An Investigational Scan (MRI) in Imaging Patients With Newly-Diagnosed or Recurrent Thymoma

September 17, 2026 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Can MRI Replace CT in the Evaluation of Thymoma?

This trial studies the accuracy of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan in imaging the inside of the chest in patients with thymoma that is newly diagnosed or has come back. An MRI scan may be able to detect if and how far the tumor has spread more accurately than a standard computed tomography (CT) scan.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine whether thymoma staging by MRI is as accurate as staging by CT as compared to surgical staging.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine whether evaluation of phrenic nerve paralysis by functional MRI is as accurate as the fluoroscopic "sniff test" as compared to surgical evaluation of phrenic nerve involvement.

II. To determine whether fast novel MRI sequences are as accurate as conventional MRI sequences for staging thymoma, when comparing to surgical staging.

OUTLINE:

Patients undergo an MRI scan over 45-60 minutes and a diaphragm fluoroscopy 30 days before surgery.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

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
        • M D 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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All adult patients scheduled to meet with a thoracic surgeon from MD Anderson Cancer Center (ACC) for resection of newly diagnosed thymoma or thymoma recurrence in the chest and scheduled for surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children, defined as individuals younger than 18 years old on the preoperative visit with the thoracic surgeon
  • Pregnant patients
  • Patients unable to understand the consent form
  • Patients with metal within the chest and pacemakers
  • Patients with a known allergic reaction to gadolinium, who will have their MRI performed without contrast
  • Patients with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) < 60 ml/min, who will have their MRI performed without contrast
  • Patients with an allergy to iodinated contrast material will follow departmental routine policy, that is those with anaphylaxis will have their CT performed without intravenous contrast and others will be prepped as for departmental guidelines for routine chest CT
  • Patients with abnormal renal function will have their CT study perform as per DI's iodinated contrast administration guidelines, and no contrast will be administered with GFR lower than 30 ml/min

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: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Diagnostic (MRI, diaphragm fluoroscopy)
Patients undergo an MRI scan over 45-60 minutes and a diaphragm fluoroscopy 30 days before surgery.
Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Undergo MRI
Other Names:
  • MRI
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan
  • Medical Imaging, Magnetic Resonance / Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
  • MRI Scan
  • NMR Imaging
  • NMRI
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Procedure: Diaphragm Fluoroscopy
Undergo diaphragm fluoroscopy
Other Names:
  • Sniff Test

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) staging
Time Frame: Up to 10 years
Will be compared to staging done by computed tomography (CT). McNemar's test will be used to compare the accuracy for the following five sets of comparisons: spin echo (SE) T1 compared versus (vs.) liver acquisition with volume acquisition (LAVA)+ in-phase (IP)/out-of-phase (OP), Dixon versus fast spin echo (FSE) T2, LAVA+IP/OP+Dixon vs. SET1+FSET2, LAVA+IP/OP+Dixon vs. computed tomography (CT) scan, and SET1+FSET2 vs. CT scan. A p value less than 0.05 will be defined as significant. A p value less than 0.05 will be defined as significant.
Up to 10 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Accuracy of phrenic nerve paralysis by functional MRI
Time Frame: Up to 10 years
Will be evaluated against the fluoroscopic "sniff test" and compared to surgical evaluation of phrenic nerve involvement. The outcome is the binary indicator of whether the phrenic nerve is involved. The accuracy rate will be calculated for each of the three tested methods. And the method with the highest accuracy will be compared with the method with the medium accuracy and the method with least accuracy separately, using McNemar's test.
Up to 10 years
Accuracy of fast novel MRI sequences
Time Frame: Up to 10 years
Will be evaluated against conventional MRI sequences for staging thymoma when compared to surgical staging. Will use the pathological stages as gold standard and calculate accuracy for the new shorter MRI sequences and current MRI sequences methods. Accuracy will be compared between two MRI techniques using McNemar's test. And the following five sets of comparisons will be tested: SE T1 compared vs. LAVA+ IP/OP, Dixon versus FSE T2, LAVA+IP/OP+Dixon vs. SET1+FSET2, LAVA+IP/OP+Dixon vs. CT scan, and SET1+FSET2 vs. CT scan. A p value less than 0.05 will be defined as significant.
Up to 10 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Collaborators

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Marcelo F Benveniste, 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 (Actual)

June 8, 2011

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 30, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 30, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 28, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 28, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

May 30, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 17, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2011-0360 (Other Identifier: M D Anderson Cancer Center)
  • P30CA016672 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • NCI-2019-02643 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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