Microwave Ablation Combined With Chemotherapy for Colorectal Liver Metastases: a Multicenter Cohort Study

March 3, 2021 updated by: Ping Liang

Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest malignant tumor worldwide, and liver is the most common site of hematogenic metastasis of Colorectal cancer. Surgery is an effective treatment for colorectal cancer with liver metastasis, however, only 10%-20% of patients with liver metastasis are feasible for radical surgical resection. Many single-center retrospective studies have demonstrated that thermal ablation for liver metastases is comparable to surgery. Chemotherapy can kill the microscopic cancer foci of the liver. The timing of ablation-related chemotherapeutic administration still needs to be explained.

The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of thermal ablation or combined with perioperative chemotherapy and postoperative chemotherapy in the treatment of colorectal cancer with liver metastasis.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest malignant tumor worldwide, and liver is the most common site of hematogenic metastasis of Colorectal cancer. Surgery is an effective treatment for colorectal cancer with liver metastasis, however, only 10%-20% of patients with liver metastasis are feasible for radical surgical resection.

In the early 1990s, radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was first applied in the treatment of liver metastases. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, microwave ablation (MWA), irreversible electroporation (IRE) and other technologies emerged. Today, with the continuous improvement of ablation techniques, many single-center retrospective studies have demonstrated that thermal ablation for liver metastases is comparable to surgery. Currently, institutions have conducted multi-center randomized controlled trials to compare the outcomes of the two treatment approaches. The expert consensus of tumor ablation therapy has confirmed that the ablation technique has the advantages of minimally invasive, well tolerated and low complications, and has been widely used in the treatment of solid tumors. In the treatment of liver metastases, it also has the advantage of not being limited by residual liver volume.

Postoperative tumor recurrence occurred in about 2/3 of the patients with liver stump, mainly due to the residual microscopic cancer foci. Chemotherapy can kill the microscopic cancer foci of the liver. EORTC (40983) confirmed that: compared with surgery alone, perioperative chemotherapy for resectable liver metastases (<4) could benefit patients with PFS and reduce the incidence of tumor progression-related events. EORTC (40004) proved that in the treatment of non-resectable liver metastases (1 ~ 10, with a maximum diameter <4cm), ablation combined with postoperative chemotherapy was superior to chemotherapy alone. E. Tanis et al compared two randomized controlled trials of EORTC for colorectal cancer liver metastasis, namely 40983 (EPOC) and 40004 (CLOCC), and confirmed the treatment of liver metastasis (<3cm) after integration. There was no significant difference in local recurrence rate between the RFA+ postoperative chemotherapy group and the surgery + perioperative chemotherapy group. At the beginning, neoadjuvant chemotherapy was designed to provide surgical resection opportunities for patients who could not be resected with metastatic tumor. Later, it was gradually applied to resectable liver metastasis. Studies on surgical combination with chemotherapy proved that preoperative chemotherapy was no less effective than postoperative chemotherapy for resectable liver metastasis. However, for isolated small metastatic tumors (<3cm), complete tumor response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy should be avoided, leading to the dilemma of inoperable. Studies have reported that ablation combined with preoperative chemotherapy can cause hepatic steatosis and tumor shrinkage, which makes tumor visualization difficult to a certain extent. If the tumor disappeared on imaging, the pathological specimen confirmed that there were still residues, and the tumor could "reappear" during follow-up. Therefore, the timing of ablation-related chemotherapeutic administration still needs to be explained, and there is still a lack of high-quality evidence-based medical evidence at home and abroad.

The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of thermal ablation or combined with perioperative chemotherapy and postoperative chemotherapy in the treatment of colon cancer with liver metastasis.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

668

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 Contact

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 to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 1) Aged between 18 and 80, WHO physical status score < level 2
  • 2) Histologically confirmed colorectal cancer, liver metastasis (≤4), maximum diameter ≤4cm;
  • 3) Patients without extrahepatic metastasis;
  • 4) If the primary tumor has been resected or has metastasized at the same time, the multidisciplinary panel determines that the primary tumor can be resected and resected within one month after ablation;
  • 5) No other chemotherapy experience except anti-tumor treatment for the primary cancer;
  • 6) The main organs function normally, that is, they meet the following standards:

    1. Blood routine examination: HB≥90 g/L; The ANC acuity 1.5 x 109 / L; PLT 60 x 109 / L or higher;
    2. Biochemical examination: ALB ≥29g/L; ALT and AST < 3 uln; 1.5 ULN TBIL or less; Creatinine 1.5 or less ULN.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 1) A history of other malignant tumors in the past 5 years;
  • 2) Cardiovascular diseases with significant clinical symptoms (uncontrolled congestive heart failure, angina pectoris, hypertension, arrhythmia);
  • 3) Persons with coagulation disorders;
  • 4) Combined with active infection;
  • 5) Those with any contraindications related to chemotherapy;
  • 6) Pregnant or lactating women;
  • 7) A history of substance abuse and mental illness;
  • 8) The investigator believes that there are any other factors that are not suitable for inclusion or affect the subject's participation in the study.

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: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Only MWA
Only preform MWA, chemotherapy isn't necessary
perioperative chemotherapy or postoperative chemotherapy
Other Names:
  • preoperative chemotherapy
  • postoperative chemotherapy
Active Comparator: MWA combined with perioperative chemotherapy
MWA combined with perioperative chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was preformed before MWA and after MWA
perioperative chemotherapy or postoperative chemotherapy
Other Names:
  • preoperative chemotherapy
  • postoperative chemotherapy
Experimental: MWA combined with postoperative chemotherapy
MWA combined with perioperative chemotherapy. Chemotherapy was preformed after MWA
perioperative chemotherapy or postoperative chemotherapy
Other Names:
  • preoperative chemotherapy
  • postoperative chemotherapy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
DFS
Time Frame: 60 months
From the beginning of randomization to the time of disease recurrence or death due to disease progression
60 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
OS
Time Frame: 60 months
Time from randomization to death from any cause.
60 months
ORR
Time Frame: 60 months
Proportion of patients whose tumors shrink to a certain extent and remain constant for a certain period of time, including cases of complete response (CR) and partial response (PR).
60 months
LTP
Time Frame: 60 months
From the beginning of randomization to the time of disease progression or death.
60 months
CSS
Time Frame: 60 months
After treatment, death caused by tumor was considered as the end point, and the proportion of patients still alive after several years of follow-up accounted for the total number of follow-up patients.
60 months
Tumor reactivity assessment
Time Frame: 60 months
Tumor reactivity assessment by mRECIST
60 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

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 (Anticipated)

March 1, 2021

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

August 1, 2022

Study Completion (Anticipated)

September 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 6, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 18, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

September 24, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 4, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2021

Last Verified

March 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

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

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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