ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05363826Updated Apr 13, 2023

Intracavitary Photodynamic Therapy as an Adjuvant to Resection of Glioblastoma or Gliosarcoma Using IV Photobac®

A Phase 1 interventional study of photochemotherapy using 3-(1-Butyloxy)ethyl-3-deacetyl-bacteriopurpurin-18-n-butylimide methyl ester(Photobac®) in Glioblastoma Multiforme of Brain and Glioma, Sarcomatous, sponsored by Photolitec LLC. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-04-13.

Sponsored by Photolitec LLC · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by May 2025, 1 year 6 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Apr 2023; still recruiting 3 years 7 months later.
Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is the first step in testing the hypothesis that adding Photobac® Photodynamic Therapy to surgical removal of a glioblastoma or gliosarcoma will be both safe and effective.

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) combines light and a photosensitizer. PDT has been used to treat a variety of cancers with varying degrees of success.

For the past thirty years Photolitec has been working to develop a treatment for glioblastoma or gliosarcoma using light and a photosensitizer. Photolitec's scientists were looking for a photosensitizer that:

  1. has no significant systemic toxicity apart from some temporary skin photosensitivity,
  2. crosses the blood brain barrier,
  3. accumulates to a high level in glioblastoma and minimally in the brain,
  4. is activated by the wavelength of light that penetrates most deeply into the brain,
  5. minimizes any temporary skin photosensitivity.

Preliminary testing indicates the Photolitec team has achieved these five goals. Photolitec is now able to offer a clinical trial based on the results of this work.

Read the detailed description

Twenty four hours before surgery the patient will receive an intravenous injection of Photobac®. This will make the brain tumor sensitive to light. Lighting up the brain using a low power near infrared laser will kill cells that contain Photobac®.

Photobac® crosses the blood brain barrier. Compared to the brain at 24 hours after injection, the tumor holds significantly more Photobac®. This Selective retention by tumors is the reason PDT has proved a valuable weapon against other types of tumors.

Once the surgeon has removed the tumor as completely as possible, the brain that bordered the tumor will be illuminated with near infrared light from a low power laser. This will destroy tumor cells hiding deep in the brain. Such cells cause tumor recurrence.

The light treatment will add about one hour to the surgery. The Patient will be asleep during this procedure. The patient will receive standard post-surgical care during recovery.

02

Conditions studied

  • Glioblastoma Multiforme of Brain
  • Glioma, Sarcomatous

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Keywords

  • Photochemo Therapy
  • Photo Dynamic Therapy
  • PDT
03

In context

Gliosarcoma

488 studies on the registry are indexed under Gliosarcoma; 14 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 37 across 389 interventional studies indexed under Gliosarcoma.

Browse Gliosarcoma studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Photolitec LLC as lead sponsor.

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

  1. Age ≥ 18years.
  2. Subject has a performance status ≥ 70 (i.e. the subject must be able to care for himself/herself with occasional help from others; refer to Appendix G).
  3. Subject has confirmed diagnosis of glioblastoma or gliosarcoma.
  4. Subject has recurrent or progressive tumor following standard therapy.
  5. Subject has recurrent cerebral tumor that in the opinion of the treating neurosurgeon is surgically resectable.
  6. Subject has the following clinical laboratory values obtained within 14 days prior to registration:

    (ANC) ≥ 1.5 x 109/L

    • ≥ 100 x 109/L (Hgb) > 9.0 g/dL Plasma total : ≤ 1.5 x and AST ≤ 2.0 x ULN >60 WBC ≥ 4000 ≤ 1.1 x ULN
  7. Subject will have been off all anticoagulant therapy (e.g., warfarin, heparin, enoxaparin, rivaroxaban, apixaban, aspirin) for at least 5 days before surgery and Photobac® infusion.
  8. No active bleeding or pathological condition that in the judgement of the principal investigator carries a high risk of bleeding
  9. Subject of "agrees to use adequate methods (e.g., hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and have a negative pregnancy test prior to starting study treatment. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately.
  10. Subject has completed radiation therapy (RT) and temozolomide (TMZ) for the treatment of their glioblastoma or gliosarcoma at least 30 days prior to entry
  11. Participant must understand the nature of this study and sign an Independent Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board approved written form prior to receiving any study related procedure.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Subject has serious concurrent infection or medical illness, which in the treating physician's opinion would jeopardize the ability of the subject to receive the treatment outlined in this protocol with reasonable safety.
  2. Subject is pregnant or breast-feeding.
  3. Subject has latex allergy.
  4. Subject has received another chemotherapeutic or agent in addition to radiation therapy and concomitant temozolomide treatment within 30 days of planned PDT.
  5. Subject has persistent toxicity of prior therapy.
  6. Subject has gliomatosis cerebri.
  7. Subject has cerebral tumor that in the opinion of the treating neurosurgeon is unresectable.
  8. Subject has brainstem, spinal cord or cerebellar involvement by tumor.
  9. Subject has known (HIV) positivity or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) related illness or other serious medical illness.
  10. Subject has to MRI scans or gadolinium contrast agent.
  11. Subject has history of porphyria, to porphyrin or porphyrin-like compounds or any other abnormal skin photosensitivity.
  12. Subject is unwilling or unable to follow protocol requirements.
  13. Subject has any condition which in the Investigator's opinion makes the subject unsuitable to receive the study drug. Must be reported.
  14. Subject has any condition which in the treating neurosurgeon's opinion makes the subject unsuitable to undergo craniotomy for tumor resection.
  15. Subject has received an investigational agent within 30 days prior to planned PDT.
  16. Subject has midline shift > 1 cm.
  17. Subject is unable to give consent to participate in the study.
  18. Subject has a > 470 milliseconds ( grade 1) using Frederica's QT correction formula.
  19. Subject has serious concurrent infection or medical illness, which in the treating physician's opinion would jeopardize the ability of the subject to tolerate the added hour o anesthesia outlined in this protocol with reasonable safety.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(19)

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.

