ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT04127981Updated Mar 23, 2023

Medical Imaging of Cachexia

An interventional study of 18F-FDG PET + Dexa Scan in Cancer Cachexia, sponsored by Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. Recruiting at 1 site in Australia. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-03-23.

Sponsored by Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2023, 2 years 10 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Mar 2019; still recruiting 7 years 7 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This is a pilot trial using 18F-FDG PET and DXA scans to determine whether these investigations are objective tools to assess cachexia.

Read the detailed description

This pilot study will establish the differences in BAT uptake of 18F-FDG in cachectic and non-cachectic cancer patients using PET imaging.

Patients willbe assessed for sarcopenia using a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry or bone densitometry scan (DXA). Given the variables which may affect uptake of BAT in cancer patients, this study will standardise patient preparation and PET scan procedure in order to obtain the most reliable assessment of BAT activity in all patients on study.

It is hypothesisd that use of this PET imaging technique, which is part of standard care to assess cancer progression, may assist clinicians in early identification of metabolic changes in a patient, with potential for early intervention and utility in monitoring success of treatments of cachexia.

A total of 40 patients will be evaluated, 20 patients with advanced/metastatic colorectal, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or pancreatic cancer without cachexia, and 20 patients with advanced/metastatic colorectal, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or pancreatic cancer with documented cachexia, all of whom are referred for standard of care 18F-FDG PET scans.

02

Conditions studied

  • Cancer Cachexia

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Keywords

  • 18F-FDG PET Scan
  • Dexa Scan
  • Quality of Life assessment tools
03

In context

Cachexia

331 studies on the registry are indexed under Cachexia; 75 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 40 is below the median of 74 across 226 interventional studies indexed under Cachexia.

Browse Cachexia studies →

Lead sponsor

Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute is the lead sponsor of 14 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.

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

04

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

  • Patients with malignant disease;
  • Performance score of 0-2;
  • Age ≥ 18 years;
  • of >4 months at screening;
  • Cachexia patient group only: Fulfils diagnostic criteria for cachexia: unintentional weight loss more than 5% over the previous 6 months, or more than 2% in individuals with a decreased body-mass index of \<20kg/m2, or skeletal muscle wasting (sarcopenia).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients with uncontrolled Diabetes Mellitus;

  • Psychological unstable persons presumed unfit to perform the investigations;
  • Persons unable to lie or sit still for 1-2 hours;
  • Pregnant patients;
  • Patients who received high doses of radiotherapeutic radiation of the neck and/or upper chest in their medical history limiting nutritional intake;
  • Patients who are receiving any chemotherapeutic agents which is limiting nutritional intake;
  • Persons that received cervical or thoracic sympathectomy or have a nerve dysfunction which is likely to influence sympathetic nerves;
  • The use of medication that influences the sympathetic nerve system: ß-blockers, α-blockers, central anti-hypertensives, certain anti-depression drugs (MAO inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressives), reserpine, cocaine, calcium channel blockers, labetalol, and certain tranquillizers (fenothiazines).
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

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.

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.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
40 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Patients with cancer cachexia

    20 patients with advanced/metastatic colorectal, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or pancreatic cancer with documented cachexia.

    Diagnostic Test: 18F-FDG PET + Dexa Scan

  • Active comparator
    Patients without cancer cachexia

    20 patients with advanced/metastatic colorectal, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or pancreatic cancer without cachexia.

    Diagnostic Test: 18F-FDG PET + Dexa Scan

Interventions

  • Diagnostic test18F-FDG PET + Dexa Scan

    18F-FDG PET will be compared with Dexa Scan result within and between arms.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Correlation of a clinical diagnosis of cachexia with the metabolic activity of brown adipose tissue, bone density and muscle mass.

    Quantitation of the metabolic activity of brown adipose tissue, bone density and muscle mass using 18F-FDG uptake and bone densitometry will be correlated with a diagnosis of clinical cachexia.

    Time frame: 7 days post enrollment

Secondary outcomes

  1. Optimization of PET scanning methods for imaging of brown adipose tissue.

    Optimization of the patient environment (ie. ambient temperature) and metabolic state (ie. Heart rate, dietary state) to minimize the impact of these factors and allow direct comparison of metabolic activity of brown adipose tissue between cachectic and non-cachectic patients.

    Time frame: 7 days post enrollment

  2. To quantify change from normal of inflammatory blood biomarkers

    To validate change from normal laboratory range of inflammatory blood based proteins and enzymes in cachectic vs non-cachectic patients.

    Time frame: 7 days post enrollment

  3. To quantify change from normal of immune blood biomarkers

    To validate change from normal laboratory range immune blood based proteins and enzymes in cachectic vs non-cachectic patients.

    Time frame: 7 days post enrollment

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Cohort data will be shared via journal and conference presentations

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 Mar 2019 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2023, 57 months after the start.

Of 75 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Cachexia, half reached primary completion within 19 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 11 and three quarters within 49. This study's planned 57 months is above that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 77 studies reached it within 19 months; a quarter within 12 and three quarters within 49.

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

Registered
Apr 23, 2019
First posted
Oct 16, 2019
StartActual
Mar 28, 2019
Primary completionEst.
Dec 28, 2023
CompletionEst.
Dec 28, 2023
Last update
Mar 23, 2023
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 Mar 23, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04127981
Lead sponsor
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute
Collaborators
La Trobe University, Austin Health
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 16, 2019
Start date
Mar 28, 2019
Primary completion
Dec 28, 2023 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 28, 2023 (estimated)
Last update
Mar 23, 2023

Study contacts

Jodie Palmer, PhD
Contact
jodie.palmer@onjcri.org.au
0394963573
Fiona Scott
Contact
fiona.scott@onjcri.org.au
0394963335
Andrew M Scott, MD
principal investigator · Austin Health/ONJCRI

Oversight

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

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