Feasibility Study Comparing One vs Two Probes for Thermal Ablation Among Cervical Cancer Screen Positive Women Living With HIV in C1001P-CS7 Zimbabwe

June 9, 2026 updated by: Margaret M. Madeleine, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Expanded Use of Thermal Ablation (EXCEL Cohort) and Prophylactic Use of Two Probes (PRO Cohort) for Cervical Cancer Prevention in Women Living With HIV

Cervical cancer disproportionately affects women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly women living with HIV (WLWH) who have a 6-fold increased risk of cervical cancer compared to women in the general population. While thermal ablation (TA) is a WHO- recommended treatment for cervical precancerous lesions, its efficacy can be suboptimal in WLWH. We will also conduct a feasibility treatment cohort study of up to 300 Zimbabwean WLWH to provide evidence for a larger treatment effectiveness study. The proposed study will evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of a two-probe TA technique (endocervical and ectocervical probes) and whether this approach improves treatment outcomes among WLWH compared to one (ectocervical) probe. This innovation has the potential to significantly enhance cervical cancer prevention efforts in high-burden settings and to contribute towards achieving the 90-70-90 goals of the World Health Organization's (WHO) strategy for accelerated elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem by 2030.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Participants will first undergo HPV testing or visual assessment with acetic acid at screening. Participants with positive screening results undergo a clinical exam comprising visual inspection with acetic acid, digital imaging, brush biopsies of the ectocervix and the endocervix, and assessment for TA treatment. Participants who have a type 1 transformation zone (TZ1) and are otherwise eligible for TA will receive TA with either one or two probes. Screen positive women will be randomized to:

GROUP 1: TA with 1 probe. GROUP 2: TA with 2 probes.

Participants are followed up at 6 months with an HPV test, brush biopsies, and visual assessment of the cervix.

Participants who are not TA eligible will be referred to local care.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

300

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

  • Zimbabwe
      • Harare, Zimbabwe
        • University of Zimbabwe, Centre for Research
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Zvavahera Mike Chirenje, MD, FRCOG
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Bothwell Guzha, MBChB

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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. 25-49 years old
  2. Living with HIV

Inclusion criteria specific to the feasibility study

  1. Intact cervix
  2. Willing to return to facility at 6 months
  3. Willing and able to provide informed consent
  4. Positive hrHPV or VIA test within 3 months of enrollment
  5. Type 1 transformation zone (TZ1)
  6. Thermal ablation eligible

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Screened for cervical cancer outside of study in last 6 months
  2. Currently pregnant or less than 6 weeks postpartum
  3. Prior diagnosis of cervical cancer
  4. A history of treatment for cervical precancer
  5. Total hysterectomy
  6. Currently receiving treatment for any cancer
  7. Individual has a condition that the Clinical Site PI believes will interfere with or affect the conduct, results, or completion of the clinical study
  8. Individual has a condition that the Clinical Site PI considers creates an unacceptable risk to the individual if enrolled

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Group 1 (TA with 1 probe)
Participants undergo a clinical exam, soft-brush endocervical and ectocervical biopsies, digital imaging, and visual assessment for TA, and if eligible undergo TA with 1 probe at month 0.
Procedure: Thermal ablation (TA) with 1 probe
Undergo TA with 1 probe
Experimental: Group 2 (TA with 2 probes)
Participants undergo a clinical exam, soft-brush endocervical and ectocervical biopsies, digital imaging, and visual assessment for TA, and if eligible undergo TA with 2 probes at month 0.
Procedure: Thermal ablation (TA) with 2 probes
Undergo TA with 2 probes

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Proportion of participants with persistent HPV at 6 months
Time Frame: From enrollment to follow up at 6 months
From enrollment to follow up at 6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Collaborators

National Cancer Institute (NCI)
University of Washington
University of California, San Francisco
University of Cincinnati
Frontier Science & Technology Research Foundation, Inc.
University of Zimbabwe Clinical Research Centre (UZCRC)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Rachel L Winer, PhD, MPH, University of Washington
  • Study Chair: Margaret M Madeleine, PhD, MPH, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
  • Study Chair: Leeya Pinder, MD, MPH, University of Cincinnati

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 (Estimated)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 9, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 9, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RG1124082 (C1001P-CS7 Zim)
  • UG1CA275402 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • U24CA275417 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • 5UG1CA284918-03 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Research data will be shared in a timely manner, with appropriate privacy and confidentiality protections, using the policies and procedures outlined in the NIH Guidelines for Sharing Research Data. Guidelines, oversight, and requirements for sharing data are based on the institutional policies, IRB rules, and local, state, and federal laws and regulations. In all cases, the privacy and confidentiality of all people who participate in the research will be protected. Clinical data on women living with HIV generated during the study will be made available to researchers in both the private and public sector free or for a nominal charge.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Deidentified data, the study protocol, and the data dictionary will be made available to qualified investigators within 6 months of acceptance of the manuscript describing major outcomes, for up to 5 years.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Requestors will be required to obtain IRB approval and sign a data use agreement before data will be released. The data use agreement must include the following commitments: a commitment to using the data for research purposes only and not to identify any individual participants; a commitment to securing the data using appropriate computer technology; a commitment to destroying or returning the data after analyses are completed; and a commitment to meet any additional requirements that might be stipulated by the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe (MRCZ) or Fred Hutch regulatory review committees or NCI.

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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