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NCT Number: NCT02500693

Circulating Tumor Cells in Lung Cancer Screening

This trial is intended to evaluate the value of circulating tumor cells (CTC), in combination with unenhanced (without injection of contrast media) low dose (to limit the effective radiation dose below 1,5 mSv) chest computed tomography (LDCT) in the screening of Lung cancer (LC).

LDCT screening was shown to reduce LC mortality in smokers and ex-smokers, older than 55 years, with a history of more than 30 pack-years. LDCT however shows a close to 30% rate of false positive that require repeat follow-up and also invasive investigations, but also false negatives with metastatic LC being discovered between screening rounds.

Migration of circulating tumor cells (CTC) is an early event of carcinogenesis and characterizes aggressive cancers. We recently showed that CTC can be detected with the ISET technique in a population at high risk for LC, i.e. COPD patients before LC was detectable on LDCT.

The study will focus on patients at very high risk for lung cancer i.e. smokers and ex-smokers suffering Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

The study will enroll 600 participants who will undergo three rounds of screening at one year intervals, each round combining search for CTC on a blood sample and LDCT. Each participant will be followed for at least one year after the last screening round

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Key information

Conditions

Lung Neoplasms Chronic Disease Disease Attributes Lung Diseases Lung Diseases, Obstructive Neoplasms Neoplasms by Site Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive Respiratory Tract Diseases Respiratory Tract Neoplasms Thoracic Neoplasms

Age range

55 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

CHU d'Amiens, Amiens, France

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Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age 55 years or more
  • 30 or more pack-years of cigarette smoking history
  • Former smokers: quit smoking within the previous 15 years
  • Signed informed consent form
  • Presence of COPD
  • Affiliation to the French social security system

Exclusion criteria

  • Chest CT examination in the 12 months prior to eligibility assessment(1)
  • Treatment for, or evidence of, any cancer other than skin basocellular carcinoma in the 5 years prior to eligibility assessment
  • Pneumonia or acute respiratory infection treated with antibiotics in the 12 weeks prior to eligibility assessment
  • Unexplained weight loss of more than 15 10%pounds in the 12 months prior to eligibility assessment
  • Recent hemoptysis
  • History of lung volume reduction with coils, glue or valves°
  • Metallic implants or devices in the chest or back, such as pacemakers or Harrington fixation rods
  • Participation in another cancer screening trial
  • Participation in a cancer prevention study, other than a smoking cessation study
  • Vulnerable persons: adults under guardianship, adults under trusteeship or persons deprived of their liberty, patients under 18 years old
  • Medical and/or psychiatric problems of sufficient severity to limit full compliance with the study or expose patients to undue risk
  • Many COPD patients will have had a previous chest CT examination. This has become common in medical practice, especially in patients with chronic lung diseases such as COPD patients. Including such patients would introduce huge bias in the study by artificially focusing on rapidly growing cancers. Redoing a CT in a screening intend in a patient who recently underwent this investigation would also unnecessarily enhance irradiation in these patients. It should be note that in the NLST trial "previous chest CT (≤ 18 months)" was a key exclusion criterion [NLST Radiology 2011].

Treatment and study plan

Isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTC) from veinous blood

Biological

Thirty ml of peripheral blood will be collected in buffered EDTA, maintained at 4°C, and processed within 1 hour for filtration. After blood filtration, the membrane will be gently washed with PBS, disassembled from the filtration module, and allowed to air-dry. The determination of CTC number present on filters will be carried out by combining four color immunofluorescent (anti-pancytokeratins/anti-vimentin/DAPI/anti-CD45) staining and cytomorphological examination after Diff-quick and Mayer Hemalun staining in three spots per patient sample. Imaging of immunofluorescent and cytological staining will be performed at x20 magnification using the automated Ariol system. CTCs are identified by relocating images of immunofluorescent and cytological staining.

Primary outcomes

  1. Rate of detection of circulating tumor cells in patients who will have a LC detected during the study

    Time frame: 3 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Rate of detection of CTC in the whole study population

    Time frame: once a year for 3 years

  2. Circulating tumor cells

    Time frame: once a year for 3 years

    Predictive value of CTC detection for the diagnosis of LC in patients identified as having a pulmonary nodule.

  3. Time span between detection of CTC and detection of lung cancer with LDCT and vice versa

    Time frame: once a year for 3 years

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Circulating Tumor Cells and Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Acronym: AIR

Important dates

Study start
2015
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2020
First posted
Jul 16, 2015
Registry last updated
Mar 24, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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