Methylation Analyses for Gynaecological Research Through Home-based Self-sampling (MARGOT)

November 3, 2026 updated by: Wiebren Tjalma, Universiteit Antwerpen

The goal of the MARGOT study is to collect self-samples, such as first-void urine and vaginal samples, from people without cancer and compare them with samples from people with gynecological (pre-)cancers collected in other studies, to better understand the differences in biological markers present in these samples between these two groups.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

To ensure the validity and interpretability of research findings, it is essential to compare study outcomes against an appropriate reference population. This study will collect first-void urine and vaginal self-samples from people without cancer (cancer-free controls), which will serve as a comparator for individuals diagnosed with a gynecological (pre-)cancer. These cancer-free controls are recruited via different ways (e.g., social media, volunteer databases, posters/flyers in healthcare institutions). Participants have the option to collect their samples at home or on site at the study center. A questionnaire will provide more information about the presence of risk factors and participants' experiences with the self-sampling methods.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

512

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

    • Antwerp
      • Edegem, Antwerp, Belgium, 2650
        • Recruiting
        • University of Antwerp, Center for the Evaluation of Vaccination, Vaccinopolis
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals having female genital organs, regardless of their gender identity.
  • Participant is 18 years or older at the time of signing the informed consent form.
  • Participant must be able to understand the (Dutch) information consent form and what the study is about.
  • Participant must be able to provide written informed consent and take urine- and vaginal self-samples.
  • Individual has a Belgian nationality.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals that underwent hysterectomy or ovariectomy.
  • Pregnant individuals or 6 months post-partum.
  • (History of) (pre)cancer, or an ongoing diagnostic work-up or treatment for oncological concerns.
  • Unable to give informed consent or to take urine- or vaginal self-samples.
  • Participation in another interventional study. However, participation in another low-interventional or observational study is allowed.
  • Individuals who have (a history) of postmenopausal bleeding.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Participants Providing Self-Samples for Biomarker Analysis

Participants will collect one first-void urine sample and one vaginal self-sample at home or at the study center.

Participants will collect a first-void urine (the initial part of the urine stream) sample with the 20 mL Colli-Pee device prefilled with urine conservation medium (UCM, DNA Genotek, Canada). This sample can be taken at home or on site.

Participants will collect a vaginal self-sample with the Evalyn Brush (Rovers Medical Devices, The Netherlands) at home or on site.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Comparison of (epi)genetic biomarkers between controls and cases
Time Frame: 48 months

The data collected within this study (controls) will be compared to the data from the gynecological (pre-)cancer patients (cases) that are collected during a concurrent study: COMBISCREEN (B3002023000030) and MYSSELF study (B3002025000175).

The primary objective of the presented MARGOT study is to facilitate the identification of (epi)genetic biomarkers for the detection of gynecological (pre-)cancers. This will be achieved through the recruitment of sufficient healthy volunteers for a robust comparison of control and (pre-)cancer samples. This evaluation will be conducted using first-void urine and vaginal self-samples that are analysed with (methylation-) detection techniques.

48 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Wiebren A.A. Tjalma, MD, PhD, Universiteit Antwerpen

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2032

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2032

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 21, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 21, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

October 28, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • B3002026000034

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.