MR-guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) on Pediatric Solid Tumors

Safety and Feasibility Study of Using MR-guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) for the Ablation of Relapsed or Refractory Pediatric Solid Tumors

The purpose of this study is to determine if Magnetic Resonance guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound ablative therapy is safe and feasible for children, adolescents, and young adults with refractory or relapsed solid tumors.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Osteosarcoma; Ewing Sarcoma; Neuroblastoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Wilms Tumor; Desmoid Tumor; Germ Cell Tumor; Relapsed Pediatric Solid Tumors; Refractory Pediatric Solid Tumors; Hepatic Tumor
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Magnetic Resonance High Intensity Focused Ultrasound

Detailed Description

Magnetic Resonance (MR)-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is an innovative technique that allows for non-invasive thermal ablation of tissue. Advantages over conventional local tumor control such as surgery, radiation, or radiofrequency are that MR-HIFU is completely non-invasive, non-ionizing, and enables ablation of large tumor volumes with avoidance of adjacent tissue injury. This study will evaluate the safety and feasibility of MR-HIFU ablative therapy in children, adolescents, and young adults with refractory or relapsed solid tumors that are located in bone or soft tissue in close proximity to bone. Patients ≤ 30 years of age with refractory or relapsed solid tumors with measurable target lesions that are located in bone or soft tissue in close proximity to bone are eligible. Tolerability will be defined during the 14 days following MR-HIFU ablation. Patients will continue to be followed for tumor response and secondary outcomes for up to one year post ablation treatment.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 7
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • District of Columbia
    • Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20010
      • Children's National Medical Center
  • Ohio
    • Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45229
      • Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: No older than 30 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

AGE: ≤ 30 years of age.

DIAGNOSIS:

Histologically confirmed malignant solid tumors, which may include but are not limited to rhabdomyosarcoma and other soft tissue sarcomas, Ewing's sarcoma family of tumors, osteosarcoma, neuroblastoma, Wilms' tumor, hepatic tumors, germ cell tumors, and desmoid tumors.

TUMOR LOCATION: Target lesion(s) must be located in bone or soft tissue in close proximity to bone. Target lesions must be reachable within the normal safety margins of HIFU as specified in the instructions for use.

TARGET LESION(S): Radiographically evaluable or measurable solid tumor target lesion(s).

THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS:

Malignant Tumor: The patient's cancer must have relapsed after or failed to respond to frontline curative therapy and there must not be other potentially curative treatment options available. Curative therapy may include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or any combination of these modalities.

PRIOR THERAPY:

Patients must have fully recovered from the acute toxic effects of all prior chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiotherapy prior to entering on this study.

No limitation on the number of prior chemotherapy regimens that the patient may have received prior to study entry.

Myelosuppressive chemotherapy: The last dose of all myelosuppressive anticancer drugs must be at least 3 weeks prior to study entry.

Immunotherapy: The last dose of immunotherapy (monoclonal antibody or vaccine) must be at least 4 weeks prior to study entry.

Biologic (anti-cancer agent): The last dose of all biologic agents for the treatment of the patient's cancer (such as retinoids or tyrosine kinase inhibitors) must be at least 7 days prior to study entry.

Radiation therapy: The last dose of radiation to more than 25 % of marrow containing bones (pelvis, spine, skull) must be at least 4 weeks prior to study entry. The last dose of all other local palliative (limited port) radiation must be at least 2 weeks prior to study entry.

Stem Cell Transplantation. At least 2 months post-autologous stem cell transplant or at least 3 months post-allogeneic transplant and recovered from toxicities without evidence of graft versus host disease and on stable doses of immunosuppressive medications if required.

Growth Factors. The last dose of colony stimulating factors, such as filgrastim, sargramostim, and erythropoietin, must be at least 1 week prior to study entry, the last dose of long-acting colony stimulating factors, such as pegfilgrastim, must be at least 2 weeks prior to study entry.

CONCURRENT THERAPIES:

No other anti-cancer therapy (chemotherapy, biological therapy, radiation therapy) is permitted during HIFU treatment and post treatment follow up for tolerability (see section 3.3).

