PhI Pilot Study Pafolacianine Inject for Intraoperative Imaging on Outcomes of GI Cancer Peritoneal Carcinomatosis

February 23, 2026 updated by: Maheswari Senthil, MD, University of California, Irvine

The Impact of Pafolacianine Injection for Intraoperative Imaging on Outcomes of Gastrointestinal Cancer Peritoneal Carcinomatosis - A Pilot Study

This is a pilot, single-arm, open label study to evaluate the ability of CYTALUX™ (pafolacianine) to help identify cancerous lesions in subjects with gastrointestinal cancers and peritoneal carcinomatosis during cytoreductive surgery.

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.

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.
10

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.
  • Early Phase 1

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.
  • Name: Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center University of California, Irvine
  • Phone Number: 1-877-827-8839
  • Email: ucstudy@uci.edu

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: University of California Irvine Medical

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Orange, California, United States, 92868
        • Recruiting
        • Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Irvine
        • Contact:

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adult patients 18 years of age and older
  • Have a primary diagnosis of primary gastrointestinal cancer (of adenocarcinoma), planned for cytoreductive surgery
  • Female patients must have a negative serum pregnancy test at screening, followed by a negative urine pregnancy test on the day of scheduled study drug infusion, or day of surgery
  • Female patients of childbearing potential, or less than two (2) years postmenopausal, agree to use an acceptable form of contraception from time of signing informed consent until 30 days after study completion
  • Ability to understand the requirements of the study, provide written informed consent for participation in the study and authorization of use and disclosure of protected health information, and agree to abide by study restrictions

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous exposure to CYTALUX™ (PAFOLACIANINE)
  • Patients with known gastrointestinal cancer with carcinomatosis determined pre-operatively to be inoperable
  • Any medical condition that in the opinion of the investigators could potential jeopardize the safety of the patient
  • History of anaphylactic reaction
  • History of allergy to any components of CYTALUX™ (PAFOLACIANINE), including folic acid
  • Pregnancy, or positive pregnancy test
  • Clinically significant abnormalities on ECG
  • Impaired renal function defined as eGFR <50 mL/min/1.73m2
  • Impaired liver function defined as values >3x the upper limit of normal (ULN) for alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), or total bilirubin
  • Received an investigational agent in another trial within 30 days prior to surgery
  • Known sensitivity to fluorescent light

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: Pafolacianine (CYTALUX)
All subjects will receive one single intravenous infusion of 0.025 mg/kg of pafolacianine (CYTALUX) injection prior to anticipated intraoperative imaging planned for cytoreductive surgery.
Drug: Pafolacianine (CYTALUX) with intraoperative fluorescent near-infrared (NIR) imaging
Given IV

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
Sensitivity-True Positive Rate (TPR)
Time Frame: 1 year
Sensitivity, or the True Positive Rate (TPR), is defined as the proportion of fluorescent light positive lesions that are histologically confirmed to be gastrointestinal cancer (and folate receptor (FR) positive) by central pathology relative to the total number of lesions confirmed to be gastrointestinal cancer (FR+) by central pathology, that is proportion of cancerous lesions that are fluorescent light positive.
1 year
Specificity-True Negative Rate (TNR)
Time Frame: 1 year
Specificity, or the True Negative Rate (TNR), is defined as the proportion of fluorescent light negative lesions that are histologically negative for gastrointestinal cancer and FR- by central pathology, relative to the total number of lesions that are negative for gastrointestinal cancer (FR-) by central pathology-that is, the proportion of non-cancer lesions that are fluorescent light negative.
1 year
Positive Predictive Value (PPV)
Time Frame: 1 year
Positive Predictive Value (PPV) is defined as the proportion of fluorescent light positive lesions that are histologically confirmed to be FR+ and gastrointestinal cancer by central pathology relative to the total number of lesions removed that are fluorescent light positive-that is, the proportion of fluorescent light positive lesions that are cancerous.
1 year
Negative Predictive Value (NPV)
Time Frame: 1 year
Negative Predictive Value (NPV) is defined as the proportion of fluorescent light negative lesions that are histologically negative for gastrointestinal cancer and FR- by central pathology relative to the total number of lesions removed that are fluorescent light negative-that is, the proportion of fluorescent light negative lesions that are histologically negative for cancer.
1 year
Accuracy
Time Frame: 1 year
Accuracy is defined as the proportion of fluorescent light positive lesions that are histologically confirmed to be FR+ and gastrointestinal cancer by central pathology and the fluorescent light negative lesions that are histologically negative for gastrointestinal cancer and FR- by central pathology relative to all lesions sampled.
1 year
Cytoreduction (CC) Score
Time Frame: 1 year
Describe the completeness of cytroreduction (cc) score with Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with Cytalux injection.
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
Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events [Safety and Tolerability]
Time Frame: 30 days
Incidence rates of all treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs) from the time of CYTALUX (PAFOLACIANINE) injection administration through the conclusion of study participation
30 days

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 California, Irvine

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.
On Target Laboratories

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: Maheswari Senthil, MD, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

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.
November 13, 2024

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.
November 30, 2026

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.
November 30, 2027

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).
July 15, 2024

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.
July 15, 2024

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.
July 19, 2024

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 27, 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 23, 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

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.
  • 4951
  • UCI 23-184 (Other Identifier: UCI CFCCC)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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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