ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT06214572RUGBUpdated Apr 11, 2025

Radiation Therapy in Unresectable Gall Bladder Cancer

A Phase 2/3 interventional study of Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin) and RT in Gall Bladder Cancer, sponsored by Tata Memorial Centre. Recruiting at 1 site in India. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-04-11.

Sponsored by Tata Memorial Centre · Phase 2/3, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Mar 2024; still recruiting 2 years 8 months later.
Phase
Phase 2/3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
249
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two treatment regimes, namely, systemic therapy (chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy) alone vs. systemic therapy and radiation therapy in patients with inoperable but localized gallbladder cancer. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Whether adding radiation therapy to systemic therapy improves overall survival?
  • What are the effects on other endpoints like cancer-free intervals, side effects, and quality of life? Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the two treatment regimes mentioned earlier by a computer-based program. Researchers will compare survival and quality of life outcomes between the two groups.
Read the detailed description

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) incidence is exceptionally high in India and most patients present with an unresectable or advanced disease. There is limited clinical evidence on optimal therapy of biliary tract cancers in general and more so for gall bladder cancers which are relatively rare in the Western world.

As per current clinical practice, Surgery remains the mainstay of curative treatment for resectable GBC, and systemic therapy with or without radiotherapy is offered for unresectable GBC. The current standard of systemic therapy is to administer 6 months of Gemcitabine-based regimen and the median overall survival of these patients is about 10-12 months. The national and Institutional guidelines suggest the use of radiation in unresectable GBC. The role of radiation therapy in this setting has not been evaluated in phase 3 randomized clinical trials although it is being offered routinely at our Centre if the patients remain nonmetastatic after initial systemic therapy. We propose a phase 2/3 integrated randomized clinical trial evaluating the role of adding radiotherapy to chemotherapy in improving survival outcomes in patients with unresectable GBC based on nonrandomized data from our institution suggesting a benefit with the addition of radiation therapy in this setting.

Patients with histologically verified, unresectable GBC who do not progress (RECIST 1.1) after an initial 3 months of Gemcitabine-based systemic therapy are invited to participate in this open-label, parallel arm, superiority design randomized controlled trial. Patients randomized to the 'RT arm' will receive hypo fractionated conformal image-guided radiotherapy to a dose of 40-55Gy in 10 (up to 15) fractions to the primary and regional lymph node basins delivered over 2-3 weeks. Systemic therapy is resumed after completion of radiotherapy for 3 more months. The patients in the 'Chemo alone arm' or 'Systemic therapy alone' arm will complete 3 more months of systemic therapy as per the current institutional standard. All patients will be considered for further systemic therapy (either as maintenance therapy or at the time of relapse) at the discretion of the treating medical oncologist.

The primary outcomes of the Phase 2 and Phase 3 components are progression-free survival and Overall survival respectively with an interim analysis planned at 36 months to evaluate futility. Secondary outcomes include local control, toxicity, and quality of life measures. The estimated sample size 249 is and the expected duration of the study is 67 months including the follow-up period.

02

Conditions studied

  • Gall Bladder Cancer

Keywords

  • Biliary tract cancer
  • Gall Bladder Cancer
  • Radiation therapy
  • Unresectable
03

In context

Gallbladder Neoplasms

301 studies on the registry are indexed under Gallbladder Neoplasms; 65 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 249 is above the median of 56 across 222 interventional studies indexed under Gallbladder Neoplasms.

Browse Gallbladder Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Tata Memorial Centre is the lead sponsor of 64 studies on the registry; 42 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

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

  • proven (/cytology) adenocarcinoma of gall bladder. Gall bladder neck primaries with hilar block mimicking hilar cholangiocarcinoma will also be included.
  • Non at presentation as determined using cross sectional imaging and diagnostic laparoscopy if done as a part of standard work up recommended in the joint clinic.
  • Locally advanced disease with one or more of the following
  • Extensive liver infiltration not amenable for surgery but feasible for safe radiation delivery (Liver minus gross tumor volume at least 700cc)
  • Vascular involvement: encasement (>180-degree angle) of one of the vessels: Hepatic artery, main portal vein, right or left portal vein
  • Obstructive jaundice with hilar involvement (type 2 non communicating block and higher blocks as per Bismuth-Corlette classification)
  • Stable disease or partial response ( 1.1) after initial 3 months of Gemcitabine based chemotherapy
  • More than 18 years of age
  • (ECOG) performance status of 0, 1, or 2 fit for chemotherapy
  • Normal hematological and renal and hepatic functions allowing safe delivery of chemotherapy
  • Hematological- > 80 g/L, ≥ 1.5 x 109/L, ≥ 100 x 109/L.
  • Liver functions- ≤ 2 x upper limit normal (), /ALT ≤ 5 x ULN, alkaline phosphatase ≤ 6 x upper limit normal (ULN) S. albumin ≥ 30 g/L
  • Renal function- Creatinine ≤ 1.5 ULN, >= 50 mL/min

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with distant (including nonregional lymph nodes metastasis) will be excluded.
  • Prior abdominal therapeutic radiation
  • Past or current history of other not curatively treated and without evidence of disease for more than 5 years, except for curatively treated basal cell carcinoma of the skin and in situ carcinoma of the cervix
  • Pregnancy/Lactating women
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(13)

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.

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.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

RECIST

The standard rules for measuring tumours on CT or MRI scans, to tell whether a cancer is shrinking, stable or growing during treatment.

“Measurable disease per RECIST 1.1” usually means at least one tumour 10 mm or more at its longest on a CT scan, or a lymph node 15 mm or more across its short axis.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

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).

