Standard Chest Tube Compared With a Small Catheter in Treating Malignant Pleural Effusion in Patients With Cancer

Phase III Comparison of Catheter Based Therapy of Pleural Effusions in Cancer Patients (Optimal Pleural Effusion Control, OPEC)

RATIONALE: It is not yet known whether pleurodesis using a chest tube with infusions of talc is more effective in improving quality of life than pleurodesis using a small catheter in treating malignant pleural effusion.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of a chest tube and talc with that of a small catheter in treating malignant pleural effusion in patients who have cancer.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Metastatic Cancer; Pulmonary Complications
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: talc; Procedure: dyspnea management

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

• Compare the success rate in patients with cancer who undergo pleurodesis using a standard chest tube with talc slurry vs a small (PleurX) catheter for the treatment of a symptomatic unilateral malignant pleural effusion.
• Compare the 30-day effusion control rate in patients treated with these procedures.
• Compare quality of life in these patients at 7-14 and 30-37 days after treatment with these procedures.
• Compare patient acceptance and satisfaction after treatment with these procedures.
• Compare the level of symptoms and dyspnea experienced by patients treated with these procedures.
• Compare the types, causes, and rates of early technical failures of these procedures in these patients.
• Compare the 30-day effusion recurrences in patients treated with these procedures.
• Compare the 60-day durability of pleurodesis in patients treated with these procedures.
• Compare the mortality, morbidity, and common surgical complications in patients treated with these procedures.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to inpatient status (yes vs no), disease type (breast vs lung vs other), and concurrent systemic chemotherapy (yes vs no). Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

• Arm I: Patients undergo placement of a standard pleural chest tube. Within 36 hours of chest tube placement, patients undergo pleurodesis comprising intrapleural administration of talc slurry once followed by clamping of the chest tube for 2 hours while different patient positions are used to distribute the talc. The chest tube is then unclamped to allow continuous drainage. When the chest tube drainage is less than 150 mL over 24 hours, pleurodesis is assumed and the chest tube is removed.
• Arm II: Patients undergo pleurodesis comprising placement of a small (PleurX) catheter followed by pleural drainage for up to 90 minutes once daily. When the catheter drainage is less than 30 mL per day for 3 consecutive days, pleurodesis is assumed and the catheter is removed.

Quality of life and dyspnea are assessed at baseline and then at 7-14 and 30-37 days after treatment.

Patients are followed at 30 and 60 days.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 67
• Phase: Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Burbank, California, United States, 91505
      • Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center - Burbank

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Radiologic evidence of a unilateral malignant pleural effusion requiring sclerosis or ongoing drainage because it is symptomatic (dyspnea and/or progressive fatigue)

  • An asymptomatic patient is eligible if the patient underwent a prior thoracentesis within the past 2 weeks and was symptomatic before the procedure
  • No bilateral effusions by plain chest x-ray

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed solid tumor or hematologic malignancy

  • Histologic confirmation of malignant cells in pleural fluid is not required

• Pleural spaces must be naive to pleurodesis attempts

  • No prior intrapleural therapy (defined as a chest tube in place or placed to drain an effusion, prior surgical pleurectomy, or any prior chemical or mechanical pleurodesis on the ipsilateral side)

    • Placement of a small interventional radiology catheter for temporary drainage is not considered intrapleural therapy as long as no sclerosant medication was given and it has not been in place longer than 10 days

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

• 18 and over

Performance status

• CTC 0-2

Hematopoietic

• Granulocyte count at least 1,500/mm^3
• Platelet count at least 100,000/mm^3

Pulmonary

• No active pleural infection

Other

• No allergy to talc
• No surgical contraindication to talc usage
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Chemotherapy

• Concurrent systemic chemotherapy allowed

Radiotherapy

• Concurrent palliative radiotherapy to a symptomatic lesion allowed except to the treated hemithorax within 30 days of the drainage procedure

Surgery

• See Disease Characteristics
• Prior thoracotomies without specific pleural ablation (including lobectomy but not pneumonectomy) allowed
• Prior needle-based diagnostic interventions (fine-needle aspiration, small bore catheter drainage of less than 10 days, or thoracentesis) allowed

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Arm I; Patients undergo placement of a standard pleural chest tube. Within 36 hours of chest tube placement, patients undergo pleurodesis comprising intrapleural administration of talc slurry once followed by clamping of the chest tube for 2 hours while different patient positions are used to distribute the talc. The chest tube is then unclamped to allow continuous drainage. When the chest tube drainage is less than 150 mL over 24 hours, pleurodesis is assumed and the chest tube is removed.	Other: talc; Given intrapleurally
Experimental: Arm II; Patients undergo pleurodesis comprising placement of a small (PleurX) catheter followed by pleural drainage for up to 90 minutes once daily. When the catheter drainage is less than 30 mL per day for 3 consecutive days, pleurodesis is assumed and the catheter is removed.	Procedure: dyspnea management; No talc

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Effusion control	30 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Quality of Life	7-14 days and 30-37 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Study Chair: Todd Demmy, MD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2002
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 1, 2005
• Study Completion (Actual): February 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 5, 2002
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 26, 2003
• First Posted (Estimate): January 27, 2003

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): July 4, 2016
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 1, 2016
• Last Verified: July 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: pulmonary complications; malignant pleural effusion
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Respiratory Tract Diseases; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Pleural Diseases; Respiratory Tract Neoplasms; Thoracic Neoplasms; Pleural Neoplasms; Pleural Effusion, Malignant; Pleural Effusion
• Other Study ID Numbers: CALGB-30102; U10CA076001 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); CDR0000069451 (Registry Identifier: NCI Physician Data Query)