Natural language processing of histopathology reports [CAG PILOT]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Natural language processing of histopathology reports
IRAS ID
293404
Contact name
Adam P. Levine
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London (UCL)
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2022/11/124, UCL Data Protection Number
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Histopathology is a medical specialty in which cellular and tissue specimens from patients are examined to identify and characterise disease. Histopathological findings are described in histopathology reports. These contain a wealth of information of clinical and scientific value; however, analysing them in a systematic way at scale in an automated manner is generally not possible because of their unstructured nature.
This project seeks to establish a dataset of histopathology reports from multiple NHS Trusts. Natural language processing (NLP), a computational methodology used to process, analyse and extract information from natural language text, will be implemented to enable high quality, reliable and accurate data extraction at scale. In doing so, this study aims to provide novel pathological, epidemiological and clinical insights.
This is a retrospective cohort study and requires no active engagement by participants. Data from all individuals at the participating hospital NHS Trusts that have had a histopathology specimen processed from the time of commencement of computerised pathology records will be considered for inclusion except individuals that have declined data sharing through the NHS Opt Out programme or communicated a wish to dissent use of their data for research at the participating NHS Trust. Histopathology reports will be de-identified and data stored and analysed within a secure computing environment. The study will last three years in the first instance.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0253
Date of REC Opinion
6 Apr 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion