Electrochemotherapy (ECT) in Patients With Primary Visceral Tumors and/or Secondary Visceral Localizations, of Any Histotype

April 9, 2026 updated by: Istituto Oncologico Veneto IRCCS

Treatment of Visceral Localizations With Electrochemotherapy in Patients With Primary Visceral Tumors and/or Secondary Visceral Localizations, of Any Histotype: Monocenter, Single Arm, Clinical Investigation

This is an monocenter, single arm, clinical investigation that evaluate the impact of the method on the objective response rate (ORR) of visceral lesions undergoing electrochemotherapy. Electrochemotherapy is a well-defined method for the treatment of cutaneous and subcutaneous metastases of different tumor histotypes.

Although still limited, the various experiences in the treatment of visceral localizations, particularly in liver metastases from colorectal cancer are promising and show that electrochemotherapy is a safe treatment, even in the case of lesions near large vessels or nerves. The investigators therefore propose a clinical investigation with a Medical Device according to EU Regulation 745/2017, using electrochemotherapy (Cliniporator) with bleomycin for the treatment of visceral, primary or secondary, unresectable localizations, with percutaneous or intraoperative technique (laparoscopic or laparotomy), as needed.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a single-center clinical investigation with the enrollment of at least 24 patients with visceral, primary or secondary localizations, of any histotype, with particular reference to liver cancer, liver metastases from colorectal cancer and melanoma, primary pancreatic tumors, retroperitoneal sarcomas, abdominal and/or peritoneal localizations from melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer (Merkel cell carcinoma, Squamous cell ca).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

24

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

Study Locations

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male/Female ≥ 18 years
  • Ability to understand the proposed treatment and express an informed acceptance by signing the informed consent
  • Diagnosis of primary and/or secondary visceral localizations of any histotype
  • Patients who are not eligible for standard curative procedures

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Absolute contraindications to invasive procedures
  • Concomitant presence of brain, lung, bone metastases
  • Uncorrectable coagulation changes
  • Bleomycin allergy
  • Absolute contraindications to taking Bleomycin
  • Poor respiratory function or pulmonary fibrosis
  • Acute lung infections
  • Is pregnant or breastfeeding or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of 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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: electrochemotherapy
Patients who meet the inclusion criteria will undergo percutaneous, laparoscopic or laparotomy lesion electrochemotherapy within 30 days from the time of obtaining informed consent for study participation (T0), during pre-surgery visit.The ECT will be performed in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).During the first month after treatment, the patient's response will be assessed every 2 weeks, and thereafter, once a month for a total of 12 months.
Device: percutaneous, laparoscopic or laparotomy lesion electrochemotherapy
All patients will receive Bleomycin intravenously with a dosage of 15.000 IU/m2. After a drug distribution time of 8 minutes, the lesions will be electroporated using the Cliniporator (IGEA S.P.A., Carpi, Italy), applying special handpieces depending on the route used: laparoscopic electrode, flexible and expandable for the laparoscopic procedure, linear or hexagonal electrode for laparotomy surgical access, variable geometry electrode for percutaneous access. The ECT procedure must be completed within 40 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Primary objective and endpoint
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of 5 year
Evaluate the impact of the method on the objective response rate (ORR) of visceral lesions undergoing electrochemotherapy. ORR is defined as the proportion of patients, out of the total enrolled subjects, who achieved a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) response, based on Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1. Determination of radiological response will be based on the assessment reported by the investigator. Radiological responses will be assessed every 8 weeks starting with cycle 1 day 1 of treatment until disease progression, withdrawal of consent, or death for any reason, whichever occurs first.
through study completion, an average of 5 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Secondary objective and endpoints
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of 5 year
Evaluate the conversion rate of "unresectable disease" to "resectable disease" after ECT treatment. The conversion from "unresectable disease" to "resectable disease" is defined by the number of patients, declared inoperable with the intent of surgical radicality due to the extent of the disease and/or the involvement of non-removable structures and who become operable for surgery with the intent of radical excision following response after an electrochemotherapy treatment.
through study completion, an average of 5 year
Secondary objective and endpoints
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of 5 year
Assess progression-free time (PFS). Progression-free survival (PFS) is defined as the time from study enrollment to the first documentation of objective disease progression or death due to any cause, whichever occurs first. Documentation of disease progression is defined according to RECIST v1.1 criteria, based on investigator assessment. PFS will be censored at the time of the last tumor evaluation documenting the absence of progression for patients who are alive and progression-free at the time of analysis. Live patients who have no tumor assessments after baseline will have time to the censored event on the date of study enrollment.
through study completion, an average of 5 year
Secondary objective and endpoints
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of 5 year
Assess overall survival (OS). Overall survival (OS) is defined as the time (quantified in months) from enrollment in the study to the date of the subject's death from any cause. For subjects living at the end of the study, the last follow-up date will be considered.
through study completion, an average of 5 year
Secondary objective and endpoints
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of 5 year
Evaluate the toxicity of electrochemotherapy treatment (ECT). Overall toxicity rate is defined as the proportion of patients, among those who received at least one dose of treatment, who experienced grade 3-4 adverse events, according to NCI CTCAE v5.
through study completion, an average of 5 year

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Istituto Oncologico Veneto IRCCS

Collaborators

IGEA

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)

July 23, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 31, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 28, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 17, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 20, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

December 31, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 9, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IOV-VL-01-2024-ECT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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