Characterizing Tumor Hypoxia With BOLD-MRI to Predict Y-90 Treatment Response (BOLDMRI)

October 29, 2026 updated by: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Characterization of the Hypoxic Tumor Microenvironment With Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Prediction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Response to Yttrium-90 Selective Internal Radiation Therapy

The purpose of this study is to find out whether a special type of magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI), called blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) MRI, can help measure how much oxygen is present in liver tumors. Tumors with low oxygen levels are described as being hypoxic.

Yttrium-90 (Y-90) is a type of radioactive material used to treat liver tumors, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a type of liver cancer. Y-90 is a form of radiation treatment delivered directly to liver tumors through tiny beads carried by blood vessels. These beads release radiation that damages and kills cancer cells while helping limit radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. This treatment is also called Y-90 radioembolization or selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT).

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The study will include 12 patients with liver tumors confirmed by biopsy to be hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a type of liver cancer, who are scheduled to receive Y-90 selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT), a treatment that delivers radiation directly to the tumor through blood vessels. Before treatment, participants will undergo a research MRI scan. A sample of their previously biopsied tumor tissue will also be examined in the laboratory to measure signs of low oxygen levels. The researchers will compare the MRI findings with the tissue results to determine whether BOLD MRI can reliably assess oxygen levels in liver tumors and may help predict how well the tumors respond to Y-90 treatment.

Standard-of-care Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DCE MRI) will be performed separately according to routine clinical practice before and after the Y90-SIRT procedure. BOLD MRI will be performed on a separate day after the pre-SIRT DCE MRI.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

12

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 Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599
        • UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Alexander Villalobos, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Bryan Harris, MD

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

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Subjects must meet all the inclusion criteria to participate in this study.

  • Adults ≥ 18 years
  • Liver mass(es) suspected of being HCC by imaging and are amenable to undergo percutaneous liver mass biopsy to confirm the HCC diagnosis, as determined by the institutional multidisciplinary tumor board.
  • At least 1 tumor ≥ 2 cm and deemed to benefit from Y90 radioembolization by the institutional multidisciplinary tumor board.
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤2 (Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) ≥60%)
  • Life expectancy ≥6 months, as determined by the investigator.

Exclusion Criteria:

All subjects meeting any of the exclusion criteria at baseline will be excluded from study participation.

  • Definite liver transplant candidate
  • Concurrent secondary malignancy
  • Distant metastasis

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: Hepatocellular carcinoma

Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are scheduled to receive Y-90 selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT),
Diagnostic test: Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI)

BOLD MRI will include 2D and 3D multi-echo gradient-echo sequences covering the liver, using body phased-array coils and breath-hold techniques. Imaging parameters may be adjusted as needed to optimize tumor visualization while maintaining data quality.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
The number of successful novel blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Time Frame: Baseline

The number of successful novel blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method for evaluating the level of tumor tissue hypoxia in patients with liver tumors.
Baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) hypoxia classification based on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Time Frame: Baseline

Calculation of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) hypoxia classification.
Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Alexander Villalobos, MD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Principal Investigator: Bryan Harris, MD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive 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 (Estimated)

November 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 29, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

November 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 29, 2026

Last Verified

October 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • LCCC2446

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

Yes

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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