An observational study in Neuroendocrine Tumors, sponsored by Chiyi Chen. Enrolling by invitation at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-03.
Sponsored by Chiyi Chen · Observational
Liver Transplantation Versus Conventional Medical Therapy for Low-Grade GEP-NET With Liver Metastases
Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms; when liver metastases occur, prognosis deteriorates substantially. For patients with low-grade (well-differentiated G1/G2, low Ki-67 proliferation index), liver-dominant, unresectable metastases, conventional medical therapy-including somatostatin analogues, molecular targeted agents, peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), and locoregional transarterial treatments-offers disease control but limited survival benefit, with an estimated 5-year overall survival below 30%.
Liver transplantation has emerged as a potentially curative option for highly selected patients with unresectable NET liver metastases. Non-randomized data from specialized centers suggest that patients meeting strict selection criteria (well-differentiated histology, low proliferative index, no uncontrolled extrahepatic disease) may achieve a 5-year overall survival of approximately 70% after transplantation. However, the absence of a concurrently enrolled non-transplant comparator group has limited the evidence.
This study establishes a two-center, prospective, non-randomized cohort in which treatment selection (liver transplantation versus conventional medical therapy) is based on patient/family preference following multidisciplinary evaluation at each center, with both groups intended to be broadly comparable at baseline. Liver transplantation is performed at the Department of Liver Transplantation, Tianjin First Central Hospital; conventional medical therapy is delivered at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center.
The primary objective is to compare 5-year overall survival between the two groups. Secondary objectives include 1- and 3-year overall survival, progression-free survival, post-transplant disease-free survival and recurrence patterns, safety and treatment-related morbidity, quality of life, and health economic outcomes.
Because assignment is not randomized, baseline comparability will be assessed and adjusted using propensity score matching or inverse probability of treatment weighting, complemented by multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression. Exploratory subgroup analyses will be performed by tumor grade, Ki-67 index, primary tumor site, and hepatic tumor burden.
542 studies on the registry are indexed under Neuroendocrine Tumors; 135 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 100 is below the median of 130 across 129 observational studies indexed under Neuroendocrine Tumors.
Browse Neuroendocrine Tumors studies →Chiyi Chen is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
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Adult patients (aged 18-70 years) with histologically confirmed, well-differentiated (G1/G2) gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) and unresectable, liver-dominant metastases, with Ki-67 proliferation index ≤ 10% and ECOG performance status 0-1. The population includes two cohorts: (1) patients who undergo liver transplantation at Tianjin First Central Hospital and (2) patients with comparable baseline characteristics who receive conventional medical therapy at Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, with cohort assignment based on patient/family preference following balanced multidisciplinary counseling. Both cohorts are drawn from consecutive patients meeting the eligibility criteria at the two participating centers between January 2019 and December 2028.
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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
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.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
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.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Immunosuppression
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Conventional medical therapy as clinically indicated, including somatostatin analogues (octreotide or lanreotide), molecular targeted therapy (everolimus, sunitinib), peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (177Lu-DOTATATE, when available), and/or transarterial locoregional therapy (TACE/TAE). This therapy constitutes the background treatment for both cohorts.
Conventional medical therapy as clinically indicated, including somatostatin analogues (octreotide or lanreotide), molecular targeted therapy (everolimus, sunitinib), peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (177Lu-DOTATATE, when available), and/or transarterial locoregional therapy (TACE/TAE). This therapy constitutes the background treatment for both cohorts. This group of patients is willing to undergo a liver transplant.
Procedure: Liver Transplantation
Deceased-donor or living-donor liver transplantation performed at Tianjin First Central Hospital on the basis of conventional medical therapy.
5-Year Overall Survival
Time from enrollment to death from any cause, assessed up to 5 years after enrollment. OS will be estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared between groups using the log-rank test.
Time frame: Up to 5 years after enrollment
Overall Survival Rate at 1 Year
Percentage of participants alive at 1 year after enrollment, estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method.
Time frame: 1 year after enrollment
Overall Survival Rate at 3 Years
Percentage of participants alive at 3 years after enrollment, estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method.
Time frame: 3 years after enrollment
Progression-Free Survival
Time from enrollment to radiological progression (per RECIST 1.1) or death from any cause, whichever occurs first, assessed in the conventional medical therapy group.
Time frame: Up to 5 years after enrollment
Post-transplant Disease-Free Survival
Time from liver transplantation to first radiological recurrence or death from any cause, whichever occurs first, assessed in the liver transplantation group.
Time frame: Up to 5 years after liver transplantation
Recurrence Pattern After Liver Transplantation
Anatomic pattern of first recurrence, categorized as intrahepatic (graft) recurrence or extrahepatic recurrence.
Time frame: Up to 5 years after liver transplantation
Treatment-Related Adverse Events
Percentage of participants experiencing treatment-emergent adverse events, graded by severity according to the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0, including post-transplant surgical complications, graft-related events, and systemic drug toxicities.
Time frame: Up to 5 years after enrollment
Quality of Life Assessed by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) Global Health Status/Quality of Life Score
The EORTC QLQ-C30 global health status/quality of life subscale score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better quality of life.
Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 1 year, and annually thereafter up to 5 years
Total Direct Medical Costs
Total direct medical costs attributable to the treatment course, including surgery, hospitalization, systemic therapy, and management of adverse events, reported in Chinese Yuan (CNY).
Time frame: Up to 5 years after enrollment
Exploratory Prognostic Value of Ki-67 Proliferation Index
Ki-67 proliferation index (percentage of positively stained tumor cell nuclei) assessed by immunohistochemistry on tumor tissue; ranges from 0% to 100%, with higher values indicating higher proliferative activity.
Time frame: Baseline
Exploratory Prognostic Value of Serum Chromogranin A
Serum chromogranin A concentration measured by immunoassay, reported in ng/mL; higher values may indicate greater tumor burden.
Time frame: Baseline, every 3 months up to 5 years
Exploratory Prognostic Value of NETest Multigene Blood-Based Biomarker Score
NETest multigene assay score based on circulating neuroendocrine tumor transcripts, reported as a normalized score from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more active disease.
Time frame: Baseline, every 6 months up to 5 years
Neuroendocrine Tumor-Specific Symptoms Assessed by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire for Neuroendocrine and Gastrointestinal Tumors (EORTC QLQ-GINET21) Score
The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire for Neuroendocrine and Gastrointestinal Tumors (EORTC QLQ-GINET21) score ranges from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 100, with higher scores indicating a greater burden of disease-specific symptoms, i.e., a worse outcome.
Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 1 year, and annually thereafter up to 5 years
Plan to share: Yes — Individual de-identified participant data that underlie the results of this study (baseline characteristics, survival outcomes, and adverse event data) will be shared. The study protocol and statistical analysis plan will also be available. Data will be shared with qualified researchers upon reasonable request, after approval of a data use proposal by the study steering committee and the ethics committees of both participating institutions, and after publication of the primary results. Proposals should be directed to the corresponding principal investigator; requests will be reviewed within 3 months. Data will be available for 5 years following article publication.
Supporting information: Study protocol
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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