patients?
  This research could help clinicians and other research projects to understand if excess fat around the key organs could identify people with a higher chance of getting cancer earlier. Benefits include improving routine health checks and identifying who should be checked and treated sooner.

• REC name

  London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  26/PR/0511

• Date of REC Opinion

  2 Jun 2026

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion