ClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT03529708CRUSSHUpdated Jan 29, 2020

Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Boost After Palliative Radiotherapy for Spinal Cord Compression

An interventional study of 3D CRT plus SBRT boost in Spinal Cord Compression, Cauda Equina Syndrome and Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy, sponsored by Juravinski Cancer Center. Status unknown at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-01-29.

Sponsored by Juravinski Cancer Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Jan 2020), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Spinal cord compression (SCC) is a devastating complication of advanced malignancy, and can cause significant deterioration in function and quality of life (QoL). The goal of treatment is to improve functional status and symptoms, but the optimal treatment regimen for these patients has not been thoroughly established. Many patients with SCC present with uncontrolled systemic disease and poor performance status, and are not eligible for standard surgical resection. They are generally treated with 3D conformal palliative RT (3DCRT) alone, however recent trials suggest that less than 70% of patients are ambulatory, that the re-establishment of ambulation in non-ambulatory patients is poor, and the duration of improvement is guarded with radiotherapy alone.

Recently, stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) used alone or after previous radiotherapy to treat spinal metastasis has demonstrated superior results in pain control, tumour response and durability. SBRT requires time for careful planning, and many patients with neurologic symptoms must be treated immediately to prevent progression. Therefore the role of SBRT is still unclear in this patient population, although it seems to be a potential alternative to surgical decompression in patient not suitable for surgery. The investigators propose a feasibility study to investigate the potential benefits of dose escalation with a sequential SBRT boost to urgent 3D CRT in the setting of SCC. This regimen will allow inoperable patients to receive urgent 3DCRT while simultaneously creating the opportunity for superior outcomes with SBRT. The investigators also aim to characterize the effect on motor function and ambulation, pain and QoL. This study could stimulate further multi-center randomized trials in this area, improve motor function and patient-reported QoL, and contribute to improving oncology care in Canada in a meaningful way.

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Conditions studied

  • Spinal Cord Compression
  • Cauda Equina Syndrome
  • Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy
03

In context

Spinal Cord Compression

52 studies on the registry are indexed under Spinal Cord Compression; 19 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 43 across 35 interventional studies indexed under Spinal Cord Compression.

Browse Spinal Cord Compression studies →

Lead sponsor

Juravinski Cancer Center is the lead sponsor of 9 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

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
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

  1. Diagnosis of (radiologic or pathologic)
  2. Evidence of disease in vertebral body with epidural component such that Bilsky radiologic score is 1c-2 on MRI (abuts spinal cord without cord compression (1c), or spinal cord compression but with visible CSF (2)
  3. Motor function (MF) of 3 or greater

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Surgical candidate
  2. Instability of vertebral bodies with or without bony retropulsion requiring surgical intervention or hardware placement
  3. Previous radiotherapy course to same region of spine with overlapping fields (prior to phase I course) at discretion of treating radiation oncologist
  4. No CT or MRI within previous 3 months
  5. estimated \<3 months
  6. Performance status \<40
  7. On active chemotherapy or targeted therapy or immunotherapy (must be stopped for at least one week prior to and following)
  8. Pregnant or lactating
  9. to radiotherapy (eg. active disease requiring medication)
  10. Inability to lie flat comfortably for at least 20 minutes
  11. Age \< 18
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(6)

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.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

Karnofsky performance status (KPS)

A 0–100 scale of how well someone can carry out everyday activities. 100 is no complaints and no signs of illness; 70 is able to look after yourself but not to work or keep up normal activity; 50 is needing considerable help and frequent medical care.

Studies often ask for 60 or 70 and above. Your doctor gives the score.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

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Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    SBRT boost

    Standard radiotherapy (3D conformal, urgent palliative radiotherapy) plus stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) boost

    Radiation: 3D CRT plus SBRT boost

Interventions

  • Radiation3D CRT plus SBRT boost

    Patients will receive urgent standard 3D conformal radiotherapy (3D CRT) of plus stereotactic boost to tumor causing spinal cord compression (SCC). Initial dose for 3D CRT will be either 8Gy in 1 fraction or 20Gy in 5 fractions, with SBRT boost dose15Gy in 2 fractions of 12Gy in 2 fractions (depending on 8Gy/1 or 20Gy/5 initial RT dose respectively), delivered within three weeks of first treatment.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Feasibility of accrual

    Success determined by accrual of 30 patients with SBRT boost is planned and delivered to 80% of these

    Time frame: up to 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Motor Function Description:

    Motor strength evaluated by 8 point scale (0= Complete paraplegia, 1= Palpable or visible muscle contractions, 2= Active movement of the leg without gravity, 3= Active movement of the leg against gravity, 4= Active movement againt mild resistance, 5= Active movement against intermediate resistance, 6= Active movement against strong resistance, 7= Normal strength)

    Time frame: 4 weeks (primary), 12 weeks, 6 months

  2. Overall Quality of Life (QoL)

    Change in total QoL score over time per European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire core 30 (EORTC QLQ-c30)

    Time frame: 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months

  3. Pain Response

    Change in level of pain over time on 10 point scale with 0 meaning no pain and 10 meaning severe pain (patient-reported)

    Time frame: 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months

  4. Local Control

    Assessment of tumor volume (maximum size in 3 dimension) by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

    Time frame: 12 weeks, 6 months

  5. Toxicity

    Treatment-related toxicity graded by Common Terminology for Adverse Events (CTCAE 4.03)

    Time frame: 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months

  6. Overall Survival

    Survival time from first radiotherapy treatment (3D CRT) in days

    Time frame: 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months

  7. Bone metastasis- specific Quality of Life

    Change in total QoL score over time per European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Bone Metastasis-22 (EORTC QLQ BM-22)

    Time frame: 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Juravinski Cancer Center
    Hamilton, Ontario L8V1C5, Canada
    Recruiting
    • Kara L Schnarr · Contact
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References and documents

Publications

  • Donovan EK, Greenspoon J, Schnarr KL, Whelan TJ, Wright JR, Hann C, Whitton A, Chow T, Parpia S, Swaminath A. A pilot study of stereotactic boost for malignant epidural spinal cord compression: clinical significance and initial dosimetric evaluation. Radiat Oncol. 2020 Nov 18;15(1):267. doi: 10.1186/s13014-020-01710-4. PubMed 33208170 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started Jun 2018 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jun 2020, 24 months after the start.

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

Registered
Apr 24, 2018
First posted
May 18, 2018
StartActual
Jun 1, 2018
Primary completionEst.
Jun 1, 2020
CompletionEst.
Dec 1, 2020
Last update
Jan 29, 2020
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 Jan 29, 2020, 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
NCT03529708
Lead sponsor
Juravinski Cancer Center
Collaborators
Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, Juravinski Cancer Centre Foundation
Responsible party
Elysia Donovan (Elysia Donovan, MD FRCPC, Radiation Oncology, McMaster University, Juravinski Cancer Center) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 18, 2018
Start date
Jun 1, 2018
Primary completion
Jun 1, 2020 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 1, 2020 (estimated)
Last update
Jan 29, 2020

Study contacts

Elysia K Donovan, MD,FRCPC
Contact
donovane@hhsc.ca
9053879495
Shelley Chambers, MA
Contact
9053879495

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is status unknown, as verified in Jan 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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