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Reporting of Tumour Deposits in Colorectal Cancer by Radiology and Pathology

NCT07345273 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 225

Last updated 2026-01-15

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

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?

Conditions

  • Rectal Adenocarcinoma

Interventions

OTHER

No Intervention: Observational Cohort

No intervention is to be performed. This is an observational retrospective cohort study only

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Croydon Health Services NHS Trust

    collaborator OTHER

  • Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

    collaborator OTHER

  • Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • London North West University Health Care NHS Trust

    collaborator UNKNOWN

  • Imperial College London

    lead OTHER

Eligibility

Min Age
16 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-02-28
Primary Completion
2026-04-30
Completion
2026-05-31

Countries

  • United Kingdom

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07345273 on ClinicalTrials.gov