An observational study in Pancreatic Cancer, sponsored by Holy Name Medical Center, Inc.. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-08-03.
Sponsored by Holy Name Medical Center, Inc. · Observational
Patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma will be screened by pancreatic protocol cross-sectional imaging to see if they have locally advanced unresectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Patients with unresectable disease will undergo at least four cycles of standard of care chemotherapy before being re-evaluated for treatment with irreversibe electroporation (i.e., Nanoknife). If patients are over 18 years of age, have pancreatic tumor size less than 5cm, and can safely undergo a laparotomy, they will be considered for participation. The patient cannot undergo the procedure if they have metastatic disease, a pacemaker or an electrostimulator, a metallic stent that cannot be exchanged, a convulsive (i.e., epilepsy) condition, an estimated survival less than three months, atrial fibrillation with an undetectable waveform on ECG sync device, severe cardiac disease, a international normalised ratio (INR) that is less than 1.5, or a performance status >2.
For the procedure, a laparotomy will be performed and Nanoknife probe placement will be done under intraoperative ultrasound. The number of probes, depth of the probes and rapid pulse series will be decided by the surgeon and are based on the size and location of the desired area of ablation.
Patients will be followed for overall survival, progression-free survival, tumor response, tumor markers, symptom improvement, and complications. Symptom improvement will be measured by assessment of pain, quality of life, total bilirubin if biliary obstruction is initially present, and oral intake if gastric outlet obstruction is initially present. They will have regular follow up with the surgeon that will include routine surveillance imaging and blood work.
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is extremely aggressive and is the 4th most frequent tumor-related cause of death in the Western world. The one-year survival rate is 20 percent and the 5-year overall survival rate is only 5 percent. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma often become symptomatic at very advanced stages with only 15 to 20 percent of patients being able to undergo a therapeutic local resection. Patients who do not meet the criteria for local consolidative resection may either have advanced locoregional disease and/or distant metastases. Advanced locoregional pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma without metastatic disease has a survival rate of 6 to 12 months. Those with distant metastases have a survival rate of only 3 to 6 months.
Locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma is defined by the involvement of the superior mesenteric artery, the celiac axis, and/or long segment portal vein occlusion on cross-sectional imaging. Resectable tumors will be free from the superior mesenteric vein, superior mesenteric artery and celiac axis, with no nodal involvement outside of the area of resection. Unresectable disease will have occlusion, thrombosis or encasement that extends for several centimeters of superior mesenteric vein and portal vein. Tumor abutment, encasement or thrombosis of the superior mesenteric artery is also considered unresectable disease. Involvement of lymph nodes outside of the area of resection also indicates that the patient is not resectable.
For patients who have unresectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, chemotherapy and radiation can only provide short-term disease control. Chemotherapy and radiation regimens have not been shown to prolong survival significantly in this disease, and therefore, there is a need for additional adjunctive or consolidative treatment to provide improved local control, pain relief and possibly impact survival. Image guided ablation technique like irreversible electroporation has shown promise as a new treatment option for patients with stage III locally advanced pancreatic cancer.
A unique advantage of Nanoknife is that it does not require heat to ablate tumor cells, rather it works by using high voltage but low energy direct current. The process in which low energy direct current ablates tissue is called irreversible electroporation. In order to understand how this process works, the investigators have to understand some background cell biology. The cell membrane separates the intracellular space and the extracellular space/fluid, and controls transport processes between the two compartments of the cell. Electroporation increases cell membrane permeability by subjecting it to an electrical field and uses rapid series of short electrical pulses delivered using high voltage but low energy direct current to create defects (pores) in the cell membrane that result in loss of homeostasis and cell death. The result is a well demarcated area of ablation. The Nanoknife system comes with 19 gauge needles that have depth markings. The needle surface is echogenic. The active electrode length is adjustable in 0.5 cm increments from zero to 4 cm. There is an external electrocardiogram synchronization device that automatically detects the R wave and energy is delivered synchronously to the R wave. The electrodes can be arranged in multiple configurations using two to six electrodes. The spacing between the electrodes can be from 0.5 cm to 2.0 cm, and electrode exposure can be from 0.5 cm to 4.0 cm. Energy is delivered between the electrode pairs, and this results in an area of ablated tissue.
