Reporting of Tumour Deposits in Colorectal Cancer by Radiology and Pathology
Starting soon
Conditions studied: Rectal Adenocarcinoma
In brief
Recent research shows that tumour deposits-small spots of cancer found near the main bowel tumour-may give doctors important information about how aggressive the cancer is and how likely it is to come back. Doctors can find tumour deposits either: 1. When looking at scans before surgery, or 2. when examining the removed bowel tissue under the microscope after surgery. In the past, tumour deposits were not always recorded properly. This is because older cancer-staging systems (called TNM 5) used in the UK treated these spots differently, depending on their size, and sometimes labelled them as lymph nodes even when they were not. As a result, many tumour deposits were missed in reports. Since 2018, the UK has been using an updated staging system (called TNM 8) that gives tumour deposits their own category. This means doctors are now expected to report them separately when they are found in the tissue around the bowel. This matters because the investigators know that patients who have tumour deposits may have a higher risk of the cancer returning or spreading. Because of this, these patients might benefit from extra treatment-such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy-on top of surgery. However, if tumour deposits are not routinely recorded on scans or pathology reports, doctors may not realise a patient has them. This means that: 1. Patients may not get the most appropriate advice about their cancer, and 2. Patients may miss out on treatments that could help reduce the chance of the cancer returning. This research project aims to find out two things: 1. Are tumour deposits being routinely reported on scans and pathology reports for rectal cancer since the newer TNM 8 system was introduced? And 2. Is there a link between reporting tumour deposits and another important finding called EMVI (extramural vascular invasion), which also affects cancer behaviour and treatment decisions?
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT07345273
- Run by
- Imperial College London
- People needed
- 225
- Starts
- 2026-02-01
- Expected to finish
- 2026-05-01
- Last updated by the study team
- 2026-01-15
Who can join
Age: 16 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Primary adenocarcinoma of the rectum (proven by biopsy)
- Undergone surgical resection between 01st January 2007 to 31st December 2017 inclusive for the TNM 5 cohort
- Undergone surgical resection between 01st January 2022 to 31st December 2024 inclusive for the TNM 8 cohort
- Staging with MRI reports are available 4. Post-operative pathology report available 5. Patients aged 16 years and over
You may not qualify if…
- Synchronous metastatic tumours
- Under the age of 16 years
- MRI and/or pathology reports are not available
Where it is running
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trusts — Croydon, Select Your County, United Kingdom
- London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust — London, Select Your County, United Kingdom
- Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital — Basingstoke, United Kingdom
- Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust — Surrey Quays, United Kingdom
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
Trial information comes from ClinicalTrials.gov and is refreshed daily. TrialsForMe does not provide medical care and does not run the studies it lists.