Clinical trial NCT02513199: Combination Chemoembolization and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Official title: Assessment of Response of Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma to Combination Chemoembolization and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE2
Conditions: Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Keywords: Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Trans-Arterial Chemoembolization
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
HCC
TACE
SBRT
Lead sponsor: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2015-07-31
Enrollment: 32
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to develop better ways to treat liver cancer, known as hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC, while it is still in the liver. Many treatments exist to treat tumors in the liver when they are small but after they grow past a certain size, local therapies such as surgery, Trans-Arterial Chemo Embolization (TACE), or Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) are not effective. The purpose of this study to test the combination of two known treatments - TACE and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) - to be used together to treat larger or difficult to access liver tumors. Each treatment has been shown to work well but has limitations. The study will combine the treatments in an organized sequence and monitor closely how effective this combination controls tumors.

Detailed description: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third ranked cause of global cancer mortality. There is an increasing incidence of HCC in the United States over the last twenty years, largely due to the Hepatitis C epidemic but increasingly related as well to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

This is a non-randomized pilot study to assess the objective response rate and durability of response of combination Trans-Arterial Chemoembolization (TACE) with immediate stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Eligible patients will be selected based on having a lesion greater than 3 cm which would make them ineligible for other local therapies such as TACE and thermal ablation (TA). Eligible, consented, and registered patients will be treated with two sessions of standard TACE with ethiodol separated by a 4-week interval. After ensuring adequate return to baseline liver function, the patients will then be treated with SBRT to the targeted lesion to 30-45 Gy in 5 fractions. Tumor response will be assessed using mRECIST criteria as well diffusion weight imaging (DWI) via Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) surveillance. In addition, tolerability and toxicity will be recorded via CTCAE v. 4.0. The essential hypothesis of this study is that combination TACE and SBRT for \> 3 cm HCC will produce higher response rates and durable control compared to TACE alone.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Participants must be diagnosed with HCC either pathologically or by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) radiographic criteria (Bruix Hepatology 2011). The criteria specifies CT or MRI intense arterial uptake followed by "washout" of contrast in the venous-delayed phases. Any atypical lesions must be confirmed by biopsy.
* A single liver lesion with tumor size ≥ 3 cm as defined as maximal diameter in the axial dimension on MRI. Included in the measurement are both enhancing and non-enhancing components of the lesion.
* Maximum tumor size of 7 cm as defined as maximal diameter in the axial dimension on MRI.
* Age ≥ 18 years
* Child-Pugh class A or B7 without ascites
* ECOG score 0
* No prior treatment of current HCC. However, recurrent HCC after resection may be included.
* Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Pregnancy which will be assessed via pregnancy test prior to TACE and repeated prior to SBRT.
* Metastatic disease outside of the liver
* Vascular invasion as evidenced by vessel occlusion or radiographic evidence of tumor thrombus.
* Contraindications to MRI, including claustrophobia, metallic implants, and pacemakers
* Tumor for which adequate radiation dosage cannot be safely delivered (see dose constraints below)
* Prior therapeutic radiation therapy to the abdomen and/or lower thorax as defined as below the carina to the pelvic inlet.
* Inability to provide informed consent based on persistent lack of understanding, inability to find adequate translation, impaired mental status such as mental retardation, drug induced, or traumatic brain injury.
* Multiple liver tumors making the patient a BCLC Stage B
* Prior treatment, except for surgical resection, to the lesion being targeted in the protocol.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Number of Participants With Objective Response Rate
timeFrame: up to 72 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Time to CR
timeFrame: up to 72 months
measure: Time to Progression (TTP)
timeFrame: up to 80 months
measure: Number of Participants With Overall Survival (OS)
timeFrame: 2 years
measure: Progression Free Survival (PFS)
timeFrame: up to 72 months
measure: Change in Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) Score
timeFrame: 3 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: New York
country: United States
facility: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
state: New York
Study officials:
affiliation: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
name: Michael Buckstein, MD, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Buckstein M, Kim E, Ozbek U, Tabrizian P, Gunasekaran G, Facciuto M, Rosenzweig K, Llovet JM, Schwartz M. Combination Transarterial Chemoembolization and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Unresectable Single Large Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Results From a Prospective Phase 2 Trial. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2022 Oct 1;114(2):221-230. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2022.05.021. Epub 2022 May 26.