PERFORMANCE STATUS:

Patients > 16 years old must have a Karnofsky performance level ≥ 50%, and children ≤ 16 years old must have a Lansky performance level ≥ 50% (See Appendix I).

Patients who are unable to walk because of paralysis or motor weakness, but who are up in a wheelchair will be considered ambulatory for the purpose of calculating the performance score.

• HEMATOLOGIC FUNCTION:

  1. Peripheral absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of ≥750/µL
  2. Platelet count ≥75,000/µL (may receive transfusions)
• RENAL FUNCTION: Age-adjusted normal serum creatinine OR a creatinine clearance ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2.
• ADEQUATE PULMONARY FUNCTION: Defined as no dyspnea at rest, and a pulse oximetry >94% on room air if there is clinical indication for determination.
• Normal PT, PTT and INR < 1.5 x ULN (including patients on prophylactic anticoagulation)

Exclusion Criteria:

Clinically significant unrelated systemic illness, such as serious infections, hepatic, renal or other organ dysfunction, which in the judgment of the Principal or Associate Investigator would compromise the patient's ability to tolerate the general anesthetic required for the procedure.

Implant or prosthesis or scar tissue within the path of the HIFU beam.

Target <1 cm from nerve plexus, spinal canal, bladder, bowel

Target in contact with hollow viscera

Lesion in the skull

Inability to undergo MRI and/or contraindication for MRI

Inability to tolerate stationary position during HIFU

Patients currently receiving other anticancer agents.

Patients currently receiving other investigational agents.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: MR-HIFU; Magnetic Resonance High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (MR-HIFU) ablative therapy for children with recurrent or relapsed solid tumors.	Device: Magnetic Resonance High Intensity Focused Ultrasound; MR-High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is an ultrasound based technology which allows for non-invasive thermal ablation of tumors under the guidance of MR thermography.; Other Names: MR-HIFU; HIFU; Philips Sonalleve

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Toxicity	Toxicity will be evaluated using CTCAEv4. Adverse events will be summarized descriptively with tabulations of adverse event type, severity, and relationship to study treatment.	28 days following ablative therapy

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Disease response	We will preliminarily define tumor response from MR-HIFU ablative therapy assessed according to a modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST). We will also evaluate functional tumor response using FDG-PET post MR-HIFU ablative treatment for patients with PET avid target lesions.	Up to 1 year
Patient reported outcomes and quality of life measurements	We will use a validated symptom distress scale and quality of life metrics pre- and post-therapy at scheduled intervals.	Up to 1 year
Immune Markers	Changes in immune markers from baseline and post therapy will be evaluated.	Pre-treatment, 1 day post treatment, 7 days post treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: AeRang Kim
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: AeRang Kim, MD, PhD, Children's National Research Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 27, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): November 24, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 28, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 3, 2014
• First Posted (Estimated): March 4, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 30, 2024
• Last Verified: December 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: osteosarcoma; neuroblastoma; rhabdomyosarcoma; desmoid tumor; relapsed pediatric solid tumors; refractory pediatric solid tumors; high intensity focused ultrasound; Ewing's sarcoma; Wilms' tumor; hepatic tumors; germ cell tumors
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Urogenital Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Male Urogenital Diseases; Kidney Diseases; Urologic Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Digestive System Neoplasms; Digestive System Diseases; Liver Diseases; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Urologic Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Kidney Neoplasms; Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary; Neoplasms, Connective and Soft Tissue; Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive, Peripheral; Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive; Neoplasms, Bone Tissue; Neoplasms, Connective Tissue; Neoplasms, Muscle Tissue; Neoplasms, Complex and Mixed; Myosarcoma; Neoplasms, Fibrous Tissue; Fibroma; Neoplasms; Liver Neoplasms; Neuroblastoma; Sarcoma, Ewing; Sarcoma; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Osteosarcoma; Wilms Tumor; Fibromatosis, Aggressive
• Other Study ID Numbers: HIFU Pediatric Solid Tumors