Developing a mass-spectrometry tool for brain tissue analysis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of an intra-operative mass-spectrometry tool for real-time tissue analysis during brain tumour biopsy and resection surgery
IRAS ID
335747
Contact name
Chris McKinnon
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford / Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 28 days
Research summary
Brain tumours can originate in the brain itself (primary brain tumour) or spread there from a tumour elsewhere in the body (secondary brain tumour or metastasis). An enlarging brain tumour can result in significant disability and may eventually be life-threatening. In most cases, it is necessary to obtain a sample of the tumour to confirm the specific diagnosis since this will guide what additional treatment to offer. Patients either undergo an operation to remove as much of a brain tumour as safely possible (resection surgery), or a biopsy can be performed in which a small piece of tumour tissue is removed for analysis. During surgery, it can be difficult to distinguish a brain tumour from surrounding normal brain tissue based on appearance alone. As a result, neurosurgeons currently send samples of tissue to a neuropathologist for preparation of a ‘smear’ which can be analysed under a microscope. Unfortunately, this approach takes 20 – 30 mins and cannot distinguish specific brain tumour subtypes. More in-depth testing takes an average of 7-10 days but can extend to a few weeks if specialised genetic tests are required.
This study aims to develop a method of real-time tissue analysis which can rapidly identify specific brain tumour subtypes during surgery. We will recruit adults who are undergoing surgery to biopsy or resect a suspected primary or secondary brain tumour. During surgery, additional samples of the brain tumour will be collected for analysis by a technique called mass-spectrometry. We will also investigate whether mass-spectrometry can detect a biochemical ‘fingerprint’ of brain tumours in other bodily tissues (e.g. blood, urine, saliva, tears, cerebrospinal fluid), which may provide a route to earlier diagnosis and improved monitoring of a patient’s response to treatment.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
24/WS/0013
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion