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Cervical CancerNCT05236855

Spectroscopy and Artificial Intelligence to Disrupt the Status Quo in Cervical Cancer Screening

An observational study of Cervical Cancer and HPV, run by IWK Health Centre.

Unknown status

Status not confirmed. The sponsor has not verified this record for over two years, so it may be out of date.

Official record
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Trial summary

Cervical cancer kills one woman every two minutes, 90% of these women are from low- and middle-income countries. Newly developed testing using biofluids has proven successful in identifying disease markers in, for example, brain cancers and endometrial cancers. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Any age, women onlyHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Cervical Cancer, HPV
What is being tested?
Spectoscropy testing of urine specimen
How many people
200 participants
Where
No sites listed yet
Study dates
1 Mar 2022to 30 Sep 2022
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages Any age
  • Women only
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Study population: Women undergoing standard HPV screening at the IWK Health Centre and Nova Scotia Health in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Who may be able to join

  • Women undergoing standard HPV screening at the IWK Health Centre and Nova Scotia Health in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Who cannot join

  • -

Trial locations and contacts

No sites are listed yet.

James R Bentley, MBChB contact

902-470-6460

james.bentley@nshealth.ca

About this study

Official title: Spectroscopy and Artificial Intelligence to Disrupt the Status Quo in Cervical Cancer

Cervical cancer kills one woman every two minutes, 90% of these women are from low- and middle-income countries. Newly developed testing using biofluids has proven successful in identifying disease markers in, for example, brain cancers and endometrial cancers. Early studies have revealed that this technology is also showing potential for gynaecological cancers using validated human papillomavirus (HPV) test specimens. Urine samples, more easily collected, may make screening more accessible and acceptable to women. Spectroscopy is a portable and relatively simple technology; results are instant, reproducible and reliable. Once we confirm that spectroscopy has the ability to identify potential CIN 2+ by detecting HPV in urine, the test can be miniaturized and adapted to a point of care test. This will be more economical and logistically simpler than what is currently available; no consumables and pre-processing of samples are required. Women with abnormal cervical screening and women with normal screening as controls will be recruited, cervical and urine samples will be obtained. These will be tested for HPV DNA using standard methods and also by spectroscopy for HPV. These spectroscopy signals will be analyzed using artificial intelligence. The results will be compared to tissue samples obtained at colposcopy. This will allow evaluation of the new spectroscopy test. This preliminary study aims to prove the concept the spectroscopy as a simple, affordable screen can be used to radically change cervical cancer screening. Enabling a test that has point of care capabilities has huge implications for women in developed and more significantly in low-and middle-income countries, where cervical cytology and HPV testing have significant logistical problems. A non-invasive test will be preferred by many women. We believe spectroscopy will disrupt the status quo of 'no screening' in the low and middle income countries (LMICs), accelerate elimination of cervical cancer, and thus avert 15 million deaths in next 50 years.

Read the detailed description

After obtaining informed consent, cervical and urine specimens will be obtained from all enrolled participants. Cervical biopsies in the disease group will be carried out at the providers' discretion per routine colposcopy protocols. Cervical specimens will be collected by the attending gynecologists and urine samples will be collected by the participants. Aliquots of urine and cervical samples will be tested for HPV DNA with cobas 4800 HPV test (Roche Diagnostics) serving as the gold standard at the Newfoundland Public Health Laboratory, St. John's, Newfoundland. The cobas test, however, identifies only two (types 16 and 18) of 14 high-risk HPV genotypes specifically. Therefore, a second set of aliquots will be tested at Seegene laboratory in Kitchener, Ontario to obtain complete genotype profile of all 14 high-risk genotypes as well as quantitative HPV results using Anyplex HPV DNA test (Seegene Inc), a next generation HPV test. Urine samples will also be independently tested by Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy and signals analyzed by Prof. Rehman's lab, Department of Engineering, Lancaster University, Lancaster United Kingdom (UK) to detect HPV. Spectroscopy results will be compared with HPV test results with genotypes to determine concordance between specimen types and between the testing technologies, with a special reference to urine testing. Biopsy confirmed CIN2+ will serve as the clinical endpoint to determine the sensitivity and specificity of urine spectroscopy testing in comparison with urine HPV testing; cervical HPV results will serve as the reference method. We are partnering with NSV-Tech a biotechnology company based in the US and India who have experience with artificial intelligence and cancer screening using tablet-based technology. Spectroscopy signals will be shared with NSV-Tech to develop artificial neural networks (ANN). The spectroscopy outputs linked to the ground-truth (biopsy confirmed abnormal cervical cells (CIN2)+ histology) will be used to develop ANN to improve diagnostic accuracy of this clinically relevant endpoint and remove subjectivity. The study relies on the ability for spectroscopy to detect HPV. The research team is confident this will be feasible. As noted, members of the research team are reviewing reference urine samples previously analyzed using standard HPV detection methods to confirm that spectroscopy is a viable option method. The control specimen collection and analysis uses standard methods. The data collection will take place in an academic colposcopy clinic with adequate patient volume and a proven track record in recruiting patients for such trials. The analysis of the spectroscopy in the UK of the spectroscopy, is in labs that have significant experience in assessing biological samples. The project's international collaboration is significant and brings together world class leaders in the prevention of cervical cancer who all have experience with novel technology and screening trials.

