Spectroscopic MRI-Guided Radiation Therapy Planning in Glioblastoma

Pilot Study of Spectroscopic MRI-Guided, Dose-Escalated Radiation Therapy for Newly-Diagnosed Glioblastoma

This pilot clinical trial studies the side effects of spectroscopic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided radiation therapy and how well it works in treating patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma or gliosarcoma. Spectroscopic MRI can show doctors where the extent of tumor is in the brain beyond current clinical MRI scans by mapping areas of high tumor metabolism. Radiation therapy uses high energy beams to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Spectroscopic MRI-guided radiation therapy may work better in treating patients with glioblastoma or gliosarcoma.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Glioblastoma; Gliosarcoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Temozolomide; Radiation: Dose-Escalated Radiation Therapy; Procedure: Spectroscopic Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine the feasibility of using spectroscopic MRI (sMRI) to guide dose-escalated radiation therapy (RT) for newly-diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM)s.

II. To determine the safety of using sMRI to guide dose-escalated RT for newly-diagnosed GBMs.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To determine whether the progression free survival at 1 year with sMRI-guided, dose-escalated RT is improved for newly-diagnosed GBMs.

TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine whether sMRI-guided, dose-escalated RT increases the overall survival of patients with newly diagnosed GBMs.

II. To determine whether sMRI data obtained after initiation of therapy (at 2 weeks after RT/TMZ start and prior to cycle 1 and 5 of adjuvant temozolomide [TMZ]) will provide early evidence of GBM progression not seen on standard MRIs.

III. To determine whether performance on neurocognitive and quality-of-life (QOL) assessments in newly-diagnosed GBM patients treated with sMRI-guided, dose-escalated RT differ from historical controls.

OUTLINE:

Patients undergo sMRI-guided radiation therapy daily for the first 5 days of every week (Monday - Friday) over 6 weeks. Patients also receive standard of care temozolomide orally (PO) daily during radiation therapy for up to 42 days.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3 months for up to 2 years and then periodically.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Florida
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
      • University of Miami Miller School of Medicine-Sylvester Cancer Center
  • Georgia
    • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322
      • Emory University/Winship Cancer Institute
  • Maryland
    • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287
      • Johns Hopkins University/Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients must have a newly-diagnosed glioblastoma or gliosarcoma that has been confirmed pathologically by a board-certified neuropathologist
• Patients must be able to have MRI scans

• Patients must have the following lab values ≤ 14 days prior to registration:

  • White blood cell (WBC) ≥ 3,000/µL
  • Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1,500/µL
  • Platelet count of ≥ 75,000/µL
  • Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 gm/dL (transfusion is allowed to reach minimum level)
  • Serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) ≤ 2.0 x upper limit of normal (ULN)
  • Bilirubin ≤ 2 x ULN
  • Creatinine ≤ 1.5 mg/dL
• Patients must have a life expectancy of ≥ 12 weeks
• Patients must have a Karnofsky performance status (KPS) ≥ 60
• Patients who are women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test documented ≤ 14 days prior to registration; this is not specific to dose escalation and is mandatory for standard care for patients being treated with radiation therapy; the cost of this test will be covered by standard of care
• Patients must be able to understand and provide written informed consent
• Members of all races and ethnic groups are eligible for this trial; subjects will be approximately representative of the demographics of the referral base for the participating institutions
• Patient must be able to swallow capsules
• Patients must be willing to forego other cytotoxic and non-cytotoxic therapies against the tumor while being treated on this protocol

