Clinical Research Directory

An Intervention to Increase Genetic Testing in Families Who May Share a Gene Mutation Related to Cancer Risk and An Intervention to Help Patients and Their Primary Care Providers Stay Up-to-date About Uncertain Genetic Test Results

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of new cancer genetic counseling models that aim to increase patient engagement with the genetics team. To do this, the study consists of two trials to evaluate two related interventions. The first trial is the EfFORT Trial, which evaluates a cascade genetic testing intervention. Cascade testing is the process of offering genetic testing to people who are at risk of having inherited a possibly harmful gene change that has been found in their family. The study will look at how often genetic testing occurs when healthcare providers have permission to reach out to family members to recommend genetic testing and to help those who are interested get tested. The study will look at whether this cascade testing intervention is practical and effective. The study would like to see how this approach of healthcare providers reaching out directly to family members compares with the usual approach of patients telling their family members about the recommendation to get genetic testing. The second trial is the STRIVE Trial, which evaluates an intervention designed to help patients who receive an uncertain result from genetic testing (also called a "variant of uncertain significance") stay connected with their genetics care team, and to help patients and their primary care providers stay up-to-date about the meaning of uncertain genetic test results. The study will look at whether an intervention that consists of a study online portal for patients with uncertain genetic test results and their primary care providers will help them to stay up-to-date on the meaning of uncertain genetic test results. The study would like to see how this intervention compares to the usual approach of encouraging patients to re-contact their genetics care team on their own about a year after getting genetic testing."

Video Capsule Examination in Patients With Lynch Syndrome

Surveillance for colorectal cancer (CRC) in patients predisposed to develop CRC during their lifetime has been impacted by access to colonoscopy suites and endoscopy specialists in the past couple of years. An alternative method, namely the colon capsule, has been proposed, however this investigation is time consuming for the clinician and the images require up to one hour (30-60 minutes) reading to issue a result. The investigators propose to obtain images from paired colonoscopies and colon capsules with the purpose of developing an AI algorithm which could aid the clinicians in reading the colon and expand access to this investigation. The main aim of the study is to determine whether it is possible to obtain usable paired images from patients with Lynch and other cancer predisposition syndromes. This will depend on the willingness of the patients to take part in the study and the technical ability of obtaining data from paired images of colonoscopies and colon capsule. At recruitment, participants will undergo a colon capsule investigation, followed by a routine colonoscopy as per their normal standard of care. Paired endoscopic images from colonoscopies and colon capsules will be collected and anonymised data will be accessed by the bioinformatician for analysis. If the study will be successful in reaching the primary endpoint, further trials will be opened, allowing for a larger population to be included and to obtain more robust data, which eventually can lead to validated AI algorithms and application of computer-aided video-capsules examination as a screening tool in at-risk population.