Radiotherapy for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Carcinomas (Phase II Trial)

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Pancreas Cancer
• Interventions: Radiation: Particle-therapy using protons or carbon ions; Diagnostic Test: Blood sampling; Diagnostic Test: Magnetic resonance imaging; Diagnostic Test: Computertomography; Diagnostic Test: 18-F-FluorDesoxyGlukose Positron Emission Tomography-Computer Tomography (18F-FDG-PET-CT)

• Registration Number: NCT05191940
• Lead Sponsor: EBG MedAustron GmbH

Brief Summary

This is an interventional, single-arm, open-label study with high dose short course radiotherapy for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Detailed Description

This is an interventional, open label, trial of definitive hypofractionated radiotherapy for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Within this study radiotherapy shall be delivered with active scanning particle-therapy using proton- or carbon ions radiotherapy.

Particle therapy will be performed with a simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) treating a larger target volume, including elective lymph node stations and neural plexus, at a lower dose and boosting macroscopic disease.

The investigator will explore the efficacy of these treatment in a real world scenario in which patients are allowed to receive standard systemic treatment and standard surgical treatment (if conversion to resectability is achieved).

However, and in order to record and to gain better understanding of the influence of systemic therapies on the outcomes parameters of this study, patients will be sub-stratified in 3 groups: i) patients receiving FOLFIRINOX, ii) patients receiving Gemcitabine + Nanoparticle Albumin Bound Paclitaxel (NAB-Paclitaxel), iii) patients receiving other systemic therapies or not receiving antineoplastic systemic therapy.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2021-12-16
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-01-13
• Study First Posted: 2022-01-14
• Study Start: 2022-05-16
• Status Verified: 2025-05
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-05-07
• Last Update Posted: 2025-05-08
• Primary Completion: 2028-12
• Study Completion: 2028-12

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 30

Inclusion Criteria

1. The patient has histologically or cytological confirmed diagnosis of pancreatic cancer (cases with radiological findings suspicious of pancreatic cancer AND elevated CA 19-9 may be enrolled even without positive cytology)

2. The patient is not candidate for radical surgical resection because of one or more of the following reasons:

   1. the patient is staged as locally advanced and with unresectable disease according to the international consensus definition. Specific criteria are: there is involvement of portal vein/superior mesenteric vein with bilateral narrowing/occlusion, exceeding the inferior border of the duodenum; or tumor contact/invasion of 180 or more degree of the superior mesenteric artery or of the truncus coeliacus; or tumor contact/invasion of the proper hepatic artery/ celiac artery; or tumor contact or invasion of the aorta.
   2. the patient is not a candidate for radical surgery because of radiographic or biochemical (CA 19-9) progression during neoadjuvant chemotherapy despite being initially classified as resectable or borderline resectable according to the international consensus definition.
   3. the patient is not candidate for radical surgery because of cN+ stage

3. The patient is not candidate to (further) neoadjuvant chemotherapy because of one or more of the following reasons:

   1. the patient is not fit for chemotherapy
   2. the patient has progressed under chemotherapy
   3. the patient has received neoadjuvant chemotherapy but is judged still not a candidate for explorative surgery.

4. Negative staging for distant metastasis

5. Age > 18 years

6. Karnofsky index ≥ 70

7. No tumor infiltration of stomach or duodenum

8. The patient is informed of the diagnosis and is able to give informed consent (Ability of patient to understand character and individual consequences of the study protocol)

9. Women of fertile age must have adequate conception prevention measures and must not breast feed

10. Signed Informed Consent (must be available before study inclusion)

Exclusion Criteria

1. Non-exocrine tumors
2. Major medical or psychiatric comorbidities that contraindicate radiotherapy
3. Presence of distant metastasis
4. Pregnancy or unwilling to do adequate conception prevention
5. Lactating and unwilling to discontinue lactation
6. Men of procreative potential not willing to use effective means of contraception
7. Metallic prosthesis or other conditions - IF it prevents an adequate imaging for target volume definition or treatment planning at the discretion of the treating institution contraindicate radiotherapy e.g. active infections in the area
8. Previous abdominal radiotherapy
9. Severe hepatic or renal impairment at discretion of treating institution
10. Patient refusal

