ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05484908Updated Nov 29, 2024

Efficacy and Safety of ALSS Treatment for ICIs-LF in Patients With HCC

An interventional study of DPMAS+LPE and PE in Immune-Mediated Hepatitis, Liver Failure and Hepatocellular Carcinoma, sponsored by Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University. Recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-11-29.

Sponsored by Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Dec 2024, 1 year 10 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Aug 2022; still recruiting 4 years 3 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of artificial liver support system treatment for immune checkpoint inhibitors related liver failure in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Read the detailed description

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are commonly used for advanced stage of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in recent years. The incident rate of Grade 4 immune checkpoint inhibitors-induced immune mediated hepatitis reaches 14.5%. Since these patients usually develop into liver failure, it is urgent to find out a more suitable therapy. Artificial liver support system (ALSS) treatment has been proved to effectively control both immune mediated hepatitis and liver failure, it may be a new therapy for immune checkpoint inhibitors-induced liver failure (ICIs-LF) in patients with HCC. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of ALSS treatment, including the classic mode of plasma exchange (PE) and new combination mode of double plasma molecular adsorption system (DPMAS) with sequential low-dose plasma exchange (LPE), for ICIs-LF in patients with HCC. Sixty patients with HCC and ICIs-LF will be enrolled in this study. The participants are randomly divided into trial group (DPMAS+LPE, and comprehensive internal medical treatment) and control group (PE and comprehensive internal medical treatment). Symptoms, signs, laboratory tests results, adverse events, mortality rates are recorded from treatment baseline to 12 weeks.

02

Conditions studied

  • Immune-Mediated Hepatitis
  • Liver Failure
  • Hepatocellular Carcinoma
03

In context

Liver Failure

190 studies on the registry are indexed under Liver Failure; 33 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 60 is close to the median of 57 across 113 interventional studies indexed under Liver Failure.

Browse Liver Failure studies →

Lead sponsor

Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University is the lead sponsor of 133 studies on the registry; 35 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 65 Years
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 from 18 to 65 years old;
  2. Clinical diagnosis of chronic virus infection (positive hepatitis b surface antigen or positive hepatitis b virus DNA > 0.5 year);
  3. Clinical diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and receive treatment. The last treatment of immune checkpoint inhibitors is less than three months from inclusion;
  4. The level of hepatitis b virus DNA \< 2000 IU/mL;
  5. Serum /alanine aminotransferase > 20 times ;serum total >10 times upper limit of normal;
  6. international ratio > 1.5;
  7. > 50*10 E9/L;
  8. Without intrahepatic bile duct dilation due to tumor progression.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Other active liver diseases;
  2. Other ;
  3. Pregnancy or lactation;
  4. infection or congenital immune deficiency diseases;
  5. Severe diabetes, diseases; unstable infarction due to cardio-cerebrovascular events; other important organ dysfunctions or transplantation;
  6. Active bleeding, disseminated intravascular coagulation, thrombosis, or thrombotic disease;
  7. Patients received artificial liver support system treatment in one week before inclusion;
  8. Patients can not follow-up;
  9. Investigator considering inappropriate
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(10)

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.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

PD-1, PD-L1 and checkpoint inhibitors

PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.

PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

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.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    DPMAS+LPE group

    30 patients receive treatment of DPMAS, LPE, and comprehensive internal medical treatment.

    Other: DPMAS+LPE · Other: Comprehensive internal medical treatment

  • Active comparator
    PE group

    30 patients receive treatment of PE and comprehensive internal medical treatment.

    Other: PE · Other: Comprehensive internal medical treatment

Interventions

  • OtherDPMAS+LPE

    Patients will receive treatment of double plasma molecular adsorption system (DPMAS) and low volume plasma exchange (LPE) for three times in two weeks. The volume of plasma adsorption in DPMAS is 5000\~6000 millilitre. The volume of fresh frozen plasma used in LPE is 1000 millilitre.

  • OtherPE

    Patients will receive treatment of plasma exchange (PE) for three times in two weeks. The volume of fresh frozen plasma used in PE is 2000 millilitre.

  • OtherComprehensive internal medical treatment

    Patients will receive comprehensive internal medical treatment.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Mortality rate

    Mortality rate at 12-week follow-up.

    Time frame: 12 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score variation

    Variation of MELD score at 12 weeks after treatment. MELD score = 9.57 × loge(creatinine mg/dl) + 3.78 × loge(TBIL mg/dl) + 11.20 × loge(PT-INR) + 6.43.

    Time frame: 12 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — The study protocol, results and conclusions of this clinical trial will be published at academic conferences or in journals.

Supporting information: Study protocol, Clinical study report

Time frame: Beginning 3 months and ending 5 years following article publication.

Access criteria: Proposals should be directed to xuwenx@mail.sysu.edu.cn. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement

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 Aug 2022 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2024, 28 months after the start.

Of 25 interventional studies with no phase under Liver Failure, half reached primary completion within 29 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 23 and three quarters within 49. This study's planned 28 months is close to that.

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

Registered
Jul 30, 2022
First posted
Aug 2, 2022
StartActual
Aug 12, 2022
Primary completionEst.
Dec 31, 2024
CompletionEst.
Dec 31, 2024
Last update
Nov 29, 2024
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 Nov 29, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05484908
Responsible party
Wenxiong Xu (Associate Chief Physician, Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 2, 2022
Start date
Aug 12, 2022
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2024 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2024 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 29, 2024

Study contacts

Wenxiong Xu, Doctor
Contact
xuwenx@mail.sysu.edu.cn
+8613760783281
Liang Peng, Doctor
Contact
pliang@mail.sysu.edu.cn
+8613533978874
Wenxiong Xu, Doctor
principal investigator · Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University

Oversight

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

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