CClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT04782752NORThSTARUpdated Sep 10, 2026

Non-ablative Oligofractionated Radiation Therapy Before Surgical Transplantation As Radiovaccination

An interventional study of Radiation: Varying Doses of RT in Transplant-Related Lung Cancer, sponsored by Marc de Perrot. Recruiting at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-10.

Sponsored by Marc de Perrot · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Apr 2021; still recruiting 5 years 5 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This is a prospective phase I study to determine the safety and feasibility of non-ablative oligofractionated radiation therapy (NORT) before lung transplantation for patients with underlying pulmonary malignancy. We hypothesize that heterogeneous dose distributions could generate a vaccination effect against the tumor by creating anti-tumoral immune response in the body and these patients may be immunized against their tumor which could reduce the risk of cancer recurrence after transplantation despite the anti-rejection medications required for the transplantation.

Read the detailed description

This study is designed to deliver short courses of radiation to the pulmonary malignancy followed by resection of the radiated tumor at the time of transplant.

The study is a 3+3 phase 1 study with incremental dose of radiation to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). Dose limiting toxicity (DLT) will be defined as grade 3+ radiation related toxicity. If one DLT is seen, then an additional 3 patients will be treated at the same dose level. If 2 or more DLT are seen at any given dose level, then the previous dose level will be defined as the MTD. A minimum of 3 patients and maximum of 18 patients will be included for the phase 1a. Due to the expected higher radiation risks in patients with end-stage ILD (group 1), these patients will be stratified separately from non-ILD patients (group 2, 3 and 4) during phase 1a. Dose tested are: 3 x 400 cGy, 3 x 600 cGy and 3 x 800 cGy for the ILD cohort and 3 x 800 cGy, 3 x 1000 cGy and 3 x 1200 cGy for the non-ILD cohort.

Once the MTD is determined, patients will proceed to phase 1b using the MTD determined in the phase 1a. ILD and non-ILD patients may have different MTD so two separate phase Ib cohorts will be conducted. A total of 12 patients will be included for each cohort in the phase 1b. The dose distribution will be administered using a standard homogenous dose distribution for tumors ≤2 cm, and an heterogeneous dose distribution for tumors >2 cm.

02

Conditions studied

  • Transplant-Related Lung Cancer
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Marc de Perrot is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; 2 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

Inclusion criteria

  • Age ≥ 18
  • Patients with end-stage lung disease and suspected stage I primary lung cancer based on CT and PET scan not accessible to curative treatment, including surgery and ablative SBRT.
  • Patients with multifocal pulmonary malignancy, including multifocal lung adenocarcinoma, not accessible to curative treatment, including surgery and ablative SBRT.
  • Patients with isolated metastases in one or both lungs after complete resection of the primary tumor in the absence of other sites of metastatic disease, not accessible to curative treatment, including surgery and ablative SBRT.
  • Meet eligibility criteria for lung transplantation with the exception of the underlying malignancy.
  • Subjects must be able to understand the potential risks and benefits of the study and must be able to read and provide written, informed consent for the study.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Age \< 18
  • Mediastinal nodes metastasis demonstrated on EBUS-TBNA
  • Distant metastasis demonstrated on PET scan or brain imaging.
  • Failure to provide informed consent
  • Previous thoracic radiation resulting in significant mediastinal or chest wall overlap precluding re-irradiation
  • Any other medical condition that, in the opinion of the multidisciplinary team, may interfere with the subject's participation or compliance with the treatment.
05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Experimental: Radiation

    Patients will be differentiated into 4 groups: 1. Patients with end-stage interstitial lung disease (ILD) and suspected stage I (up to 4 cm) primary lung cancer 2. Patients with end-stage lung disease other than ILD (e.g. emphysema/COPD, cystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension) and suspected stage I (up to 4 cm) primary lung cancer 3. Patients with multifocal primary lung cancer (e.g. multifocal adenocarcinoma) in the absence of nodal metastasis and distant metastasis. 4. Patients with isolated pulmonary metastasis in the absence of other sites of malignancy (primary and metastatic). For this study, different doses will be used for each different group depending on their tumour size. The first 3 patients will start with a dose of 4 Gy, for the ILD group, or 8 Gy, for the non ILD group. The doses are then increased incrementally until the dose limiting toxicity is reached.

    Radiation: Radiation: Varying Doses of RT

Interventions

  • RadiationRadiation: Varying Doses of RT

    3+3 radiation dose escalation model to see the maximum tolerated dose

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Maximum Tolerated Dose for Radiation

    AEs will be graded by CTCAE. Maximum tolerated dose is the dose level do not result in fatal injury (grade 5 lung toxicity) or life-threatening or fatal treatment related toxicity (grade 4+). Safety will be determined by the absence of grade 3 or greater (G3+) complications related to radiation and the feasibility to list patients for transplantation one week after the end of radiation will be determined.

    Time frame: Up to four years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Patient Morbidity

    NCI common toxicity scale

    Time frame: Up to four years

  2. Local recurrence

    Documented radiographically

    Time frame: Up to four years

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network
    Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4, Canada
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 10, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04782752
Lead sponsor
Marc de Perrot
Responsible party
Marc de Perrot (Thoracic Surgeon, University Health Network, Toronto) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Mar 4, 2021
Start date
Apr 28, 2021
Primary completion
Dec 30, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 30, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 10, 2026

Study contacts

Marc de Perrot, MD, MSc
Contact
marc.deperrot@uhn.ca
416 340-5549
John Cho, MD, PhD
Contact
John.Cho@rmp.uhn.ca
416-946-4501 ext. 6513
Marc de Perrot, MD, FRCS
principal investigator · Toronto General Hospital

Oversight

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

Interested in this study?

Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.

Contact study team

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion