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Proton Radiation Therapy (RT) for the Treatment of Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma

A Phase II Trial of Proton RT for the Treatment of Pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00592592
Enrollment
115
Registered
2008-01-14
Start date
2004-10-31
Completion date
2010-08-31
Last updated
2025-06-18

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Rhabdomyosarcoma

Keywords

pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma, proton radiation therapy

Brief summary

The main purpose of this study is to see if using proton beam radiation therapy instead of photon beam radiation therapy can reduce side effects from radiation treatment for rhabdomyosarcoma. Photon beam radiation is the standard type of radiation for treating most rhabdomyosarcoma and many other types of cancer. Photon beam radiation enters the body and passes through healthy tissue, encounters the tumor, then leaves the body through healthy tissue. A beam of proton radiation enters the body and passes through healthy tissue, encounters tumor, but then stops. This means that less healthy tissue is affected by proton beam radiation than by photon beam radiation.

Detailed description

* A special device is made for each participant to help them hold still during the treatment. This may be in the form of a mask or a custom made foam cradle depending on the area to be treated. * Radiation treatments will be given once per day, 5 days a week for a total of 4 to 6 weeks, depending upon how much total dose the tumor requires. * Participants will be seen once per week by their radiation doctor to monitor health and record any side effects from treatment. * After the radiation treatments are completed, participants will be required to undergo further tests and evaluations for several years following treatment.

Interventions

Once per day, 5 days a week for a total of 4 to 6 weeks.

Sponsors

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
CollaboratorOTHER
Brigham and Women's Hospital
CollaboratorOTHER
Boston Children's Hospital
CollaboratorOTHER
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
CollaboratorOTHER
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
CollaboratorNIH
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
CollaboratorNIH
Massachusetts General Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
No minimum to 30 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Patients with biopsy proven newly diagnosed rhabdomyosarcoma. * Patients less than or equal to 30 years of age. * Patients must be treated with a standardly accepted chemotherapy regimen. * May not have metastatic disease unless aged 2-10 with embryonal histology. * Must be willing to receive follow-up care for a minimum of five years after treatment at MGH and annual visits unless it is too difficult to return to MGH for follow-up care. In that event, they must be willing to have their outside medical information released to us to track the results. * Timing of radiation must be according to the IRB protocol upon which the patient is treated within either 35 days of last chemotherapy or surgery.

Exclusion criteria

* Life expectancy of less than 2 years. * Co-morbidities that would make the use of radiation too toxic to deliver safely, such as serious local injury or collagen vascular disease. * Patients who are pregnant * Previous treatment with radiation therapy.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Cumulative Incidence (Estimated Percent of Participants) With Grade 3 or Higher Toxicity in Follow-up5 years from the start of radiation treatmentCumulative incidence of participants who experienced a toxicity defined as either grade 3, 4, or 5 after the completion of radiation therapy in pediatric patients with pediatric rhabdomyosarcomas. Late toxicity is scored on a yearly follow-up basis for at least five years. Late toxicities will be graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), Version 3.0. Cumulative incidence is shown at 5 years follow-up.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Percentage of Participants Who Experienced an Acute Toxicity by Grade3 months from radiation treatmentPercentage of participants who experienced an acute toxicity following completion of radiation treatment by grade. Acute toxicity will be scored at weekly status check visits by the radiation oncology nurse or doctor. In addition, acute toxicity will be scored at least one time within the 3 months following completion of radiation therapy. The recommended evaluation time for acute toxicity after radiotherapy was 6 weeks following completion, but may be at any time during the 3 months after treatment. Acute toxicities are graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), Version 3.0. Toxicities are graded on a scale of 1 to 5. A higher grade indicates a worse outcome with 1 being mild, 4 being life-threatening, and 5 being death.
Dosimetric Comparison4 years from the start of radiation treatmentComparison of dose distribution to tumor and surrounding normal structures using dose volume histograms (DVH) generated from the proton plan used to treat the patient and the photon plan generated for comparison purposes. Percent of normal tissue spared was calculated using the following equation: (100 x (mean x-ray dose - mean proton dose))/mean X-ray dose. No measure of dispersion was calculated for these estimates. The data is no longer available.
Local Control5 years from the start of radiation therapyEstimated survival probability (defined as being free of a local recurrence) was calculated using Grays formula for competing risks

