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RecruitingNCT02811523Updated Nov 26, 2025

In Vivo Lung Perfusion for Pulmonary Metastases of Sarcoma

A Phase 1 interventional study of Doxorubicin in Bone Sarcoma, Soft Tissue Sarcoma and Pulmonary Metastases, sponsored by University Health Network, Toronto. Recruiting at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 0 Years to 64 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-11-26.

Sponsored by University Health Network, Toronto · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 4 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Feb 2016, registered Jun 2016).
  • Started Feb 2016; still recruiting 10 years 9 months later.
Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
17
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
0 Years to 64 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Sarcoma which has spread to the lungs is most often treated with surgery. Even with surgery, most patients will not be cured and will die from their disease, probably because of small cancer cells that are present in the lungs at the time of surgery, but cannot be seen or detected. It is for this reason that we are looking for a better treatment. Giving chemotherapy after surgery is generally not recommended because it has significant side effects and no benefit has been proven.

This study is investigating a new technique for delivering chemotherapy directly into the lungs at the time of surgery. Delivering chemotherapy directly to the lungs could potentially kill any microscopic cancer cells that are present in the lungs at the time of surgery, while sparing other major organs in the body from the side effects of chemotherapy. This technique is called In Vivo Lung Perfusion (IVLP). This is a Phase I, non-randomized, dose escalation study that will act as a pilot study for a larger prospective, multicenter, controlled clinical trial. Patients who have bilateral disease will have one lung undergo IVLP and the other lung will remain untreated with the IVLP (the other lung will be treated as current standard of care - either surgery or radiation) as a control lung. The patients will undergo a posterolateral thoracotomy. Lung metastases will be identified by visualization or palpation. After surgical isolation of the lung by proximal control of pulmonary artery and veins, IVLP will be initiated. After 3 hours of IVLP, the lung metastases will be removed in the usual fashion. Patients will be cared for post-surgery according to institutional standards. The patients will be followed for up to 2 years. The primary endpoint is safety. Secondary endpoints include additional safety endpoints and efficacy.

02

Conditions studied

  • Bone Sarcoma
  • Soft Tissue Sarcoma
  • Pulmonary Metastases
03

In context

Bone Neoplasms

258 studies on the registry are indexed under Bone Neoplasms; 68 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 17 is below the median of 44 across 163 interventional studies indexed under Bone Neoplasms.

Browse Bone Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

University Health Network, Toronto is the lead sponsor of 1,438 studies on the registry; 297 are open to participants now.

Of its 17 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 3 (18%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
0 Years to 64 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Diagnosis of Soft Tissue or Osteogenic Sarcoma
  • Presence of bilateral pulmonary
  • 3 or more lung lesions in total
  • Age less than 65 years
  • 0-2
  • Absence of extra-pulmonary disease
  • Contralateral disease amenable to surgery or radiation
  • All lung lesions in the lung to be treated with IVLP can be resected with wedge or segmental resections (non-IVLP treated lung will be treated with radiation or surgery 4-12 weeks prior to IVLP)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient has previously received more than 450 mg of doxorubicin
  • \<50%
  • History of significant pulmonary disease or pneumonitis
  • Pregnant or lactating females
  • Age 65 years or older, or less than 18 years
  • Inability to understand the process
  • Hypersenstivity to doxorubicin
  • Current participation in another therapeutic clinical trial
  • Previous lung metastatectomy
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(4)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)

The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
17 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Doxorubicin 5 mcg/ml

    Doxorubicin 5mcg/ml by in vivo lung perfusion during surgical resection of pulmonary metastases

    Drug: Doxorubicin

  • Experimental
    Doxorubicin 7 mcg/ml

    Doxorubicin 7mcg/ml by in vivo lung perfusion during surgical resection of pulmonary metastases

    Drug: Doxorubicin

  • Experimental
    Doxorubicin 9 mcg/ml

    Doxorubicin 9mcg/ml by in vivo lung perfusion during surgical resection of pulmonary metastases

    Drug: Doxorubicin

  • Experimental
    Doxorubicin 7 mcg/ml - expansion

    Expansion group at ideal dose

    Drug: Doxorubicin

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Safety of IVLP at selected dose levels by acute lung injury findings

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

  2. Maximal tolerated dose by using a titration design

    Time frame: Up to 2 years

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Feb 2016 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2030, 175 months after the start.

Of 20 phase 1 interventional studies under Bone Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 51 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 34 and three quarters within 108. This study's planned 175 months is above that.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jun 21, 2016
First posted
Jun 23, 2016
StartActual
Feb 2016
Primary completionEst.
Sep 2030
CompletionEst.
Sep 2030
Last update
Nov 26, 2025
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Nov 26, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02811523
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jun 23, 2016
Start date
Feb 2016
Primary completion
Sep 2030 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 2030 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 26, 2025

Study contacts

Marcelo Cypel, M.D.
Contact
marcelo.cypel@uhn.ca
416-581-7773
Jennifer Lister, BSc CCRP
Contact
Jennifer.Lister@uhn.ca
416-340-4857
Marcelo Cypel, MD
principal investigator · University Health Network, Toronto

Oversight

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

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Studies of the drug tested here: Doxorubicin

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