Nanoknife is particularly useful in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma because of the proximity of pancreatic tumors to critical surrounding structures such as bile ducts and major blood vessels. Because it does not use heat to ablate tissue (which induces necrosis) but rather uses cell apoptosis, it theoretically has no impact on the surrounding structures that mainly consist of proteins like vascular elastic and collagenous structures as well as peri-cellular matrix proteins (protecting large blood vessels and bile ducts). Further study of Nanoknife is needed to see if this therapy can potentially impact survival and/or provide adequate local palliation to improve quality of life in patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
3,896 studies on the registry are indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms; 1,007 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 30 is below the median of 200 across 740 observational studies indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms.
Browse Pancreatic Neoplasms studies →Holy Name Medical Center, Inc. is the lead sponsor of 6 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer who meet the criteria for Nanoknife and are able to safely undergo a laparotomy.
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).
Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
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.
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.
A recording of the heart’s electrical activity, taken with stickers on the chest, arms and legs. It takes a few minutes and does not hurt.
The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.
It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Childbearing potential
Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).
Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraception
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ECG (electrocardiogram)
A recording of the heart’s electrical activity, taken with stickers on the chest, arms and legs. It takes a few minutes and does not hurt.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)
The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.
It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer. Unresectable tumors as defined by: * occlusion, thrombosis or several centimeters of encasement of the superior mesenteric vein or portal vein * tumor abutment greater than 180 degrees of the superior mesenteric artery or thrombosis of the artery * abutment or encasement of the celiac axis * involvement of lymph nodes outside the area of resection
Device: Nanoknife Irreversible Electroporation
Irreversible electroporation will be delivered between electrodes that are placed by intraoperative ultrasound guidance around the tumor
Overall survival
Time from Nanoknife treatment to the patient's death
Time frame: up to 10 years
Local progression-free survival
Time from Nanoknife treatment to local disease progression
Time frame: up to 10 years
Distant disease-free survival
Time from Nanoknife treatment until distant disease development
Time frame: up to 10 years
Tumor response
Change in tumor size in response to Nanoknife treatment using RECIST criteria V1.1 (CR, PR, SD, PD)
Time frame: First year
Complications
The incidence of the following complications after treatment with Nanoknife will be recorded: hematologic, ileus, bile leak, portal vein thrombosis, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary, renal failure, ascites, wound infection, dehydration/failure to thrive/nausea, bleeding, diarrhea, duodenal leak, liver insufficiency, pancreatic leak
Time frame: 90 days
Tumor Markers
CA 19-9 will be measured at 6 weeks post op, 3 months post op, 6 months post op, 1 year post op, then yearly
Time frame: up to 10 years
Biliary Obstruction
Change in biliary obstruction after treatment will be recorded using total bilirubin and conjugated/unconjugated bilirubin levels at each follow up office visit
Time frame: up to 10 years
Gastric outlet obstruction
Gastric outlet obstruction after treatment will be monitored with symptoms resulting in decreased oral intake (nausea, vomiting, and inability to eat). Objectively we will also measure patient weight in kilograms at each office visit.
Time frame: up to 10 years
Cancer related pain
Cancer related pain after treatment will be measured using Visual Analog Pain scale 0-10, zero being no pain and 10 being worst pain possible. Pain scale will be assessed at each follow up visit.
Time frame: up to 10 years
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Ran from May 2018 to primary completion in May 2021, 35 months.
Of 318 non-industry observational studies under Pancreatic Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 74 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 34 and three quarters within 182. This study's 35 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 352 studies reached it within 60 months; a quarter within 34 and three quarters within 182.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Holy Name Medical Center, Inc.