Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for the Prediction of Bile Duct Cancer Response to Radioembolization Treatment

October 13, 2025 updated by: Thomas Jefferson University

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound for Diagnosis and Therapy of Cholangiocarcinoma

This phase II trial tests whether contrast-enhanced ultrasound can predict the response of bile duct cancer to targeted radiotherapy (radioembolization treatment). Contrast-enhanced ultrasound uses gas microbubbles that may provide enhancement on ultrasound. It is also possible to pop these microbubbles using ultrasound imaging. Tumors that experience popping of these microbubbles may be easier to kill with radiotherapies. Therefore, this trial may also help doctors see if ultrasound-triggered microbubble popping can improve bile duct cancer response to radiotherapy. Another purpose of this trial is to test if the pressure inside the tumor estimated through ultrasound can be used to predict the tumor response to radiotherapy.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To determine the ability of quantitative volumetric contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to predict non-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumor response to transarterial radioembolization (TARE) prior to therapy.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To characterize the safety and preliminary efficacy of using localized ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) inertial cavitation to improve ICC response to radioembolization.

II. To determine if CEUS estimated tumor perfusion and residual vascularity 7-14 days post treatment can predict ICC response to radioembolization.

III. To evaluate tumoral response using the patient's 1 month magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (obtained clinically) and determine the accuracy of MR or computed tomography (CT) tumor evaluation at this earlier time point.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVE:

I. To examine the utility of subharmonic aided pressure estimation (SHAPE) to noninvasively monitor tumoral interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) and provide an early biomarker of radiotherapy response.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive perflutren protein-type A microspheres intravenously (IV) over 10 minutes and undergo ultrasound at 1 month before TARE, 1-4 hours, 1 week, and 2 weeks post-TARE.

After completion of study, patients are followed for 1 year.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

16

Phase

  • Phase 2

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
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
        • Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University

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:

  • Be scheduled for sub-lobar radioembolization therapy of a previously untreated intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma greater than 1 cm but small enough to be fully visualized in the ultrasound three-dimensional (3D) volume (approximately 6 cm maximum diameter, but depth dependent)
  • Be at least 18 years of age
  • Be medically stable
  • If a female of child-bearing age, have a negative pregnancy test prior to each ultrasound exam
  • Have signed Informed Consent to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Females who are pregnant or nursing
  • Patients with recent cerebral hemorrhage
  • Patients with known sensitivities to albumin, blood, or blood products
  • Patients with known hypersensitivity to perflutren
  • Patients with known congenital heart defects
  • Patients with severe emphysema, pulmonary vasculitis, or a history of pulmonary emboli
  • Patients with bilirubin levels > 2 mg/dL

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
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Diagnostic (perflutren protein-type A microspheres, CEUS)
Patients receive perflutren protein-type A microspheres IV over 10 minutes and undergo ultrasound at 1 month before TARE, 1-4 hours, 1 week, and 2 weeks post-TARE.
Procedure: Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound
Undergo CEUS
Other Names:
  • CEUS
Drug: Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres
Given IV
Other Names:
  • Optison

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Tumor Complete Response (CR)
Time Frame: assessed at 3 to 6 months post-TARE
Assessed by modified RECIST (mRECIST) criteria using contrast-enhanced CT or MRI reviewed by two independent readers. Per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0) for target lesions and assessed by MRI: Complete Response (CR), Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; Progressive Disease (PD), indicated by a significant increase (at least 20%) in target lesions or the appearance of new target lesions; Stable Disease (SD) means neither the criteria for PR nor for Progressive Disease (PD) have been met.
assessed at 3 to 6 months post-TARE
Number of Participants With Tumor Partial Response (PR)
Time Frame: assessed at 3 to 6 months post-TARE
Assessed by modified RECIST (mRECIST) criteria using contrast-enhanced CT or MRI reviewed by two independent readers. Per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0) for target lesions and assessed by MRI: Complete Response (CR), Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; Progressive Disease (PD), indicated by a significant increase (at least 20%) in target lesions or the appearance of new target lesions; Stable Disease (SD) means neither the criteria for PR nor for Progressive Disease (PD) have been met.
assessed at 3 to 6 months post-TARE
Number of Participants With Stable Disease
Time Frame: assessed at 3 to 6 months post-TARE
Assessed by modified RECIST (mRECIST) criteria using contrast-enhanced CT or MRI reviewed by two independent readers. Per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0) for target lesions and assessed by MRI: Complete Response (CR), Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; Progressive Disease (PD), indicated by a significant increase (at least 20%) in target lesions or the appearance of new target lesions; Stable Disease (SD) means neither the criteria for PR nor for Progressive Disease (PD) have been met.
assessed at 3 to 6 months post-TARE
Number of Participants With Progressive Disease
Time Frame: assessed at 3 to 6 months post-TARE
Assessed by modified RECIST (mRECIST) criteria using contrast-enhanced CT or MRI reviewed by two independent readers. Per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0) for target lesions and assessed by MRI: Complete Response (CR), Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; Progressive Disease (PD), indicated by a significant increase (at least 20%) in target lesions or the appearance of new target lesions; Stable Disease (SD) means neither the criteria for PR nor for Progressive Disease (PD) have been met.
assessed at 3 to 6 months post-TARE

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Thomas Jefferson University

Collaborators

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

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)

December 14, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 31, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

August 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 7, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 7, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

April 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

October 28, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 13, 2025

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 21F.1081
  • JT 19280 (Other Identifier: JeffTrial Number)
  • R21CA259750 (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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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