A non-invasive scan for endometriosis has shown promising results in a trial, raising hopes for much faster diagnosis of the condition. The study, involving 19 women with endometriosis, suggests that an experimental radiotracer called maraciclatide can effectively 'light up' endometriosis on a scan, potentially eliminating the need for invasive surgical investigations that currently cause long diagnostic delays.
Current Diagnostic Challenges
Endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the womb lining grows in other areas such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes, affects approximately one in ten women and can impact fertility. Symptoms include painful periods, painful bowel movements, pain during urination, and pain during or after sex. Although treatments like hormone medication and surgery exist, the lengthy delays in diagnosis remain a persistent issue. According to research by the charity Endometriosis UK, women in England currently wait an average of nine years and four months for a diagnosis, with the wait extending to eleven years for women from ethnic minority communities. Health Secretary Wes Streeting highlighted this problem earlier this month in the government's renewed Women's Health Strategy.
The Trial and Its Findings
The most common and earliest form of the condition, peritoneal endometriosis, cannot be reliably detected with existing imaging techniques. Standard MRI scans typically only identify structural changes that appear with more advanced disease. The recent trial investigated the use of maraciclatide, a radiotracer developed by the UK-based company Serac. This tracer is designed to bind to tissue that is forming new blood vessels, a key feature of endometriosis.
Nineteen patients who were scheduled for laparoscopies for endometriosis received an infusion of the tracer and then underwent a Spect-CT scan. The scan results matched the surgical diagnosis in 16 out of 19 cases, with no false positives reported. Professor Krina Zondervan, head of department at the Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford and co-lead of the study, stated: 'The most prevalent subtype of endometriosis currently evades reliable detection, leaving women no choice for diagnosis other than invasive surgery. If these results are confirmed in larger phase 3 studies, imaging with maraciclatide could transform clinical research and practice and potentially empower the development of treatments for women across the globe.'
Future Implications
Serac plans to validate these findings in larger phase 3 trials. If confirmed as effective, a minimally invasive scan could not only speed up diagnosis but also facilitate clinical trials for new treatments. Dr Tatjana Gibbons, lead author of the paper and also of the NDWRH, commented: 'These exciting findings indicate that maraciclatide offers a highly promising diagnostic and monitoring tool, particularly for superficial peritoneal endometriosis, which is the most common and yet the hardest type of endometriosis to identify.' The findings have been published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women's Health.