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.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

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.

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.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

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.

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.

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.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

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.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

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.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

CTCAE grade

The US National Cancer Institute’s scale of how severe an adverse event is — any unwanted medical event during a study, such as a symptom, an illness or an abnormal test result, whether or not a treatment caused it. Whether it did is judged separately.

1
Mild.
2
Moderate.
3
Severe.
4
Life-threatening.
5
Death due to the event.

“Side effects of earlier treatment resolved to grade 1 or less” means they have settled to mild or gone.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
30 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Photochemotherapy as an adjuvant to surgical resection of glioblastoma

    3-(1-Butyloxy)ethyl-3-deacetyl-bacteriopurpurin-18-n-butylimide methyl ester (Photobac®) is injected 24 hours prior to surgical resection of a recurrent Glioblastoma or gliosarcoma. Immediately following the resection the cavity is treated with 50 joules/ square cm of 787 nm light .The drug dose is escalated using three patient cohorts until a dose limiting toxicity is reached or the upper limit of the 8 step escalation is reached.

    Combination Product: photochemotherapy using 3-(1-Butyloxy)ethyl-3-deacetyl-bacteriopurpurin-18-n-butylimide methyl ester(Photobac®)

Interventions

  • Combination productphotochemotherapy using 3-(1-Butyloxy)ethyl-3-deacetyl-bacteriopurpurin-18-n-butylimide methyl ester(Photobac®)

    Intravenous injection of Photobac® 24 hours before surgical removal of recurrent GBMF. Immediately after resection, the cavity will be treated with 50 joules/ square cm of 787nm light. This treatment will add a maximum of 50 minutes to the surgery

    Also known as: Photobac® PDT

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Toxicity will be measured using CTCAE v5 ( Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events

    •A dose limiting toxicity (DLT)will stop the escalation. A DLT includes all greater than or equal to grade 3 non-hematological toxicities and all greater than or equal to grade 4 hematological toxicities per CTCAE v 5.0

    Time frame: .up to 24 hours

  2. The Maximum Tolerable drug Dose (MTD) will be determined by evaluating the safety of a fixed light dose and escalating drug dose

    The MTD will be determined by first discovering the dose limiting toxicity ( DLT). As defined above and following the procedure for determining the MTD from the DLT found in the protocol. It is expected that the DLT may be acute neurotoxicity caused by brain swelling.

    Time frame: up to one week

  3. Measure the Photobac concentration in blood.

    Photobac® concentration in blood will be measured by drawing blood at various time points. The blood will be spun down and the concentration in the serum measured spectroscopically. Non-linear regression will be used to determine the clearance rate constants from these data.

    Time frame: up to12 weeks

  4. Measure Photobac® concentration in tumor tissue removed during resection and in the bed of the tumor both before and after ligh treatment.

    The tissue samples will be subject to chemical extraction of the Photobac®. Photobac® concentration in the extract will be measured spectroscopically.

    Time frame: 1 hour

  5. Time of Progression Free Survival

    The duration of progression free survival will be assessed by a Roswell neuroradiologist using RANO criteria.

    Time frame: up t o18 months

  6. Overall survival from time of diagnosis

    Patients will be followed for the duration of the study and if possible until death.

    Time frame: up to 18 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Duration and severity of skin photosensitivity t osimulated sunlight .

    If the patient's condition permits, a solar simulator will be used to assess the patient's skin photosensitivity .The severity and duration of sensitivity will be assessed using the Draize scale. The Draize scale ranges from zero indicating no reaction to 4 indicating a severe reaction. Two numbers will be reported one for erythema and the second for edema

    Time frame: 1 week

  2. Assess patterns of treatment failure for any association with the drug dose

    Duration of survival and progression free survival will be examined for evidence of a Photobac® dose dependant response.

    Time frame: up to 15 months.

  3. Measure Stat 3 Crosslinking as a quantitative marker of singlet oxygen tissue damage

    The samples of tissue taken from the tumor bed will be assayed for the degree of stat 3 crosslinking. Stat3 crosslinking is caused by singlet oxygen damage and is expected correlate with the PDT dose.

    Time frame: 1 hour

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Patel N, Pera P, Joshi P, Dukh M, Tabaczynski WA, Siters KE, Kryman M, Cheruku RR, Durrani F, Missert JR, Watson R, Ohulchanskyy TY, Tracy EC, Baumann H, Pandey RK. Highly Effective Dual-Function Near-Infrared (NIR) Photosensitizer for Fluorescence Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) of Cancer. J Med Chem. 2016 Nov 10;59(21):9774-9787. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00890. Epub 2016 Oct 31. PubMed 27749069 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 13, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05363826
Lead sponsor
Photolitec LLC
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 6, 2022
Start date
Apr 11, 2023
Primary completion
May 2025 (estimated)
Completion
May 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 13, 2023

Study contacts

Ravindra Pandey, PhD
Contact
Ravindra.Pandey@photolitec.org
800-767-9355 ext. 3203
William R Potter, MA
Contact
bpotter@photolitec.com
1-(716) 560-2031
William R Potter, MA
principal investigator · Photolitec LLC
Robert Fenstermaker, MD
principal investigator · Roswell Park Dept of Neurosurgery

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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