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CompletedNCT04321707MAINTAINUpdated Feb 27, 2026

Complete Local Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients With Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Evaluated by 15O-H2O PET/MR

An interventional study of 15O-H2O PET/MR in Bladder Cancer, sponsored by Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen. Completed at 1 site in Denmark. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-02-27.

Sponsored by Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
13
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Treatment of localized muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) is radical cystectomy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) improves survival.

Approximately 50-60% of all MIBC patients undergoing NAC before cystectomy are histopathological without remnant tumor in the cystectomy specimen (T0). However, there is currently no optimal method to evaluate whether the patient is true T0 or has remnant tumor in need for consolidating radical treatment. The study aim is to investigate if 15O-H2O PET/MR can predict complete local response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with MIBC and thereby identify potential candidates for organ preservation.

Read the detailed description

For patients with MIBC treated with NAC and radical cystectomy there is currently no good way of evaluating whether the patient is true T0 or has remnant tumor in need for consolidating radical treatment. Methods for better selection of patients that potentially can avoid cystectomy is therefore needed.

15O-labeled water (H2O) is the gold standard for PET quantification of regional tissue perfusion. 15O-H2O has been validated as a freely diffusible tracer for measuring perfusion in the myocardium and cerebral blood flow and 15O-H2O PET is the golden standard for noninvasive imaging to quantify tumor blood flow (TBF).

Method: Patients scheduled for NAC followed by radical cystectomy due to histologically documented MIBC stage cT2-4a in the urinary bladder will be included. A 15O-H2O PET/MR scan will be performed at time of inclusion (baseline) and again after NAC prior to cystectomy.

Hypothesis: We hypothesize that changes in tumor architecture and perfusion estimated with 15O-H2O PET/MR measurements and clinical evaluation during NAC can identify patients with complete local response to chemotherapy and therefore select patients to avoid radical cystectomy.

Perspectives: This study will be the first to use 15O-H2O as tracer in bladder cancer. If proven efficient, evaluation of patients undergoing NAC with 15O-H2O PET/MR could potentially safely select patients for a true bladder sparring approach and potentially give some patients the choice of chemotherapy monotherapy, or in combination with other systemic oncological treatments like immunotherapy. If successful, this should be followed by randomized studies to document the clinical benefit and potentially reduce cost and increase quality of life by safely selecting patients for bladder sparring treatment of bladder cancer.

02

Conditions studied

  • Bladder Cancer

Keywords

  • Tumor blood flow
  • magnetic resonans imaging
  • 15O water PET
03

In context

Urinary Bladder Neoplasms

1,798 studies on the registry are indexed under Urinary Bladder Neoplasms; 445 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 13 is below the median of 60 across 1,296 interventional studies indexed under Urinary Bladder Neoplasms.

Browse Urinary Bladder Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen is the lead sponsor of 15 studies on the registry; 1 is 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

  • Diagnosis of MIBC stage cT2-4a.
  • Preoperative PET/CT of thorax, abdomen, and pelvis with no suspicion of organ or lymph node metastasis outside the surgical field.
  • ≥18 years of age at the time of signing the Form. Renal function of > 60 ml/min/1,73 m2.
  • Physically fit for NAC.
  • Clinical decision with patient accept of NAC before cystectomy.
  • Mentally healthy. Signed Informed Consent Form.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

- Unfit for MRI:

  • Claustrophobia.
  • Problems with seating arrangements (e.g. pain or involuntary movement).
  • Maximal shoulder width larger than 55 cm.
  • Circumference larger than 160 cm.
  • Weight above 250 kg.
  • Metallic implants or other metallic foreign bodies.
  • Pacemaker, ICD, or pace electrodes.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(3)

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.

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.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
13 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    15O-H2O PET/MR

    All included patients will have two 15O-H2O PET/MR scan performed.

    Radiation: 15O-H2O PET/MR

Interventions

  • Radiation15O-H2O PET/MR

    All included patients will have a 15O-H2O PET/MR scan performed at baseline and a scan performed after NAC, prior to cystectomy.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in tumor blood flow

    Change in Tumor Blood Flow (TBF) measured on 15O-H2O PET/MR as a marker of response to NAC correlated with histopathological findings in the cystectomy specimen.

    Time frame: Comparison of scan made 1 week before NAC compared to scan 2 weeks after NAC

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Department of Urology, Aarhus University Hopsital
    Aarhus, 8000, Denmark
08

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

Ran from May 2020 to primary completion in Dec 2023, 43 months.

Of 235 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Urinary Bladder Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 40 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 21 and three quarters within 70. This study's 43 months is close to that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 244 studies reached it within 39 months; a quarter within 20 and three quarters within 69.

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

Registered
Mar 11, 2020
First posted
Mar 25, 2020
StartActual
May 27, 2020
Primary completionActual
Dec 31, 2023
CompletionActual
Dec 31, 2023
Last update
Feb 27, 2026
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 Feb 27, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04321707
Lead sponsor
Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen
Responsible party
Jørgen Bjerggaard Jensen (Professor, Consultant, MD, DMSc, Aarhus University Hospital) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Mar 25, 2020
Start date
May 27, 2020
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2023
Completion
Dec 31, 2023
Last update
Feb 27, 2026

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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