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WithdrawnNCT02610920Updated Mar 26, 2019

Sentinel Lymph Node Identification in the Axilla of Women With Breast Cancer Using Ultrasound and Iron Injection

An Early Phase 1 interventional study of Iron-tracer guided axillary ultrasound and biopsy and Iron tracer in Breast Neoplasm, Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast and Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating, sponsored by Columbia University. Withdrawn. Open to female participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-03-26.

Sponsored by Columbia University · Early Phase 1, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Why this study was withdrawn
Unable to enroll subjects
Phase
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
0
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
Female
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Study summary

This study evaluates a new method of testing the lymph nodes in the armpit of patients with breast cancer for tumor involvement. All participants involved in this study will undergo an injection of a small amount of iron dissolved in liquid followed by an ultrasound of the axilla that will make previously invisible lymph nodes visible, allowing them to be sampled in an outpatient setting.

Read the detailed description

Lymph nodes are small collections of tissue all over the body that drain bodily fluid. These axillary lymph nodes are important in evaluating breast cancer since, if they are positive, it suggests that the cancer cells have spread outside of the breast. The current standard of care is for most breast cancer patients undergoing surgery to have a sentinel lymph node biopsy which is a procedure to take a sample of the lymph nodes in the armpit (also called the axilla) during their breast surgery. However this intraoperative biopsy comes with certain risks such as arm swelling or lymphedema, arm pain, arm numbness/tingling, and/or psychological distress from waiting for the results or the possibility of further interventions. In order to avoid this and have a result before surgery, this study will explore a nonsurgical method of sampling these lymph nodes. Normally suspicious lymph nodes are hard to find accurately by exam and ultrasound.

A new method has been developed that involves injecting a small amount of iron dissolved in liquid into the breast that gets absorbed by the lymph nodes making them bright on ultrasound and possible to biopsy. This method has been shown to have results as accurate as standard sentinel lymph node biopsy by comparing them in the operating room. This study will now investigate performing these ultrasounds and biopsies in the office as well as compare these results to the results of the standard sentinel lymph node biopsy in the operating room. The results of this study could help future breast cancer patients to avoid invasive sampling and all of the accompanying risk as well as give patients and the care team an idea of the extent of disease sooner in order to guide management.

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Conditions studied

  • Breast Neoplasm
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast
  • Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating
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In context

Carcinoma

6,741 studies on the registry are indexed under Carcinoma; 1,161 are open to participants now.

Browse Carcinoma studies →

Lead sponsor

Columbia University is the lead sponsor of 1,103 studies on the registry; 193 are open to participants now.

Of its 172 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 142 (83%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Female patients at least 21 years old
  • Patients with invasive ductal carcinoma staged T1 or T2 with estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positive (ER+/PR+) who are scheduled for sentinel lymph node biopsy
  • Patients with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) (high or low grade) who are scheduled for sentinel lymph node biopsy including:
  • Patients having a mastectomy
  • Patients with palpable DCIS
  • Patients undergoing breast conservation with large (>5cm) area of DCIS
  • Patients with signed consent to participate

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Preoperative palpable axillary lymphadenopathy
  • Preoperative ultrasound demonstrating suspicious adenopathy
  • Previous axillary dissection or previous lymph node biopsy
  • Patients with Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
  • Patients who are pregnant
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Study design

Phase
Early Phase 1
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
0 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Iron-tracer Injection and Biopsy

    Single injection of 30mg of iron sucrose followed by axillary ultrasound-guided biopsy of lymph node within 2 hours.

    Procedure: Iron-tracer guided axillary ultrasound and biopsy · Drug: Iron tracer

Interventions

  • ProcedureIron-tracer guided axillary ultrasound and biopsy

    After ultrasound identifying sentinel lymph nodes, no more than two nodes will be core-needle biopsied and sent to pathology department for analysis of cancer involvement. The biopsied node(s) will be marked for later identification for the surgeons during the regularly scheduled intraoperative sentinel lymph node biopsy (standard of care).

  • DrugIron tracer

    All participants will receive a 30mg injection of subcutaneous iron sucrose into the breast followed by an axillary ultrasound looking for lymph nodes with enhanced reflexivity.

    Also known as: Venofer, 75010550

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Success rate of core needle biopsy of sentinel lymph node

    The participants will undergo an outpatient iron tracer-guided ultrasound and axillary lymph node core needle biopsy at "day zero" (purposely done no more than 7 days prior to scheduled breast surgery). The investigators would like to see if this biopsied node was in fact the sentinel lymph node. This will be determined by all of the patients also undergoing their previously scheduled intraoperative sentinel lymph node biopsy (standard of care) at about day 7. The success rate will measure what percentage of the preoperative lymph nodes biopsied with this novel technique were truly sentinel lymph node(s).

    Time frame: At time of surgery, about 7 days after initial core needle biopsy

Secondary outcomes

  1. Concordance rate of core needle biopsy pathology to sentinel lymph node biopsy pathology

    The investigators will measure the concordance rate of the novel iron-tracer guided lymph node core needle biopsy pathology results (determining if cancer cells are present or not) compared to the operative sentinel lymph node pathology results. The novel technique core needle biopsy will occur on day zero. The surgery with concurrent sentinel lymph node biopsy will be on or before day 7, and both pathology reports should be back by day 17.

    Time frame: At time of pathology reports, about 17 days after initial core needle biopsy

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Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

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References and documents

Publications

  • Kusminsky RE, Witsberger T, Todd Kuenstner J, Willis Trammell S, Schlarb CA, Maxwell D, Richmond BK, Boland JP. Identification of the sentinel node by ultrasonography in patients with breast cancer. Ann Surg Oncol. 2014 Jun;21(6):1969-74. doi: 10.1245/s10434-014-3570-4. Epub 2014 Feb 25. PubMed 24566860 ↗
  • Bailie GR. Comparison of rates of reported adverse events associated with i.v. iron products in the United States. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2012 Feb 15;69(4):310-20. doi: 10.2146/ajhp110262. PubMed 22302256 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 26, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02610920
Lead sponsor
Columbia University
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Nov 20, 2015
Start date
Dec 2015 (estimated)
Primary completion
Jun 2017 (estimated)
Completion
Jan 2018 (estimated)
Last update
Mar 26, 2019

Study contacts

Bret Taback, MD
principal investigator · Columbia University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Mar 2019. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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