Functional Lung Avoidance SPECT-guided Radiation Therapy of Lung Cancer (ASPECT)

February 22, 2026 updated by: Katherina Farr, MD, PhD, University of Aarhus

Functional Lung Avoidance SPECT-guided (ASPECT) Radiation Therapy for Lung Cancer Patients: Phase II Randomised Clinical Trial

Study aims to determine if functional lung avoidance based on perfusion single photon emission (SPECT)/CT scan, improves toxicity outcomes for patients with advanced lung cancer undergoing chemo-radiotherapy. Functional avoidance implies a dose plan that takes functional distribution in the lung into account, and avoids highly functional lung volumes sparing them from radiation.

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

In this project, a novel method of safe radiotherapy delivery shall be tested for patients with lung cancer in a clinical setting. Functional avoidance radiotherapy is a new method that protect highly functional lung tissue from radiation, while delivering high dose radiotherapy to the lung tumour. Radiotherapy is usually based on a CT scan that does not account for functional variations in the lungs. Therefore, I hypothesize that using functional distribution in the lungs and avoiding irradiation of highly functional lung will improve treatment outcome for individual patients with lung cancer.

The objective of my project is to determine if functional image guided radiotherapy (functional avoidance radiotherapy) improves toxicity outcomes for patients with lung cancer undergoing curative chemo-radiotherapy in a prospective clinical trial.

To reach this objective, the impact of functional avoidance radiotherapy on pulmonary toxicity measured by the incidence and severity of radiation-induced lung disease shall be assessed. Additionally, loco-regional control, time to progression, overall survival, quality of life and radiation-induced molecular response in patients treated with functional avoidance radiotherapy shall be assessed and compared to patients receiving standard treatment.

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.
Interventional

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.
90

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

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

  • Australia
    • New South Wales
      • Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2145
        • Recruiting
        • Sydney West Radiation Oncology Network Westmead and Blacktown Hospitals
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Eric Hau, MBBS PhD
        • Contact:
  • Denmark
      • Aarhus, Denmark, DK-8000
        • Recruiting
        • Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
          • Line Sparvath
          • Phone Number: 004578465000
          • Email: linspa@rm.dk
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Katherina Farr, MD, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Azza Khalil, MD, PhD

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • histologically verified lung cancer (small-cell and non-small cell lung cancer)
  • referred for radiotherapy with curative intent
  • radiation dose of 60-66 Gy given in 2-Gy fractions, other dose levels and fractionation schedules accepted, as per site standard
  • concurrent chemotherapy is accepted
  • patients with oligometastatic disease are allowed, where metastasis have been ablated with surgery or radiotherapy
  • receiving (chemo)-radiotherapy to the thoracic disease with curative intent
  • adults over 18, that have given oral and written informed consent before patient registration.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • concurrent immunotherapy
  • previous radiotherapy to the thorax
  • other uncontrolled malignancies; any psychological, familial, sociological or geographical condition potentially hampering compliance with the study protocol

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
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.
Experimental: SPECT functional avoidance treatment
SPECT-based radiation therapy given taken functional distribution in the lung into account, that avoids highly functional lung volumes sparing them from radiation.
Diagnostic test: Single-photon-emission CT scan
SPECT/CT scan is an established functional modality used in the diagnosis and monitoring of lung disease. SPECT/CT scan images pulmonary circulation, where perfused areas equate with normal functional lung
No Intervention: Standard treatment
CT-based radiation therapy given over 5- 6.5 weeks.

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
Radiation-induced lung toxicity
Time Frame: Measured serially from 1 to 12 months after treatment completion
crude rate of symptomatic radiation-induced lung toxicity of grade 2 and higher. According to the Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0 for radiation pneumonitis, dyspnea, cough, or any other radiation-induced respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorder.
Measured serially from 1 to 12 months after treatment completion

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
Quality of life
Time Frame: Measured serially from 1 to 12 months after treatment completion
Change in quality of life according to the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaires
Measured serially from 1 to 12 months after treatment completion
Patient reported lung symptoms
Time Frame: Measured serially from 1 to 12 months after treatment completion
Change in lung symptoms according to the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer questionnaire
Measured serially from 1 to 12 months after treatment completion
Progression-free survival
Time Frame: at 12 months
time from randomization to disease progression at any site or death
at 12 months
Overall survival
Time Frame: at 12 months
time from randomization to death of any cause or last date known alive
at 12 months
Loco-regional control rate
Time Frame: at 12 months
freedom from local disease progression
at 12 months

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.
University of Aarhus

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.
Aarhus University Hospital
The University of New South Wales
South Eastern Sydney Local Health District
Westmead and Blacktown Hospital, Sydney West Radiation Oncology Network, Sydney, Australia
Northern NSW Local Health District, NSW Australia

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.

General Publications

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.
December 1, 2021

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, 2027

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).
December 15, 2020

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.
December 15, 2020

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.
December 21, 2020

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.
February 24, 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.
February 22, 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.
February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • KFE-1930

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

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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