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with pacemakers, aneurysm clips, neurostimulators, cochlear implants, metal in ocular structures, history of being a steel worker, or other incompatible implants which makes MRI safety an issue are excluded
• Patients that have any significant medical illnesses that in the investigator's opinion cannot be adequately controlled with appropriate therapy or would compromise the patient's ability to tolerate this therapy are excluded
• Patients with a history of any other invasive cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer and excluding carcinoma in-situ), unless in complete remission and off of all therapy for that disease for ≥ 3 years, are ineligible
• Patients with an active infection or serious intercurrent medical illness are ineligible
• Patients receiving any other investigational agents are excluded
• Patients who have received prior cytotoxic, non-cytotoxic or experimental drug therapies for brain tumor are excluded
• Patients with a history of prior cranial radiation are ineligible
• Patients may not be enrolled on any other therapeutic trial for which they are receiving an anti-tumor therapy
• Patients with GBMs located in the following anatomical regions known to have magnetic susceptibility or poor signal will be excluded: mesial temporal lobe, orbitofrontal cortex, prefrontal cortex, medial frontal gyrus, brainstem, and cerebellum
• The maximum radiation target volume for gross tumor volume 3 (GTV3) is 65 cc (per NRG Oncology guide); patient may be excluded after the first sMRI scan if the GTV3 volume is greater than 65 cc (we anticipate that contrast-enhancing tumor volume [residual tumor volume following tumor resection] would be less than 20 cc)

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: sMRI-Guided RT with TMZ; Patients undergo spectroscopic magnetic resonance imaging-guided dose-escalated radiation therapy daily for the first 5 days of every week (Monday - Friday) over 6 weeks. Patients also receive standard of care temozolomide PO daily during radiation therapy for up to 42 days.

Drug: Temozolomide; Given PO; Other Names: Temodar; Temodal; Temcad; Methazolastone; Temomedac; TMZ; Radiation: Dose-Escalated Radiation Therapy; Undergo sMRI-guided radiation therapy, dose painted to maximum of 75 Gy over six weeks; Other Names: RT; Radiation Therapy; Procedure: Spectroscopic Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Patients will undergo sMRI scans within a 14 day window prior to starting treatment; Other Names: MRSI; sMRI; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility as Assessed by Successful Co-registration of sMRI-based Treatment Volumes With Clinical Images Into the Radiation Treatment Execution Platform	Feasibility of this approach will be determined by whether treatment volumes based on sMRI can be co-registered with clinical images and transferred into the radiation treatment execution platform in a seamless manner, so that sMRI information can be efficiently applied to the patient treatment.	Up to 2 years after completion of therapy
Incidence of Adverse Event Assessed by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events Version 4.0	The safety of sMRI to guide dose-escalated RT will be confirmed by assessing toxicity potentially attributable to the RT.	Up to 2 years after completion of therapy

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Progression Free Survival (PFS)	Patients were followed at least every 3 months for 2 years from the start of RT.	2 years from the start of RT.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall Survival (OS)	Patients were followed at least every 3 months for 2.5 years from the start of RT.	2.5 years from start of RT

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Emory University
• Collaborators: Johns Hopkins University; National Cancer Institute (NCI); University of Miami; National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Hui-Kuo Shu, MD, PhD, Emory University/Winship Cancer Institute

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Ramesh K, Gurbani SS, Mellon EA, Huang V, Goryawala M, Barker PB, Kleinberg L, Shu HG, Shim H, Weinberg BD. The Longitudinal Imaging Tracker (BrICS-LIT):A Cloud Platform for Monitoring Treatment Response in Glioblastoma Patients. Tomography. 2020 Jun;6(2):93-100. doi: 10.18383/j.tom.2020.00001.
• Gurbani S, Weinberg B, Cooper L, Mellon E, Schreibmann E, Sheriff S, Maudsley A, Goryawala M, Shu HK, Shim H. The Brain Imaging Collaboration Suite (BrICS): A Cloud Platform for Integrating Whole-Brain Spectroscopic MRI into the Radiation Therapy Planning Workflow. Tomography. 2019 Mar;5(1):184-191. doi: 10.18383/j.tom.2018.00028.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 20, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 9, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): September 9, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 25, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 30, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): May 3, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 3, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 16, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Astrocytoma; Glioma; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Glioblastoma; Gliosarcoma; Antineoplastic Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; Alkylating Agents; Temozolomide
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB00094188; P30CA138292 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); NCI-2017-00424 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program)); RAD3383-17 (Other Identifier: Emory University/Winship Cancer Institute); R01CA214557 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No