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Particle radiotherapy	Blood sampling	According to the radiation plan using protons or carbon ions (between 25 and a maximum of 40 Gy). Planning Target Volume 1 : 25 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 5 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) Planning Target Volume 2 : A simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) will be delivered to the Planning Target Volume 2: 40 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 8 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness).
Particle radiotherapy	Computertomography	According to the radiation plan using protons or carbon ions (between 25 and a maximum of 40 Gy). Planning Target Volume 1 : 25 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 5 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) Planning Target Volume 2 : A simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) will be delivered to the Planning Target Volume 2: 40 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 8 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness).
Particle radiotherapy	18-F-FluorDesoxyGlukose Positron Emission Tomography-Computer Tomography (18F-FDG-PET-CT)	According to the radiation plan using protons or carbon ions (between 25 and a maximum of 40 Gy). Planning Target Volume 1 : 25 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 5 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) Planning Target Volume 2 : A simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) will be delivered to the Planning Target Volume 2: 40 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 8 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness).
Particle radiotherapy	Magnetic resonance imaging	According to the radiation plan using protons or carbon ions (between 25 and a maximum of 40 Gy). Planning Target Volume 1 : 25 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 5 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) Planning Target Volume 2 : A simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) will be delivered to the Planning Target Volume 2: 40 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 8 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness).
Particle radiotherapy	Particle-therapy using protons or carbon ions	According to the radiation plan using protons or carbon ions (between 25 and a maximum of 40 Gy). Planning Target Volume 1 : 25 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 5 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) Planning Target Volume 2 : A simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) will be delivered to the Planning Target Volume 2: 40 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness) in 5 fractions of 8 Gy (Relative Biological Effectiveness).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Locoregional tumor control	At two year	Rate of locoregional tumor control at two year will be evaluated radiologically.; This endpoint will be measured with the actuarial approach.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Patient reported Health-related Quality of Life, measured with Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Hepatobiliary (FACT-Hep)	Maximal 109 weeks	Quality of life will be measured with Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Hepatobiliary (FACT-Hep) before radiation therapy and at each follow-up. The FACT-Hep has 27 (+ a subscale with 18 additional) questions, each of which is answered using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Very much). Questions are phrased so that higher numbers indicate a better health state, leading to some items being reverse-scored. Questions measure the respondents' health state over the last 7 days in four subscales: Physical Well-Being (7 questions), Social/Family Well-Being (7 questions), Emotional Well-Being (6 questions), and Functional Well-being (7 questions). This disease-specific version of the FACT-Hep contain these four core subscales, with additional (18) questions appended to address disease-specific factors.; The higher the score the better the Quality of Life.
Incidence of CTCAE v5.0 G4-5 toxicity	From enrollment to six months after radiation therapy initiation	This endpoint will be scored as gross rate. The investigator will measure the number of patients experiencing at least one toxicity \>= Grade 4 and \>= Grade 5 and the number of events \>= Grade 4 and \>= Grade 5. The crude number will be divided by the total number of patients treated.
Loco-regional progression-free survival	104 weeks after therapy	This endpoint will be measured with the actuarial approach. It will be assessed as the union of locoregional control and survival. Patient with loco regional recurrence will be considered failures. Deceased patient will also be considered failures. Patient lost to follow-up without evidence of locoregional recurrence will be censored. Distant metastasis and peritoneal carcinosis will be irrelevant respect to this endpoint.
Overall survival	Maximal 109 weeks	This endpoint will be measured with the actuarial approach. All deaths will be considered failures, patient lost to follow-up will be censored.
Patient reported Health-related Quality of Life, measured with European Organization for Research and Treatment (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30	Maximal 109 weeks	Quality of life will be measured with EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire-C30 before radiation therapy and at each follow-up.; Questionnaire developed to assess the quality of life of cancer patients. A high scale score represents a higher response level. Thus a high score for a functional scale represents a high / healthy level of functioning, a high score for the global health status / quality of life (QoL) represents a high QoL, but a high score for a symptom scale / item represents a high level of symptomatology / problems.
Patient reported Health-related Quality of Life, measured with Brief Pain Inventory	Maximal 109 weeks	Quality of life will be measured with Brief Pain Inventory before radiation therapy and at each follow-up.; The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) is a measurement tool for assessing clinical pain.The interference items were now presented with 0-10 scales, with 0=no interference and 10=interferes completely.
Incidence of CTCAE v5.0 Grade 2 - Grade 5 acute, subacute and late toxicities	104 weeks after therapy	The number of events, their grade and their time course will be measured.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

EBG MedAustron GmbH; 🇦🇹 Wiener Neustadt, Niederösterreich, Austria