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.

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.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2 / Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
249 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Systemic therapy

    Participants will receive one of the following Gemcitabine-based systemic therapy alone: 1. Gemcitabine plus cisplatin: Gemcitabine 1000mg/m2 and Cisplatin 25 mg/m2, each administered on Days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks (q3w) 2. Gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin: Gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 and oxaliplatin 100 mg/m2 IV infusion on days 1 and 8 q2w. 3. Gemcitabine plus cisplatin plus Durvalumab: Durvalumab 1500 mg via intravenous (IV) infusion q4w, starting on Cycle 1 in combination with cisplatin 25 mg/m2 and gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 each administered on Days 1 and 8, q3w. 4. Gemcitabine plus cisplatin plus nab-paclitaxel: Gemcitabine 800 mg/m2, cisplatin, 25 mg/m2, and nab-paclitaxel 100 mg/m2, on days 1 and 8, q3w. duration: 3 months

    Drug: Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin) · Drug: Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin) · Drug: Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin plus Durvalumab) · Drug: Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus cisplatin plus nab-paclitaxel)

  • Active comparator
    RT (Radiation therapy)

    Participants will receive radiation therapy in addition to systemic therapy Hypofractionated external image guided radiation to a dose of 40-55Gy in 10 sessions (up to 60Gy in 15 sessions) over 2-3 weeks. This is followed by systemic therapy as in the Systemic therapy arm

    Drug: Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin) · Radiation: RT · Drug: Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin) · Drug: Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin plus Durvalumab) · Drug: Systemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus cisplatin plus nab-paclitaxel)

Interventions

  • DrugSystemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin)

    Participants will receive one of the following Gemcitabine-based systemic therapy alone: Gemcitabine 1000mg/m2 and Cisplatin 25 mg/m2, each administered on Days 1 and 8 every 3 weeks (q3w) Duration: 3 months (in addition to 3 months previously received)

  • RadiationRT

    Participants will receive radiation therapy in addition to systemic therapy Hypofractionated external image guided radiation to a dose of 40-55Gy in 10 sessions (up to 60Gy in 15 sessions) over 2-3 weeks. This is followed by systemic therapy as in the Systemic therapy alone arm.

  • DrugSystemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus oxaliplatin)

    Gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 and oxaliplatin 100 mg/m2 IV infusion on days 1 and 8 q2w. Duration: 3 months

  • DrugSystemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus Cisplatin plus Durvalumab)

    Durvalumab 1500 mg via intravenous (IV) infusion q4w, starting on Cycle 1 in combination with cisplatin 25 mg/m2 and gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 each administered on Days 1 and 8, q3w. Duration 3 months Durvalumab (12 months)

  • DrugSystemic therapy (Gemcitabine plus cisplatin plus nab-paclitaxel)

    Gemcitabine 800 mg/m2, cisplatin, 25 mg/m2, and nab-paclitaxel 100 mg/m2, on days 1 and 8, q3w Duration: 3 months

This study also gives Durvalumab. No intervention listed here names it: that was found by reading the record.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Median overall survival

    Time interval between the date of diagnosis and death due to any case.

    Time frame: 2 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Progression free survival

    Time interval between the date of diagnosis and radiological or histological (whichever earlier) evidence of disease progression or death from any cause

    Time frame: 2 years

  2. Locoregional progression free survival

    Time interval between the date of diagnosis and radiological or histological (whichever earlier) evidence of locoregional disease progression or death from any cause

    Time frame: 2 years

  3. Response rate

    Response to treatment after completion of 6 months of systemic therapy with or without radiotherapy will be assessed using a PET CT or CECT scan using the RECIST (Ver 1.1) criteria

    Time frame: 6 months

  4. Acute toxicities

    RTOG criteria

    Time frame: 3 years

  5. Late toxicities

    RTOG criteria

    Time frame: 3 years

  6. Acute toxicities

    CTCAE v5 criteria

    Time frame: 3 years

  7. Late toxicities

    CTCAE v5 criteria

    Time frame: 3 years

  8. Quality of life assessment (Gen)

    EORTC QLQ-c30

    Time frame: 2 years

  9. Quality of life assessment (Liver specific)

    FACT-Hep version 4

    Time frame: 2 years

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Verma V, Surkar SM, Brooks ED, Simone CB 2nd, Lin C. Chemoradiotherapy Versus Chemotherapy Alone for Unresected Nonmetastatic Gallbladder Cancer: National Practice Patterns and Outcomes. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2018 Jan;16(1):59-65. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2017.7067. PubMed 29295882 ↗
  • Sinha S, Engineer R, Ostwal V, Ramaswamy A, Chopra S, Shetty N. Radiotherapy for locally advanced unresectable gallbladder cancer - A way forward: Comparative study of chemotherapy versus chemoradiotherapy. J Cancer Res Ther. 2022 Jan-Mar;18(1):147-151. doi: 10.4103/jcrt.JCRT_1568_20. PubMed 35381776 ↗

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 11, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06214572
Lead sponsor
Tata Memorial Centre
Responsible party
Shivakumar Gudi (Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Centre) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jan 19, 2024
Start date
Mar 7, 2024
Primary completion
Jul 21, 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Jul 21, 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Apr 11, 2025

Study contacts

Shivakumar Gudi, MD
Contact
shivakumargudi@gmail.com
+912224177000 ext. 6863
Reena Engineer, MD
Contact
reena.engineer@gmail.com
+91222417000 ext. 7165
Shivakumar Gudi, MD
principal investigator · Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology

Oversight

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

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