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Proton Beam Radiation
Proton Beam Radiation Proton Beam Radiation: Once per day, 5 days a week for a total of 4 to 6 weeks.
114
Total114

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000
Overall StudyPatient found ineligible upon chart review1

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicProton Beam Radiation
Age, Continuous4.3 years
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
2 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
7 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
19 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
86 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
114 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
51 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
63 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
28 / 114
other
Total, other adverse events
113 / 114
serious
Total, serious adverse events
6 / 114

Outcome results

Primary

Cumulative Incidence (Estimated Percent of Participants) With Grade 3 or Higher Toxicity in Follow-up

Cumulative incidence of participants who experienced a toxicity defined as either grade 3, 4, or 5 after the completion of radiation therapy in pediatric patients with pediatric rhabdomyosarcomas. Late toxicity is scored on a yearly follow-up basis for at least five years. Late toxicities will be graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), Version 3.0. Cumulative incidence is shown at 5 years follow-up.

Time frame: 5 years from the start of radiation treatment

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Proton Beam RadiationCumulative Incidence (Estimated Percent of Participants) With Grade 3 or Higher Toxicity in Follow-up10.9 Percentage of patients
95% CI: [5.7, 18]
Secondary

Dosimetric Comparison

Comparison of dose distribution to tumor and surrounding normal structures using dose volume histograms (DVH) generated from the proton plan used to treat the patient and the photon plan generated for comparison purposes. Percent of normal tissue spared was calculated using the following equation: (100 x (mean x-ray dose - mean proton dose))/mean X-ray dose. No measure of dispersion was calculated for these estimates. The data is no longer available.

Time frame: 4 years from the start of radiation treatment

Population: Patients who had DVH's generated from proton plans for comparison

ArmMeasureGroupValue (NUMBER)
Proton Beam RadiationDosimetric ComparisonHypothalamus88 Percentage of normal tissue spared of RT
Proton Beam RadiationDosimetric ComparisonPituitary73 Percentage of normal tissue spared of RT
Proton Beam RadiationDosimetric ComparisonLens (Contra)100 Percentage of normal tissue spared of RT
Proton Beam RadiationDosimetric ComparisonMaxilla42 Percentage of normal tissue spared of RT
p-value: <0.01t-test, 2 sided
p-value: <0.01t-test, 2 sided
p-value: <0.01t-test, 2 sided
p-value: 0.02t-test, 2 sided
Secondary

Local Control

Estimated survival probability (defined as being free of a local recurrence) was calculated using Grays formula for competing risks

Time frame: 5 years from the start of radiation therapy

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Proton Beam RadiationLocal Control80.9 percent probability
95% CI: [73, 87.7]
Secondary

Percentage of Participants Who Experienced an Acute Toxicity by Grade

Percentage of participants who experienced an acute toxicity following completion of radiation treatment by grade. Acute toxicity will be scored at weekly status check visits by the radiation oncology nurse or doctor. In addition, acute toxicity will be scored at least one time within the 3 months following completion of radiation therapy. The recommended evaluation time for acute toxicity after radiotherapy was 6 weeks following completion, but may be at any time during the 3 months after treatment. Acute toxicities are graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), Version 3.0. Toxicities are graded on a scale of 1 to 5. A higher grade indicates a worse outcome with 1 being mild, 4 being life-threatening, and 5 being death.

Time frame: 3 months from radiation treatment

ArmMeasureGroupValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
Proton Beam RadiationPercentage of Participants Who Experienced an Acute Toxicity by GradeGrade 1110 Participants
Proton Beam RadiationPercentage of Participants Who Experienced an Acute Toxicity by GradeGrade 292 Participants
Proton Beam RadiationPercentage of Participants Who Experienced an Acute Toxicity by GradeGrade 330 Participants
Proton Beam RadiationPercentage of Participants Who Experienced an Acute Toxicity by GradeGrade 45 Participants
Proton Beam RadiationPercentage of Participants Who Experienced an Acute Toxicity by GradeGrade 50 Participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026