Conditions
Cervical Cancer, HPV
Being tested
Spectoscropy testing of urine specimen
Keywords
Spectroscopy
Medical subject headings
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Spectoscropy testing of urine specimenDiagnostic test

    Urine samples will be independently tested by I R Spectroscopy and those results are to be compared with standard testing procedures for HPV

Study groups in NCT05236855
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
InterventionWomen seen at the colposcopy clinic at Nova Scotia Health in Gynaecology-Oncology because of an abnormal cervical screen lab report
Receives: Diagnostic Test: Spectoscropy testing of urine specimen
ControlWomen seen at the General Gynaecology Clinic and the Izaak Walton Killam (IWK) Health Centre with a normal cervical screen lab report

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Investigate the ability of spectroscopy to detect high risk HPV in urine

    Confirm detection of HPV in urine using a new technique with I R Spectroscopy

    Measured: 18 months

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Measure the concordance between HPV detection by spectroscopy and by a validated HPV DNA test.

    Comparison of standard HPV testing with a new method using I R Spectroscopy

    Measured: 18 months

  2. Determine the sensitivity and specificity of urine spectroscopy for HPV

    show that spectroscopy is non-inferior, clinically acceptable, to a validated HPV DNA test

    Measured: 18 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted11 Feb 2022
  2. Study start1 Mar 2022 (estimated)
  3. Primary completion30 Sep 2022 (estimated)
  4. Study completion30 Sep 2022 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
200 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05236855
Sponsor's protocol ID
1026741
Status last verified
Aug 2021
First submitted
2 Feb 2022
Last updated
11 Feb 2022
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No

Publications

  • Paraskevaidi M, Morais CLM, Lima KMG, Snowden JS, Saxon JA, Richardson AMT, Jones M, Mann DMA, Allsop D, Martin-Hirsch PL, Martin FL. Differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease using spectrochemical analysis of blood. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Sep 19;114(38):E7929-E7938. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1701517114. Epub 2017 Sep 5.

    PubMed 28874525
  • Sargent A, Fletcher S, Bray K, Kitchener HC, Crosbie EJ. Cross-sectional study of HPV testing in self-sampled urine and comparison with matched vaginal and cervical samples in women attending colposcopy for the management of abnormal cervical screening. BMJ Open. 2019 Apr 29;9(4):e025388. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025388.

    PubMed 31036707
  • Pathak N, Dodds J, Zamora J, Khan K. Accuracy of urinary human papillomavirus testing for presence of cervical HPV: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2014 Sep 16;349:g5264. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g5264.

    PubMed 25232064
  • Ogilvie GS, van Niekerk D, Krajden M, Smith LW, Cook D, Gondara L, Ceballos K, Quinlan D, Lee M, Martin RE, Gentile L, Peacock S, Stuart GCE, Franco EL, Coldman AJ. Effect of Screening With Primary Cervical HPV Testing vs Cytology Testing on High-grade Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia at 48 Months: The HPV FOCAL Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2018 Jul 3;320(1):43-52. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.7464.

    PubMed 29971397
  • Mayrand MH, Duarte-Franco E, Rodrigues I, Walter SD, Hanley J, Ferenczy A, Ratnam S, Coutlee F, Franco EL; Canadian Cervical Cancer Screening Trial Study Group. Human papillomavirus DNA versus Papanicolaou screening tests for cervical cancer. N Engl J Med. 2007 Oct 18;357(16):1579-88. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa071430.

    PubMed 17942871
  • Jackson R, Wang L, Jembere N, Murphy J, Kupets R. Why Do Women Get Cervical Cancer in an Organized Screening Program in Canada? J Low Genit Tract Dis. 2019 Jan;23(1):1-6. doi: 10.1097/LGT.0000000000000450.

    PubMed 30489433
  • Nishri ED, Sheppard AJ, Withrow DR, Marrett LD. Cancer survival among First Nations people of Ontario, Canada (1968-2007). Int J Cancer. 2015 Feb 1;136(3):639-45. doi: 10.1002/ijc.29024. Epub 2014 Jul 9.

    PubMed 24923728
  • McGahan CE, Linn K, Guno P, Johnson H, Coldman AJ, Spinelli JJ, Caron NR. Cancer in First Nations people living in British Columbia, Canada: an analysis of incidence and survival from 1993 to 2010. Cancer Causes Control. 2017 Oct;28(10):1105-1116. doi: 10.1007/s10552-017-0950-7. Epub 2017 Sep 8.

    PubMed 28887646
  • Brenner DR, Weir HK, Demers AA, Ellison LF, Louzado C, Shaw A, Turner D, Woods RR, Smith LM; Canadian Cancer Statistics Advisory Committee. Projected estimates of cancer in Canada in 2020. CMAJ. 2020 Mar 2;192(9):E199-E205. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.191292. Epub 2020 Mar 2.

    PubMed 32122974
  • Organization WH. Global strategy towards eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem 2020. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-global-strategy-towards-eliminating-cervical-cancer-as-a-public-health-problem

  • GLOBOCAN 2018: Estimated cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence worldwide in 2018: International Agency for Reserach on Cancer and World Health Organization. Available from: https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/cancers/23-Cervix-Uteri-fact-sheet.pdf.

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Cervical Cancer and HPV, run by IWK Health Centre.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: status not confirmed, as of the sponsor's last update on 11 Feb 2022. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Results are not available in the source record.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

Contact James R Bentley, MBChB (902-470-6460, james.bentley@nshealth.ca), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Investigate the ability of spectroscopy to detect high risk HPV in urine (time frame: 18 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05236855, which also lists 11 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 11 Feb 2022.

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