Evaluation of a New Blood-based Test to Detect Colorectal Cancer and Its Precursors (CELTiC)

January 31, 2023 updated by: Prof. Evelien Dekker, MD, PhD, Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA)

CELTiC Trial: an International Multicentre Study Evaluating the CELTiC Panel for the Detection of Advanced Neoplasia in Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT)-Positive Individuals

The CELTiC panel is a potential blood-based test for detecting colorectal cancer (CRC) and precursors of CRC. This can be useful for CRC screening, since this requires tests that detect cancer in an early stage to maximize the chances of successful treatment.

CELTiC combines four markers that can be detected in blood. These markers are composed of so-called messenger RNA (mRNA) and can be viewed as the instructions of our genes to the cell to make certain proteins. Cancer is the result of mutation in these genes. Thus, the mRNA in cancer patients is, depending on the type of mRNA, often abnormal. In earlier studies, the developers of CELTiC found four mRNA's that are different in patients with CRC compared to healthy individuals. However, CELTiC has not yet been extensively studied in individuals for whom the test is intended: a population undergoing CRC screening.

The current study aims to fill this gap. We will assess the ability of CELTiC to detect CRC and precursors of CRC in a population of individuals between 50 and 75 years old in the Netherlands and Italy. This population has already been preselected by having a positive fecal immunochemical test (FIT), a test that is frequently used in CRC screening. This population will undergo a colonoscopy, a procedure where a doctor enters the large bowel through the anus using a flexible camara to assess whether the patient has cancer. Prior to this colonoscopy, we will collect blood samples from the individuals to assess their CELTiC score. After the colonoscopy and the blood analysis, we can assess whether the test adequately detects CRC and precursors of CRC in this population.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

  1. BACKGROUND

    Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer in developed regions around the world and its incidence is rising(1,2). Many nations or regions have introduced CRC population screening programmes to detect cancerous lesions before symptoms arise or to detect precursor lesions whose eradication may prevent CRC (3).

    The Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) is used to screen for CRC in many nations and regions around the world. Its advantages include ease of use, the ability to be performed at home and to be sent by mail to a laboratory, and its cost-efficiency (4). Moreover, these characteristics enable population-wide screening without the need for all participants to undergo a colonoscopy.

    However, a downside of the FIT is its performance. In the Netherlands, where a FIT cut-off concentration of 47 mcg Hb/g faeces is used, the FIT produces a negative result in 15% of people who have CRC (5). For the detection of CRC and Advanced Adenomas (AA), referred to as Advanced Neoplasia (AN), the FIT falsely provides a negative result in up to 70% of people with AN. In addition, more than half of the people with a positive FIT result in the Netherlands do not have any (pre)cancerous lesions at colonoscopy.

    One way to improve the efficiency of CRC screening is to introduce a second test to FIT-positive screening participants, to further select individuals for a colonoscopy. Ideally, this test should have a high sensitivity since a false negative result would lead to denying a colonoscopy to a FIT-positive individual with a (pre)cancerous lesion. In addition, the specificity of this test should be high enough to substantially reduce the number of FIT-positive individuals without AN undergoing colonoscopy.

    The CELTiC panel is a blood-based test comprising of four mRNA markers (LGALS4, CEACAM6, TSPAN8, and COL1A2) (6). In a sample of 128 individuals the panel reached an are under the curve (AUC) of 0.82 in discriminating individuals with AN (n = 92; AA n = 25, CRC n = 67) from individuals with a positive FIT result but a normal colonoscopy (n = 36). The CELTiC panel could potentially function as a second test for individuals with a positive FIT result and reduce the number of unnecessary colonoscopies (7). Furthermore, by simultaneously lowering the cut-off concentration of the FIT and introducing the CELTiC panel, screening programs may potentially detect more individuals with AN without increasing the number of colonoscopies performed.

  2. QUALITY ASSURANCE

    This cross-sectional diagnostic test study will examine the CELTiC panel in a population of 800 FIT-positive individuals in Italy and the Netherlands. Sites in both nations will adhere to the same protocol, including blood sample collection, processing, and data collection. Monitoring will be put in place at both sites to ascertain adequate data collection and storage. Laboratory personnel and endoscopy staff will be blinded to the results of the colonoscopy and lab analysis respectively.

