Radio-labelled excision of lung nodules
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A cohort study to investigate whether radiolabelled lung nodule localisation and excision is a technically successful and reliable method for excision, in patients with small lung nodules.
IRAS ID
152329
Contact name
Joel Dunning
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
The 2015 NICE guidelines for lung nodule excision will recommend this year that patients with nodules over 5mm may be offered surgical excision. In addition these small nodules cause anxiety for patients and the alternative of CT based follow up may be both stressful to the patient and may lead to tumour progression if indeed it turns out to be a cancer.
Thus patients are currently offered removal but if the mass is small then the chance that this must be removed by thoracotomy is increased. Endocscopic surgery is usually preferred but small nodules which are either not palpable or very small may either require some form of localisation or are not suitable for endoscopic surgery.
We have attempted methylene blue localisation but it is not a very reliable method due to the spreading of the dye. We have also tried needle localisation methods but the needle can dislodge.
Injection of a Radionucleotide material provides a way of improved localisation of these nodules. The tumour is injected with a radionucleotide material under CT guidance presurgically. This area is identified using a special probe at VATS surgery. The same probe is used to confirm that the correct area of lung has been removed, by detecting radiation activity in the removed surgical specimen. This technique has the potential to improve the success rate of correct identification of these tiny nodules and their accurate surgical excision through smaller incisions
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0369
Date of REC Opinion
19 May 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion