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Active, not recruitingNCT05630209Updated Apr 17, 2026

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Disruption Using Exablate Focused Ultrasound With Doxorubicin for Treatment of Pediatric Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas (DIPG)

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of Exablate and Doxorubicin in Brain Tumor, sponsored by InSightec. Active, not recruiting at 3 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 5 Years to 21 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-17.

Sponsored by InSightec · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Device feasibility

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Jun 2026, 4 months ago, but the record still lists the study as active, not recruiting.
Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
10
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
5 Years to 21 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of targeted blood brain barrier disruption with Exablate Model 4000 Type2.0/2.1 in combination with Doxorubicin therapy for the treatment of DIPG in pediatric patients

Read the detailed description

This is a prospective, single arm, non-randomized feasibility study to evaluate the safety, feasibility and preliminary efficacy of Blood Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD) using the Exablate Type 2 system in pediatric patients with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas (DIPG) undergoing Doxorubicin chemotherapy. The study will be conducted at up to three sites in the United States. Patients will undergo 3 treatment cycles, approximately 4-6 weeks apart. The study aims to establish feasibility and safety of Exablate BBBD in conjunction with Doxorubicin in the treatment of pediatric DIPG and assess preliminary efficacy in this patient population.

02

Conditions studied

  • Brain Tumor

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Keywords

  • DIPG
  • Focused Ultrasound
  • Chemotherapy
  • Phase I trial
  • Pediatrics
03

In context

Brain Neoplasms

1,960 studies on the registry are indexed under Brain Neoplasms; 516 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 10 is below the median of 40 across 1,458 interventional studies indexed under Brain Neoplasms.

Browse Brain Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

InSightec is the lead sponsor of 84 studies on the registry; 10 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
5 Years to 21 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Age between 5 and 21 years, inclusive. Subjects younger than 5 years old may be eligible after discussion with the Sponsor Medical Monitor/designee (i.e. DSMB).
  • Patient diagnosed with DIPG
  • At least 4-week and not greater than 12 weeks from completion of radiation therapy
  • Post-radiation imaging does not show evidence of necrosis/ hemorrhage or other features that contraindicate MRgFUS
  • If brain surgery occurred, at least 14 days passed since last brain surgery and the patient is fully recovered and neurologically stable
  • If on steroids, stable or decreasing dose for at least 7 days prior to study entry
  • Stable or improving neurologic status for 7 days prior to study entry
  • Able and willing to give consent and/or assent or have a legal guardian who is able and willing to do so
  • Able to attend all study visits and with life expectancy of at least 6 months

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Tumor not visible on any pre-therapy or post-radiation imaging
  • Previous participation in other chemotherapy, molecularly targeted therapy, or immunotherapy treatment-related phase 1 or 2 trials
  • Symptoms and signs of increased intracranial pressure
  • Subject with metastatic disease
  • Subject with ventricular peritoneal shunt
  • Subject receiving bevacizumab (Avastin) therapy or increasing doses of steroids
  • Anti-coagulant therapy, or medications known to increase risk of hemorrhage, (e.g., ASA, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs], statins) within washout period prior to treatment
  • History of a bleeding disorder, coagulopathy or with a history of spontaneous tumor hemorrhage.
  • Hypertension per age
  • Cerebral or systemic vasculopathy, including intracranial thrombosis, vascular malformation, cerebral aneurysm, or vasculitis
  • Immunosuppression (corticosteroids to prevent/treat brain edema are permitted).
  • Patients with positive HIV status
  • Active seizure disorder or epilepsy (seizures despite medical treatment) for a minimum of 4 weeks prior to first cycle/Exablate BBBD procedure captured by history
  • Known sensitivity to gadolinium-based contrast agents
  • Known sensitivity to DEFINITY® ultrasound contrast agent or known hypersensitivity to perflutren microsphere or its components, e.g., polyethylene glycol
  • Contraindication to Doxorubicin
  • Previous treatment with complete cumulative doses of Doxorubicin, daunorubicin, idarubicin, and/or other anthracyclines and anthracenediones
  • Severely impaired renal function with estimated glomerular filtration rate \<2 standard deviations for age
  • Patients that may require trastuzumab during the study
  • Patients that may require inhibitors and inducers of CYP3A4, CYP2D6, and/or P-gp during the study
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Device feasibility
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
10 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Blood Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD)

    Exablate MR Guided Focused Ultrasound for Blood Brain Barrier Disruption with Doxorubicin for treating pediatric patients with DIPG

    Device: Exablate · Drug: Doxorubicin

Interventions

  • DeviceExablate

    Blood Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD) via Exablate Type 2 system with microbubble resonators on the day of Doxorubicin infusion to treat DIPG brain tumors

    Also known as: Exablate BBBD

  • DrugDoxorubicin

    Doxorubicin infusion

    Also known as: Adriamycin, Rubex

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Adverse Events

    All adverse events from first treatment to end of study will be documented and reported according to the CTCAE terminology and severity scale

    Time frame: 2 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Blood Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD)

    BBBD will be assessed as a comparative ratio measured in pre and post-sonication contrast-enhanced MR images

    Time frame: immediately post BBBD sonication

Other outcomes

  1. Progression Free Survival (PFS)

    PFS will be assessed based on the Response Assessment in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (RAPNO) scale.

    Time frame: 2 years

07

Study locations

3 sites
  • Children's National Medical Center
    Washington D.C., District of Columbia 20010, United States
  • Nicklaus Children's Hospital
    Miami, Florida 33155, United States
  • Cook Children's Health Care System
    Fort Worth, Texas 76104, United States
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 17, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05630209
Lead sponsor
InSightec
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Nov 29, 2022
Start date
Jan 4, 2023
Primary completion
Jun 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Oct 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 17, 2026

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Apr 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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