  3. OBJECTIVES

    Primary Objective: to estimate the sensitivity of the CELTiC panel for detecting AN at a cut-off with an expected sensitivity of 90%. Secondary Objective(s) include: (i) to estimate the specificity of the CELTiC panel for detecting AN at a cut-off with an expected sensitivity of 90%; (ii) to estimate the positive predictive value of the CELTiC panel for detecting advanced neoplasia at a pre-specified threshold with an expected sensitivity of 90%; (iii) to estimate the specificity of the CELTiC panel for detecting advanced neoplasia and CRC at an observed sensitivity of 90%; (iv) to estimate the positive predictive value of the CELTiC panel for detecting advanced neoplasia and CRC at on observed sensitivity of 90%; (v) to estimate the Area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (c-statistic); (vi) to estimate the association between CELTiC score and FIT concentration.

  4. SAMPLE SIZE

The CRC screening programs of Italy and the Netherlands differ in multiple aspects: in Italy, individuals between 50 and 69 years old are screening every two years with FIT set at a threshold of 20 ug Hb/g feces. In contrast, the Netherlands screens individuals between 55 and 75 years old every two years with FIT set at a threshold of 47 ug Hb/g feces. Therefore, if we were to analyse the results from a combination of these two populations, the results may not be externally valid; the population would consist of more individuals with a relatively high FIT results compared to any other FIT-population in the world. Since FIT is an important risk factor for AN, this may induce selection bias.

Therefore, we have opted to perform two analyses: one with all individuals recruited in Italy (FIT >= 20), and one with all individuals with a FIT of 47 ug Hb/g or higher (both in the Netherlands and Italy). We will aim to estimate a cut-off of CELTiC with a sensitivity of 90% for detecting AN. In addition, we are interested in an estimate with a 95% confidence interval that is not wider than 5% at either side and, for practical reasons, to split the recruiting between Italy in the Netherlands in a 3:2 ratio. Given the positive predictive value of FIT in both screening programs at their respective cut-offs, we will need in total 800 participants for this trial, 347 of whom need to be diagnosed with AN.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

809

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 Locations

  • Italy
    • Emilia-Romagna
      • Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, 40138
        • Universita di Bologna
  • Netherlands
    • Noord-Holland
      • Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 1105 AZ
        • Amsterdam UMC, locatie Academisch Medisch Centrum
    • North-Holland
      • Amsterdam, North-Holland, Netherlands, 1105 AZ
        • Bergman Clinics
    • Zuid-Holland
      • Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands, 3015CN
        • Erasmus University Medical Center

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

50 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • FIT concentration of 20 ug Hb/g or higher (Italy) or 47 ug Hb/g or higher (Netherlands) in the national CRC screening program as reason for referral.
  • Age between 55 and 75 years (Netherlands) or 50 and 69 years (Italy)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No signed informed consent
  • History or current treatment for colorectal cancer
  • History of inflammatory bowel disease
  • History of other condition for which colonoscopy surveillance is planned within the next 5 years.

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: FIT positive individuals
FIT-positive individuals of whom we will collect blood samples and who will undergo a colonoscopy after blood sampling.
Diagnostic test: CELTiC test
The CELTiC test is a blood-based test consisting of four mRNA markers and the risk factor age.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sensitivity of CELTiC
Time Frame: AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy.
The sensitivity of the CELTiC test for detecting advanced neoplasia
AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Specificity of CELTiC
Time Frame: AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy.
The specificity of the CELTiC test
AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy.
Positive Predictive Value of CELTiC
Time Frame: AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy.
The positive predictive value of CELTiC
AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy.
C-statistic of CELTiC
Time Frame: AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy.
The c-statistic of CELTiC for detecting advanced neoplasia
AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Association between CELTiC test score and FIT concentration
Time Frame: AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy. FIT will be collected from the national CRC screening databases.
Association between CELTiC test score and FIT concentration
AN will be measured at colonoscopy, right after the blood samples needed to assess CELTiC have been collected. Analysis of the blood samples will be conducted after colonoscopy. FIT will be collected from the national CRC screening databases.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA)

Collaborators

University of Bologna
Bergman Clinics

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

August 3, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

November 1, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 19, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 27, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

July 28, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 1, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 31, 2023

Last Verified

January 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NL77730.018.21

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.

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