COMET

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    The COMET Trial: Concordance between MRI and Pathology in the Diagnosis of Extranodal Tumour Deposits

  • IRAS ID

    217627

  • Contact name

    Gina Brown

  • Contact email

    gina.brown@imperial.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Royal Marsden Hospital

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    6 years, 0 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    Colorectal cancer, as with other cancers, can spread to glands (lymph nodes) and this is traditionally thought to be how cancer spreads elsewhere. Research has shown that cancer also spreads directly into veins and forms deposits of tumour outside glands. As you might suspect, tumour cells in blood vessels may be more likely to spread and deposits of cancer cells may be an important sign that cancer is spreading elsewhere in the body.

    These deposits have a distinctive appearance on MRI scans but can be difficult to distinguish from glands by pathologists who may not appreciate that they originate from veins. Our provisional work shows that vein deposits are more frequently seen on routine pre-surgery MRI scans. We aim to prove that abnormalities seen on MRI really are tumour deposits by working closely with surgeons, radiologists and pathologists to locate and examine these.

    This research is completely new and is needed to prove that MRI scans can accurately diagnose patients with tumour deposits. We know these patients are at higher risk of relapse than those with tumour in glands, so if we can predict this before surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy may be added to cure more patients from their cancer.

  • REC name

    South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    17/SC/0406

  • Date of REC Opinion

    11 Aug 2017

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion