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Liver TumorNCT05211388

Treat-and-resect Study of Echo Decorrelation Imaging-controlled Radiofrequency Ablation in Liver Tumors

A study of Liver Tumor, run by University of Cincinnati at 1 site in United States.

Withdrawn

Withdrawn. The study stopped before anyone enrolled.

Official record
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Trial summary

This study will comprise the first pilot clinical trial of 3D, ultrasound-based thermal ablation control using echo decorrelation imaging, directly testing the capability of this approach to ensure reliable tumor treatment. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Liver Tumor
Type of treatment
Surgery or procedure
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
0 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
11 Jul 2022to 15 Jan 2024
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

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

  • Age ≥18 years.
  • Scheduled for resection of at least one confirmed primary or metastatic liver tumor with estimated diameter <5 cm at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC).
  • Patients may have other disease (typically cirrhosis, hepatitis B or hepatitis C) for primary liver cancer patients and extrahepatic cancer (typically colorectal) for metastatic liver cancer patients.
  • Ability to understand and the willingness to sign the written research informed consent document for this study.

Who cannot join

  • The tumor for which the resection is scheduled is greater than or equal to 5 cm in diameter.
  • The tumor for which the resection is scheduled has received: prior ablation; chemoembolization; or, other treatment which in the opinion of the PI would disqualify a patient from participation.
  • Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is contra-indicated for safety reasons in the opinion of the PI and/or clinical treatment team according to current standards of care (e.g., tumor adjacent to the heart, bowel, gall bladder, or bile ducts; impaired liver function; implanted cardiac devices).
  • Proceduralist assessment that research-specific radiofrequency ablation or intraoperative ultrasound imaging would cause substantial patient risk.
  • Pregnant women, prisoners, institutionalized individuals, or other individuals from vulnerable populations.
  • Patients who are receiving any other investigational agents. Patients who have received other investigational agents previously who are no longer receiving these investigational agents may be eligible at the discretion of the PI.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • University of Cincinnati Medical Center

    Cincinnati, Ohio, 45219

Other trials in United States

About this study

This study will comprise the first pilot clinical trial of 3D, ultrasound-based thermal ablation control using echo decorrelation imaging, directly testing the capability of this approach to ensure reliable tumor treatment. The purpose of this study is to determine the ability of ultrasound echo decorrelation to successfully predict complete ablation of human hepatocellular carcinoma, concomitant diseased liver, and metastatic liver cancer and to determine the potential of echo decorrelation imaging to provide effective real-time control of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in liver tumors.

Read the detailed description

To rigorously test the feasibility of 3D echo decorrelation imaging to improve the reliability of clinical thermal ablation, decorrelation-controlled ablation will be assessed in a pilot treat-and-resect study. Patients previously scheduled for resection of metastatic liver tumors or benign liver tumors physiologically similar to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (e.g., hepatocellular adenoma or focal nodular hyperplasia) will first undergo radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of their tumors, with real-time, 3D ultrasound echo decorrelation imaging of the treated region performed throughout each ablation. RFA will be performed in the same surgical procedure as the scheduled tumor resection, immediately prior to resection.

Patients will be enrolled in two arms, the first undergoing RFA controlled by the RFA generator using manufacturer-specified algorithms, and the second undergoing RFA with echo decorrelation imaging providing an additional stopping criterion. For both arms, 3D maps of ablation zones will be constructed from stained tissue sections and rigidly registered to volumetric ultrasound images using the known tumor position and orientation relative to the ultrasound image volume. Overall ROC curves for prediction of local treatment will be constructed using point-by-point comparison of 3D echo decorrelation images to the mapped ablation zone.

The ability of echo decorrelation to predict and control clinical thermal ablation of human liver tumors will be directly tested by assessing and statistically comparing outcomes of the two study arms, including ROC curves, ablation volume and rate, and conformity to planned ablation zones.

Conditions
Liver Tumor
Being tested
RFA controlled using echo decorrelation imaging, RFA controlled using standard manufacturer-specified algorithms
Medical subject headings
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular

What participants receive

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

  • RFA controlled using echo decorrelation imagingProcedure or surgery

    The tumor will be ablated using standard clinical RFA control algorithms specified by the RFA device manufacturer and implemented on the RFA generator, with echo decorrelation imaging providing an additional stopping criterion.

    The targeted ablation zone will be subdivided into one or more contiguous control subvolumes encompassing the tumor. An echo decorrelation threshold will be chosen to provide a target specificity (e.g. 90%) for local ablation prediction, based on ROC curve analysis for ablation prediction in clinical RFA and MWA as well as in controlled ablation of ex vivo human liver tumors. Controlled RFA treatments will proceed until the average cumulative decorrelation exceeds this predetermined threshold within each control subvolume.

    To avoid compromising patient safety, treatments will not be extended beyond manufacturer-specified end points.

  • RFA controlled using standard manufacturer-specified algorithmsProcedure or surgery

    The tumor will be ablated using standard clinical RFA control algorithms specified by the RFA device manufacturer and implemented on the RFA generator, e.g. based on temperatures measured by thermocouples integrated into the RFA probe. 3D echo decorrelation imaging will be performed in real time during ablation, but will not be used to modify treatments.

Study groups in NCT05211388
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
arm 1: generator-controlled RFAExperimentalIn up to 6 patients (arm 1: generator-controlled RFA), RFA will be performed directly following manufacturer-specified algorithms, with recording of 3D ultrasound echo decorrelation images during ablation.
Receives: Procedure: RFA controlled using standard manufacturer-specified algorithms
arm 2: imaging-controlled RFAExperimentalIn up to 6 additional patients (arm 2: imaging-controlled RFA), real-time, 3D echo decorrelation imaging during ablation will provide an additional treatment end point.
Receives: Procedure: RFA controlled using echo decorrelation imaging

What is being measured

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

  1. ROC curves for local prediction of ablation of human liver tumors and concomitant diseased liver.

    Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for prediction of local ablation (dimensionless), constructed using point-by-point comparison of 3D echo decorrelation images to the mapped ablation zone (dimensionless, possible values between 0 and 1). Determined separately for each arm.

    Measured: 2 years

  2. Area under ROC curves

    Area under ROC curves for prediction of local ablation (dimensionless, possible values between 0 and 1). Determined separately for each arm.

    Measured: 2 years

  3. Ablation volumes

    Volumes (ml) of segmented ablation zones. Determined separately for each arm.

    Measured: 2 years

  4. Thermal ablation rates

    Ablation rates (ml/min), defined as ablation volumes (ml) divided by duration of radiofrequency ablation (min). Determined separately for each arm.

    Measured: 2 years

  5. Conformity with planned ablation zone

    Dice coefficients between segmented ablation volumes and targeted ablation zones (dimensionless, values between 0 and 1). Determined separately for each arm.

    Measured: 2 years

Timeline

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

  1. First posted27 Jan 2022
  2. Study start11 Jul 2022
  3. Primary completion15 Jan 2024
  4. Study completion15 Jan 2024

Why it stopped: Lack of resources to execute study.

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 N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomised
Intervention model
Sequential
Model description
A total of 12 subjects is anticipated, providing sufficient statistical power for estimation of an overall ROC curve assessing the capability of decorrelation-controlled RFA to reliably ensure complete ablation in human liver tumors, while also providing sufficient power to estimate a separate ROC curve for prediction of local ablation in generator-controlled RFA. The first subjects undergoing the treat-and-resect procedure (at least 2 subjects, or more at discretion of the PI) will be assigned to arm 1 (generator-controlled ablation), and will undergo RFA following manufacturer-specified algorithms. This will allow confirmation of appropriate echo decorrelation thresholds for use as treatment end points. Remaining subjects will be randomly assigned to arm 1 or arm 2 (echo decorrelation imaging-controlled ablation), up to a total of 6 treat-and-resect procedures in each arm.
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
0 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05211388
Sponsor's protocol ID
UCCC-GI-21-02
Status last verified
Aug 2024
First submitted
16 Dec 2021
Last updated
29 Aug 2024
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study of Liver Tumor, run by University of Cincinnati at 1 site 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 4 inclusion and 6 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: withdrawn, as of the sponsor's last update on 29 Aug 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site 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.

Are results available for this study?

The study was withdrawn before enrolling participants, so there are no results.

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?

ROC curves for local prediction of ablation of human liver tumors and concomitant diseased liver. (time frame: 2 years). The study lists 5 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
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 29 Aug 2024.

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