Indwelling Pleural Catheters With or Without Doxycycline in Treating Patients With Malignant Pleural Effusions

March 3, 2026 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

A Prospective Observational Cohort Study of Indwelling Pleural Catheters Versus Indwelling Pleural Catheters Plus Doxycycline Pleurodesis for Treatment of Malignant Pleural Effusions

This study is designed to obtain preliminary data comparing indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) versus IPCs plus doxycycline for pleurodesis as treatments for malignant pleural effusion (MPE). Indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) are commonly used to treat pleural effusions (build-up of fluid in the lungs). Doxycycline is an antibiotic that is also used to treat pleural effusions. The goal of this clinical research study is to learn if adding doxycycline to the use of an IPC can lead to shorter treatment times with IPCs.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To obtain preliminary data comparing indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) versus IPCs plus doxycycline for pleurodesis as treatments for malignant pleural effusion (MPE).

OUTLINE: Patients choose 1 of 2 groups.

GROUP I: Patients undergo IPC placement and receive doxycycline via IPC 5 days later.

GROUP II: Patients undergo IPC placement.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 10-14 days and then monthly for up to a year.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
208

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • Recruiting
        • M D Anderson Cancer Center
        • Contact:
          • David Ost
          • Phone Number: 713-792-6238
        • Principal Investigator:
          • David Ost

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Outpatients with MPE undergoing IPC placement

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Outpatients with MPE undergoing IPC placement
  • Sufficient mental capacity to provide informed consent and answer Short-Form Six-Dimension health index (SF-6D) and Borg score questions
  • Inpatients that are expected to be discharged within 5 days of receiving an indwelling pleural catheter

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients undergoing pleurodesis for benign disease (e.g., spontaneous pneumothorax)
  • Inability or unwillingness to give informed consent
  • Inability to perform phone call and clinical follow-up at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC)
  • Pregnancy
  • Previous intrapleural therapy for MPE on the same side
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) of 4 and life expectancy =< 2 weeks
  • Doxycycline allergy
  • Extensive loculations or hydropneumothorax or other contraindication to pleurodesis
  • Chylous effusions associated with malignant disease

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Group 2 (IPC alone)
Patients undergo IPC placement.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Survey Administration
Ancillary studies
Procedure: Quality-of-Life Assessment
Ancillary studies
Other Names:
  • Quality of Life Assessment
Device: Indwelling Catheter
Receive IPC
Group I (IPC, doxycycline)
Patients undergo IPC placement and receive doxycycline via IPC 5 days later.
Other: Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
Other: Survey Administration
Ancillary studies
Procedure: Quality-of-Life Assessment
Ancillary studies
Other Names:
  • Quality of Life Assessment
Device: Indwelling Catheter
Receive IPC
Drug: Doxycycline
Receive via IPC
Other Names:
  • Doxycycline Monohydrate

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to pleural catheter removal
Time Frame: Up to 1 year
This outcome will be analyzed by cause-specific hazard Cox model with treatment group as a covariate. Whenever a catheter is removed, the cause for removal will be documented. For the analysis, causes will include removal due to decreased drainage (i.e., as per plan) as well as removal due to complications (e.g. infection, empyema, refractory pain) or other reasons (e.g. catheter plugged but no complication to the patient, patient preference without a complication). We will also analyze time to catheter removal for any cause and conduct pre-specified secondary analyses to evaluate the effect of fluid drainage amount (i.e., how much was being put out from the indwelling pleural catheter (IPC) the day of IPC placement and on the day of doxycycline instillation) and size of residual effusion as assessed by chest x-ray (CXR) (on day of IPC placement and day of doxycycline instillation) on time to catheter removal.
Up to 1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Recurrence of effusion requiring drainage after IPC
Time Frame: Up to 1 year
Up to 1 year
Indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) complications
Time Frame: Up to 1 year
Up to 1 year
Quality-adjusted survival measured using Short-Form Six-Dimension health index (SF-6D)
Time Frame: Baseline up to 1 year
Will use the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method to estimate median quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) following IPC placement.
Baseline up to 1 year
Change in dyspnea using Borg score
Time Frame: Baseline up to 1 year
Will use paired t-test to compare baseline and 1 month Borg scores and utilities. A generalized linear model will be used to evaluate whether other variables have any impact on the pairwise differences between baseline and 1 month.
Baseline up to 1 year
Assessment of symptom burden
Time Frame: Baseline up to 1 year
Baseline up to 1 year
Procedure-associated pain
Time Frame: Up to 1 year
Up to 1 year
Need for hospitalization due to pleurodesis pain
Time Frame: Up to 1 year
Up to 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: David Ost, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 8, 2018

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 8, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 13, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
March 14, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 5, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 3, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2017-0973 (Other Identifier: M D Anderson Cancer Center)
  • NCI-2018-00630 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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