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Stage III Pancreatic CancerPhase 3DIRECTNCT03899636

A Pivotal Study of Safety and Effectiveness of NanoKnife IRE for Stage 3 Pancreatic Cancer

A Phase 3 study testing Modified FOLFIRINOX Regimen and NanoKnife System in people with Stage III Pancreatic Cancer, run by Angiodynamics, Inc. at 6 sites in United States.

Active, not recruiting

Under way, not looking for participants. Everyone needed has enrolled. The study is still running.

Official record
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Trial summary

Subjects will be offered the opportunity to participate in a randomized, controlled, 2-arm, unblinded multicenter trial (RCT). There will be 2 study arms: the control arm receiving chemotherapy with the modified FOLFIRINOX regimen alone; and the irreversible electroporation (IRE) arm, receiving chemotherapy with the… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Stage III Pancreatic Cancer
What is being tested?
Modified FOLFIRINOX Regimen and NanoKnife System
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
528 participants
Where
6 sitesUnited States
Study dates
23 Feb 2021to Apr 2025
Phase
Phase 3
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Provision of signed and dated informed consent form.
  • Subject is 18 years of age and older.
  • Subject has a diagnosis of unresectable Stage 3 pancreatic adenocarcinoma cancer cytologically or pathologically confirmed per American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging criteria.
  • Subject has a tumor evaluated as Stage 3 according to National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines, based on radiographic imaging or exploratory surgery.
  • Maximum axial and anterior to posterior tumor dimension of ≤3.5cm, after receiving three months of treatment with the modified FOLFIRINOX regimen.
  • Subject has received 3 months of treatment with the modified FOLFIRINOX regimen.
  • Subject has an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1.
  • Subject has an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification of physical health status of 1 or 2.

Who cannot join

  • Subjects who are or may be pregnant as determined by a positive pregnancy test or breastfeeding or male or female patients of reproductive potential who are not willing to employ highly effective birth control from screening to 6 months after the last dose of chemotherapy.
  • Subjects who are unable to tolerate general anesthetic with full skeletal muscle blockade.
  • Subjects who are actively bleeding, anticoagulated, coagulopathy, or have any of the following hematology results: hemoglobin less than 10 g/dL without the support of growth factors or transfusions absolute neutrophil count less than 1500 cells/mL; or platelet count less than 100,000.
  • Subjects with the presence of implanted cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, electronic devices or implanted devices with metal parts in the thoracic cavity at the time of IRE.
  • Subjects with history of epilepsy or other neurological disease.
  • Subjects with renal, cardiac, liver, or hematological abnormalities of concern to the investigator.
Show all 11Show fewer
  • Subjects with Stage 3, 4, or 5 chronic kidney disease.
  • Subjects receiving IRE for margin accentuation.
  • Subjects who at 3 months after FOLFIRINOX treatment have evidence of disease progression.
  • Participation in another interventional trial for pancreatic cancer.
  • Subjects who did not meet study defined criteria for adequacy of induction treatment at the end of the 3 months.

Trial locations and contacts

6 sites in 1 country.

6 sites in 1 country

United States6 sites
  • Northwest Community Healthcare

    Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60005

  • University of Texas-Southwestern

    Dallas, Texas, 75231

  • St. Luke's Cancer Center

    Easton, Pennsylvania, 18045

  • Norton Healthcare

    Louisville, Kentucky, 40202

  • Miami Cancer Institute

    Miami, Florida, 33176

  • University of South Florida/Tampa

    Tampa, Florida, 33606

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: A Randomized, Multicenter, Controlled, Unblinded Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of the NanoKnife® System for the Ablation of Unresectable Stage 3 Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Subjects will be offered the opportunity to participate in a randomized, controlled, 2-arm, unblinded multicenter trial (RCT). There will be 2 study arms: the control arm receiving chemotherapy with the modified FOLFIRINOX regimen alone; and the irreversible electroporation (IRE) arm, receiving chemotherapy with the modified FOLFIRINOX regimen followed by IRE with the NanoKnife System using either an open or a percutaneous approach. All subjects will be treated with the modified FOLFIRINOX regimen for at least 3 months; randomization to either control or IRE arm will take place at the time of completion of the 3 month modified FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy regimen. Randomization will be conducted centrally. Subjects will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio and must be found to have no evidence of disease progression after completion of the 3 month modified FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy regimen in order to participate in the RCT. All radiologic assessments will be performed as consistent with the imaging protocol. All post induction and post IRE treatments are left to the discretion of the treating physician. The minimum period of follow-up will be for 24 months or until death.

Being tested
Modified FOLFIRINOX Regimen, NanoKnife System
Keywords
Pancreas Cancer, Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal, Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer, Cancer of Pancreas, Pancreatic Tumor, Pancreatic Carcinoma, Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer, LAPC
Medical subject headings
Pancreatic Neoplasms, Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Modified FOLFIRINOX RegimenDrug

    Chemotherapy regimen of leucovorin, fluorouracil, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin

  • NanoKnife SystemDevice

    IRE using NanoKnife System

Study groups in NCT03899636
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
IREExperimentalNot described
Receives: Drug: Modified FOLFIRINOX Regimen; Device: NanoKnife System
ControlActive comparatorNot described
Receives: Drug: Modified FOLFIRINOX Regimen

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Overall Survival

    Time (in months) from randomization to the date of death for any reason

    Measured: Time (in months) from randomization to the date of death for any reason, assessed through at least 24 months.

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted2 Apr 2019
  2. Study start23 Feb 2021
  3. Primary completionApr 2025 (estimated)
  4. Study completionApr 2025 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
528 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03899636
Sponsor's protocol ID
28-001-ONC
Acronym
DIRECT
Status last verified
Feb 2025
First submitted
29 Mar 2019
Last updated
12 Feb 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes

Publications

  • Narayanan G, Bilimoria MM, Hosein PJ, Su Z, Mortimer KM, Martin RCG 2nd. Multicenter randomized controlled trial and registry study to assess the safety and efficacy of the NanoKnife(R) system for the ablation of stage 3 pancreatic adenocarcinoma: overview of study protocols. BMC Cancer. 2021 Jul 7;21(1):785. doi: 10.1186/s12885-021-08474-4.

    PubMed 34233640

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 3 study testing Modified FOLFIRINOX Regimen and NanoKnife System in people with Stage III Pancreatic Cancer, run by Angiodynamics, Inc. at 6 sites in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 11 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 12 Feb 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 6 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 3 studies compare the treatment with the current standard treatment or a placebo in a large group, to confirm how well it works and watch for side effects.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Overall Survival (time frame: Time (in months) from randomization to the date of death for any reason, assessed through at least 24 months.). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03899636, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 12 Feb 2025.

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