NCT04965259

Early Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in a High-risk Prospective Cohort (ELEGANCE)

Early Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC): miRNA, Microbiome and Imaging Biomarkers in the Evolution of Chronic Liver Disease in a High-risk Prospective Cohort (ELEGANCE)

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 2,002 (actual)
• Sponsor: National Cancer Centre, Singapore · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years – 90 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the 7th most common cause of cancer death globally but only 20% are diagnosed in its early stages where cure is possible. Current standard-of-care surveillance of patients at high risk of developing HCC with 6-monthly serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and ultrasound imaging (US) has a sensitivity of approximately 63% for detecting early HCC. There is an urgent need for a more efficacious and convenient modality of surveillance of high-risk patients to diagnose HCC at an early stage. This prospective study aims to address this unmet clinical need by validating a panel of circulating miRNA biomarkers to develop an in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) kit for the detection of early HCC in a cohort of high-risk patients. Additionally, this study also aims to develop a multi-parametric MRI-based AI algorithm to quantify individual risks of developing HCC and to predict the progression of chronic liver disease in this cohort to enable targeted surveillance. Lastly, by identifying changes in the microbiome and metabolites as HCC develops in this cohort enables the establishment of actionable biomarkers that can prevent and predict the development of HCC.

Detailed description

Eligible patients will receive 6-monthly standard-of-care surveillance (US, serum AFP and liver function test) for HCC until end of study or up to a maximum of 7 assessments (1 baseline and 6 follow-up assessments). There will be an option for patients to continue to receive standard-of-care surveillance for HCC until end of study or up to 6 additional assessments (Visits 8-13), whichever occurs first. Patients with elevated AFP or abnormalities detected on US will be investigated with multi-phasic CT scan or MRI to confirm or refute the diagnosis of HCC. Additionally, patients shall be scheduled for sequential bio-samples collection (blood, urine and stool) and blood tests (Hba1c and Lipid Panel) during the course of the study.

Conditions

• Liver Diseases

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-04-15
• Primary completion: 2025-03-11
• Completion: 2026-12-21
• First posted: 2021-07-16
• Last updated: 2025-07-02

Locations

14 sites across 1 country: Singapore