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Active, not recruitingNCT03306680Updated Sep 18, 2025

SUNSET: SBRT for Ultra-central NSCLC- a Safety and Efficacy Trial

A Phase 1 interventional study of SBRT in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, sponsored by London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's. Active, not recruiting at 7 sites in Canada. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-09-18.

Sponsored by London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

This multi-centre phase I dose-escalation study will use a time-to-event continual reassessment method (TIT-CRM).

Accrual will start at level 1 (60 Gy in 8 fractions). Patients will be assigned to treatment doses using the TITE-CRM model. The model will use all available information from previously accrued patients to assign the highest dose with a predicted risk of grade 3 toxicity of 30% or less.

Read the detailed description

This study will use a time-to-event continual reassessment method (TITE-CRM). The study design is based on RTOG 0813 (described above), but with a more cautious approach, since the patients herein may constitute a high-risk subset of the patients enrolled in RTOG 0813. The modifications include a starting dose (60 Gy in 8 fractions) herein that is lower than the safe dose for central tumors as determined by RTOG 0813 (60 Gy in 5 fractions), and longer follow-up period during which patients are considered at-risk for toxicity, (i.e. two years herein vs. one year in RTOG 0813).

The primary endpoint of this study is the maximally tolerated dose (MTD) of radiotherapy for ultracentral tumors. The MTD is the dose of radiotherapy associated with a \<30% rate of grade 3-5 toxicity occurring within 2 years of treatment.

Local Progression, Regional nodal progression, Distant metastases, Progression-Free Survival, Overall survival, patient reported outcomes and quality of life.

The correlative objectives of this study are to determine the prognostic value of ctDNA levels measured pre-treatment, at the end of treatment and 3- and 12-months after treatment.

02

Conditions studied

  • Non Small Cell Lung Cancer
03

Who can participate

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

Inclusion criteria

  1. Pathologically (histologically or cytologically) proven diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); if the risk of biopsy is unacceptable, pathologic confirmation is not required providing there is serial growth on serial (>=2) CT imaging and/or FDG avidity that is strongly suggestive of a primary NSCLC.
  2. Stage T1-3, N0, M0 (UICC/AJCC Staging, 8th Ed.), tumor size \< 6 cm, prior to registration, based upon the following minimum diagnostic workup:

    1. History/physical examination within 4 weeks prior to registration
    2. CT scan with contrast (unless medically contraindicated) within 12 weeks of registration. The CT scan will include the entirety of both lungs, the mediastinum, liver and adrenal glands; the primary tumor dimensions will be measured on CT. Note: Patients with lesions that cannot be visualized by CT scan are not eligible for the study.
    3. Whole body positron emission tomography (PET) scan within 12 weeks of registration, using FDG with adequate visualization of the primary tumor and draining lymph node basins in the hilar and mediastinal regions.
    4. Mediastinal lymph node sampling by any technique is encouraged but not required. Patients with hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes \<1 cm and no abnormal hilar or mediastinal uptake on PET will be considered N0. Patients with > 1 cm hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes on CT or abnormal PET (including suspicious but nondiagnostic uptake) may still be eligible if directed tissue biopsies of all abnormally identified areas are negative for cancer.
  3. ECOG performance status 0-2;
  4. age >18;
  5. Ultra-central tumor location: tumours whose planning target volume (PTV) is expected to touch or overlaps the central bronchial tree, esophagus, pulmonary vein, or pulmonary artery as determined at the time of consultation.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Prior invasive malignancy (except non-melanomatous skin cancer) unless disease free for a minimum of 2 years (e.g. carcinomas in situ of the breast, oral cavity, or cervix are permissible); previous lung cancer, if the patient is disease-free for a minimum of 2 years is permitted.
  2. Any prior thoracic radiotherapy.
  3. Any prior chemotherapy for the study cancer (cancer proposed to be treated on the study).
  4. Prior surgery for the study cancer.
  5. Plans for the patient to receive other local therapy (including standard fractionated radiotherapy and/or surgery) while on this study, except at disease progression;
  6. Plans for the patient to receive systemic therapy (including standard chemotherapy or biologic targeted agents), while on this study, except at disease progression.
  7. Pregnancy.
  8. The following autoimmune and connective tissue diseases will be excluded: Scleroderma and Systemic lupus erythematosus
  9. patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD).
04

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
30 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Patients with ultra-central NSCLC T1-3 (<6cm) N0 M0

    Level-1 Dose per fraction: 4Gy Number of fractions: 15 Total Dose: 60 Gy Level 0 Dose per fraction: 6Gy Number of fractions: 10 Total Dose: 60 Gy Level 1 Dose per fraction: 7.5 Gy Number of fractions: 8 Total Dose: 60 Gy

    Radiation: SBRT

Interventions

  • RadiationSBRT

    Patients will be assigned to treatment doses using the TITE-CRM model.

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Maximally tolerated dose (MTD)

    MTD of radiotherapy for ultracentral tumors. The MTD is the dose of radiotherapy associated with a \<30% rate of grade 3-5 toxicity occurring within 2 years of treatment.

    Time frame: Occurring within 2 years of treatment

Secondary outcomes

  1. Time to Local Progression

    Time frame: 3-5 years

  2. Regional nodal progression

    Defined as presence of enlarged lymph nodes \>1 cm \[short axis\] in the hilum or mediastinum.

    Time frame: 3-5 years

  3. Time to distant metastases

    Time frame: 3-5 years

  4. Progression-Free Survival

    Time frame: 3-5 years

  5. Overall survival

    Time frame: 3-5 years

  6. Patient reported outcome

    FACT-L

    Time frame: Before treatment & at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months

  7. Quality of Life

    EQ-5D-5L

    Time frame: Before treatment & at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months

06

Study locations

7 sites
  • BC Cancer -Vancouver Island
    Vancouver, British Columbia V8R 6V5, Canada
  • London Regional Cancer Program
    London, Ontario N6A 4L6, Canada
  • Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre
    Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5, Canada
  • Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
    Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X6, Canada
  • Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal (CHUM)
    Montreal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada
  • McGill University Health Centre-Cedars Cancer Centre
    Montreal, Quebec H4A 3J1, Canada
  • Saskatoon Cancer Centre
    Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7S 0B1, Canada
07

References and documents

Publications

  • Giuliani ME, Filion E, Faria S, Kundapur V, Toni Vu TTT, Lok BH, Raman S, Bahig H, Laba JM, Lang P, Louie AV, Hope A, Rodrigues GB, Bezjak A, Campeau MP, Duclos M, Bratman S, Swaminath A, Salunkhe R, Warner A, Palma DA. Stereotactic Radiation for Ultra-Central Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Safety and Efficacy Trial (SUNSET). Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2024 Nov 1;120(3):669-677. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2024.03.050. Epub 2024 Apr 12. PubMed 38614279 ↗
  • Rosenberg SA, Mak R, Kotecha R, Loo BW Jr, Senan S. The Nordic-HILUS Trial: Ultracentral Lung Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy and a Narrow Therapeutic Window. J Thorac Oncol. 2021 Oct;16(10):e79-e80. doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2021.06.030. No abstract available. PubMed 34561039 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03306680
Lead sponsor
London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 11, 2017
Start date
Jan 19, 2018
Primary completion
Apr 19, 2021
Completion
Sep 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 18, 2025

Study contacts

Meredith Giuliani, MBBS, FRCPC
principal investigator · Princess Margaret Cancer Center

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Sep 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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