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Comparing robotic and open surgery for complex ovarian and pelvic masses

Compares robotic surgery with open surgery to remove complex growths in women's pelvic organs.

Key facts

Who runs it
Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Where
Guildford, United KingdomSee the site
Trial code
Registry title
MIRRORS-FROZEN - Comparing Open Vs Robotic Surgery in the Management of Women With Complex Pelvic Adnexal Masses ≤ 8cm.
Status
Recruiting
People taking part
25 people, planned
Started
23 Sept 2024
Expected to end
1 Feb 2027
Type of study
Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
Treatments tested
  • MIRRORS-FROZEN Protocol.
  • Standard open surgery
Record updated
2 November 2026

Who can take part

AI summary

From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.

The trial is looking for women aged 18 to 100 with a complex pelvic adnexal mass of 8 cm (3.1 in) or less who need surgery. It compares robotic surgery with open surgery.

Age
18 to 100 years
Sex
Women only
Disease stage
A complex adnexal (ovary or fallopian tube) mass of 8 cm (3.1 in) or less. Scans (CT or MRI) must show no cancer outside the adnexae.

Main reasons for not taking part

  • Adnexal mass larger than 8 cm (3.1 in)
  • Stage III or IV disease shown on scans or tests
  • Cannot understand and give informed consent
  • Not able to have laparoscopic surgery, for example severe aortic stenosis

The registry criteria, word for word

Show all 8 criteriaShow less

Who can take part

  • Complex adnexal Pelvic mass/es ≤8 cm with no malignant disease outside the adnexae on CT or MRI
  • Women aged ≥18 \& ≤100 years old
  • Patients who had given their signed and written informed consent

Who cannot take part

  • Patients not suitable for laparoscopic surgery, such as but not limited to those with severe aortic stenosis
  • Radiological or histological or cytological evidence of stage III or IV disease
  • Any patient randomized to either of the study arms and found to have disease which appears greater than stage 1 will be withdrawn from the trial and treated according to the national guidelines
  • Adnexal pelvic mass > 8 cm
  • Lack of capacity to understand and give informed consent

Check if you might fit

Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.

  • Are you between 18 and 100 years old?

Where in United Kingdom

  • The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation TrustGuildford, United KingdomContact: Radwa Hablase, MBBCh MRCOG PGCertTaking people

About the trial

What the trial wants to find out

Adnexal masses are growths that can form in the ovaries or fallopian tubes for different reasons, such as hormonal changes, infection, or cancer. These masses may cause pelvic discomfort, pain, constipation, or no symptoms at all. When adnexal masses are found on scans, they are described in a certain way to indicate if they could represent early-stage cancer, and the word "complex" is used to refer to these masses. Surgery is often recommended, where the mass is removed and examined under the microscope during surgery in a process called (frozen section analysis); to determine its true nature.

Read full original descriptionShow less

It is still difficult to confirm cancer before surgery, and many of these masses turn out to be benign (not cancerous) or borderline (slow-growing tumours). Currently, doctors use open surgery with a cut from at least the belly button to the pubic bone to remove these masses. Patients with a cancer diagnosis will then have more surgical steps including assessment and sampling of various areas inside the abdomen (known as staging surgery) to see how far the cancer has spread.

Recovery after open surgery can be long and painful, with a slow return to normal daily activities. The trial investigators know from practice that robotic surgery has replaced open surgery for most benign adnexal diseases and other types of women's cancers, such as womb cancer. Recovery is quicker, with less pain and blood loss, allowing for a faster return to daily activities.

This study, MIRRORS-FROZEN (pilot), compares robotic versus the standard open surgery in managing women with complex adnexal masses of eight centimetres or less. The hope is to decrease the need for open surgery in patients with benign or borderline disease and to assess if robotic surgery has similar, worse, or better outcomes for patients with cancer.

MIRRORS-FROZEN is funded by Intuitive Foundation and GRACE Charity. The investigators will establish the feasibility of conducting a large multicentre randomized controlled trial in the future comparing certain cancer outcomes between robotic and open surgery.

The 2 groups in the trial

  • Arm 1: MIRRORS-FROZEN Protocol.Treatment being tested

    Initial laparoscopic phase and thorough inspection of the abdomino-pelvic cavity to determine the feasibility of proceeding robotically, followed by robotic excision of the mass(es) and its retrieval in a bag if deemed suitable to proceed robotically. The mass or cyst will be sent for frozen section to determine the extent of the surgery. The surgery will continue robotically, with conversion to laparotomy considered at any point at the discretion of the individual surgeon.

    Treatment: MIRRORS-FROZEN Protocol.

  • Arm 2 : Standard open surgery.Existing treatment, for comparison

    A midline abdominal incision will be made from the outset, with intraoperative frozen section assessment to determine the extent of the surgery.

    Treatment: Standard open surgery

Questions to ask the study team

  1. How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
  2. Are travel costs paid?
  3. Can I keep my own doctor?
  4. What happens if I want to stop?

Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations

Print a page for my doctor

Data and sources

Registry record
Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Official title
MIRRORS-FROZEN - A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) Comparing Open Vs Robotic Surgery in the Management of Women With Complex Pelvic Adnexal Masses ≤ 8cm.
Plain-language title
Comparing robotic and open surgery for complex ovarian and pelvic massesGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
Fit questions
Built from NCT06638593, who can take part
Record updated
2 November 2026