Analysis of Parametrial Lymph Nodes as Sentinel Nodes in Patients With Cervical Cancer

April 28, 2016 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Histopathologic Analysis of Parametrial Lymph Nodes as Sentinel Nodes in Patients With Cervical Cancer Undergoing Radical Hysterectomy or Radical Trachelectomy and Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection: A Feasibility Study

The goal of this clinical research study is to find out if the parametrial nodes are "sentinel" nodes (the lymph nodes believed to be the greatest risk for the spread of cancer) and if intraoperative lymphatic mapping can identify "sentinel" lymph nodes in the parametrium (the tissue that is on either side of the cervix). Identifying these lymph nodes may help to predict the status of the remaining lymph nodes in the pelvis. This research will also determine if India Ink is safe to use with the blue dye and radioactive tracer and if it improves the process of identifying the sentinel nodes.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Lymph nodes are glands that play an important part in your body's defense against infection. They are also the most common site of cancer spread in patients with cervical cancer. Intraoperative lymphatic mapping is a procedure that has been used in patients with other types of cancer to identify the "sentinel" lymph node. Researchers know that if the sentinel node does not contain cancer, then the remaining lymph nodes are almost always cancer-free.

Researchers believe that the parametrial lymph nodes (1 group of lymph nodes located in the parametrium) are the sentinel lymph nodes in patients with cervical cancer. Surgical removal of the parametrial lymph nodes is currently the only known way to accurately find out whether or not these lymph nodes have cancer in them.

Stage IA2 or IB1 cervix cancer is treated by a radical hysterectomy (removal of the uterus, cervix, and the parametrium) or radical trachelectomy (removal of the cervix and the parametrium). Pelvic lymph nodes and possibly para-aortic lymph nodes (near the aorta in the abdomen) are also removed. This procedure is called a pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy.

If you agree to take part in this study, you will undergo a procedure called intraoperative lymphatic mapping. This procedure is done in the operating room. When you are asleep (under anesthesia), the surgeon will inject the cervix with a very small amount (less than one tenth of a teaspoon) of a radioactive material in 4 different places around the edge of the tumor in the cervix. This injection is given over 1-2 minutes. The cervix is then injected with 2 different blue dyes called Isosulfan Blue and India ink (about 1 1/2 teaspoons). These injections take less than 5 minutes. The surgeon will then use a special hand-held instrument for measuring radioactivity to help find the sentinel lymph nodes before and after the operation begins. During the operation, the surgeon will also visually inspect the lymph nodes to see if they are blue (stained by the blue dye and India Ink). These 2 techniques (the radioactive material and the dye and ink) will help the surgeon identify the sentinel nodes by their blue color and their level of radioactivity.

During your hospitalization or at your first clinic visit, your doctor will tell you whether or not cancer was found in the lymph nodes that were removed during surgery.

You will be taken off study if intolerable side effects occur. You will be considered off study after your first doctor's visit after the surgery.

This is an investigational study. Up to 20 patients will take part in this study. All will be enrolled at M. D. Anderson.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

20

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • ADULT
  • OLDER_ADULT
  • CHILD

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients who are dispositioned to undergo radical hysterectomy or radical trachelectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy.
  2. No evidence of metastases on computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or PET/CT scan.
  3. Patients must be good surgical candidates.
  4. Patients who have signed an approved informed consent and authorization permitting release of personal health information.
  5. For patients of child-bearing age, a negative serum pregnancy test within 72 hours prior to injection of radiocolloid. Child-bearing potential is defined as not post-menopausal for 12 months or no previous surgical sterilization.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with known allergies to triphenylmethane compounds or India ink.
  2. Patients with a history of retroperitoneal surgery.
  3. Patients with a history of pelvic irradiation.
  4. Patients who had a cold knife or LEEP cone biopsy within 4 weeks of enrollment.

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: NA
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Intraoperative Lymphatic Mapping
Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography - First 3 Patients = Performed 30-45 minutes, 2-3 hours, and 20-24 hours after injections of the radioactive material or just before surgery; Remaining 17 Patients = Performed only one at a time as was found to be best based on the scans from first 3 patients. Isosulfan Blue and India ink will be injected into the cervix to help the surgeon identify the sentinel nodes by their blue color and their level of radioactivity.
Procedure: Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography
First 3 Patients = Performed 30-45 minutes, 2-3 hours, and 20-24 hours after injections of the radioactive material or just before surgery; Remaining 17 Patients = Performed only one at a time as was found to be best based on the scans from first 3 patients.
Other Names:
  • SPECT/CT
Procedure: Intraoperative Lymphatic Mapping
Isosulfan Blue and India ink will be injected into the cervix to help the surgeon identify the sentinel nodes by their blue color and their level of radioactivity.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Patients with sentinel lymph nodes in the parametrium
Time Frame: Determination during surgery (with intraoperative lymphatic mapping)

Sentinel nodes classified according to modification of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging for axillary nodes from breast cancer as follows: 1) metastases present - tumor > 2.0 mm in diameter; 2) micrometastases present - tumor cell aggregates between 0.2 and 2.0 mm in diameter; 3) isolated tumor cells - individual tumor cells or aggregates <0.2 mm in diameter, usually detected by immunohistochemistry; or 4) tumor absent - no tumor cells identified in H&E (or immunohistochemically) stained sections.

Parametrium separated from cervix/uterus by pathology then away from primary cervical lesion will be re-examined for sentinel nodes both visually & with handheld gamma counter; & all parametrial tissue will be submitted for pathologic sectioning to detect carbon particles in parametrial sentinel nodes not detected by gamma counter or direct visualization.
Determination during surgery (with intraoperative lymphatic mapping)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

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

February 1, 2008

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2012

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

September 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 27, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 27, 2008

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

March 7, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

May 2, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2016

Last Verified

April 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2006-0153

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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