Skip to content

Simulation-Free Celiac Plexus Pain Ablation Using Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy in Patients With Cancer-Related Celiac Pain

A Prospective Pilot Clinical Trial of Simulation-Free Celiac Plexus Pain Ablation Using Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy in Patients With Cancer-Related Celiac Pain

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07636382
Acronym
Celiac SRS
Enrollment
5
Registered
2026-06-09
Start date
2026-06-01
Completion date
2027-06-01
Last updated
2026-06-10

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

Conditions

Advanced Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer

Keywords

SBRT, Celiac, Pancreatic Cancer

Brief summary

This is a prospective, single-arm, pilot feasibility clinical trial designed to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a simulation-free adaptive radiotherapy workflow to enable single-session celiac plexus SBRT planning and delivery. In this trial, the treatment itself is non-investigational (standard-of-care celiac plexus SBRT) but the treatment workflow (simulation-free, using adaptive radiotherapy to compress treatment planning and delivery into a single session) is novel. Investigators hypothesize the successful completion of the simulation-free ART workflow through treatment delivery in the first on-table treatment attempt for at least 80% of patients.

Detailed description

A standard treatment for pain caused by cancer affecting the celiac plexus (a group of nerves in the upper abdomen behind the stomach and pancreas) is a type of radiation therapy called stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). In the usual process for this type of radiation treatment, the patient would first have a special radiation planning scan called a computer tomography simulation (CTsim) to create a personalized treatment plan. The planning process usually takes 5 to 10 days, which means treatment may begin up to 2 weeks after the initial CTsim scan. Recent technology has allowed for treatment to be planned without a separate CTsim scan, called a CTsim-free workflow. In this study, investigators will use pre-existing scans (such as diagnostic imaging) to create the patient's treatment plan. On the day of treatment, the care team will use a technique called Adaptive Radiotherapy (ART) to adjust the plan based on the patient body's position and anatomy that day, allowing planning and treatment to happen in a single visit.

Interventions

Simulation-free radiation treatment planning, in which pre-existing diagnostic images are used to generate a radiation treatment pre-plan (as opposed to acquiring planning-specific image sets). This will be paired with the use of online adaptive radiotherapy (ART) to refine the pre-plan to create a final plan that matches the on-table internal target and gastrointestinal anatomy observed with on-board imaging on the day of treatment. This enables single-session celiac plexus SBRT planning and delivery.

Sponsors

University Health Network, Toronto
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Subjects must have histologically or cytologically confirmed cancer that is metastatic or unresectable, and considered appropriate per the treating physician to receive celiac plexus SBRT. * Age \>18 years. Because no data are currently available on the use of celiac axis SBRT in subjects ≤18 years of age, children are excluded from this study. * Performance status: ECOG Performance status ≤ 3 * Severe retroperitoneal pain syndrome (radiates from the lower back to the upper abdomen, belt- like distribution), intensity of at least 5 on 11-point Brief Pain Inventory (BPI, average pain) scale. * Subjects must have anatomical involvement of the celiac plexus on the diagnostic CT, PET/CT, or MRI. This includes: Any pancreatic cancer, any other cancer that on imaging demonstrates either gross involvement of the celiac blood vessels or celiac plexus on imaging OR haziness around the celiac blood vessels that typically implies tumor engulfment. * Prior chemotherapy or biological treatment is allowed, but any active oncological treatment should be stopped at least 1 week prior to radiation therapy and renewed at least 1 week following radiation therapy. * Subjects must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document. * Subjects must have a diagnostic CT of the abdomen and pelvis, with or without contrast, acquired \< 28 days prior to the study consent.

Exclusion criteria

* In ability to tolerate lying supine and still for at least 45 minutes. * Performance status: ECOG Performance status of 4. * Previous radiotherapy to the upper abdomen overlapping with the projected site of treatment. * Pregnant or breastfeeding women are excluded from this study. * Subjects with conditions associated with increased risk of side effects from radiation such as inflammatory bowel disease and scleroderma. * Women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test within 14 days of study entry. If pregnancy test is not clinically indicated as determined by treating physician or protocol principal investigator, documentation of this exception is sufficient in lieu of a pregnancy test.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Successful treatment plan workflow of 80% of patients1 yearThe feasibility and safety of the simulation-free adaptive radiotherapy workflow for celiac plexus SBRT for clinical use. Feasibility defined as the successful completion of the simulation-free ART workflow through treatment delivery in the first on-table treatment attempt for at least 80% of patients. All of the following criteria must be met to be deemed feasible: * Meets all priority 1 OAR constraints * Meets a PTV\_Opt\_2500 and PTV\_Opt\_2000 priority 2 constraints * Patient specific QA pass as per institutional standards * Patient able to tolerate treatment position for CBCT and entirety of treatment process. If a break is required and the patient is repositioned, the ART process must repeat from CBCT acquisition * Complete delivery of all planned monitor units

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Component time1 yearAverage time required for each component of the simulation-free ART workflow, including but not limited to plan generation using diagnostic imaging, pre-treatment activities (e.g., on-table patient setup/imaging, dose prediction, segmentation of daily contours, plan optimization and evaluation), and treatment delivery.
Dosimetric comparison of radiation plans1 yearDosimetric comparison of radiation plans created on traditional offline CBCT images with those created using the simulation-free ART workflow (i.e., comparison of target coverage, sparing of organs-at-risk).
Frequency of online re-adaptation1 YearFrequency of online re-adaptation within the sim-free workflow. Readaptation defined as the need to regenerate a treatment plan after an initial plan had been generated that does not satisfy treatment parameters.
Patient satisfaction1 yearOverall patient satisfaction with celiac plexus SBRT using a simulation-free, adaptive radiotherapy workflow. This will be assessed using the Radiotherapy Experience Questionnaire (RTEQ) which is a validated RT experience questionnaire that reports patient experiences with the overall treatment process by answering statements on a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree. Given that this is a novel workflow/process, the results of the questionnaire will shed light on their overall experience.
Change in the Brief Pain Inventory pain scale6 WeeksChange in Brief Pain Inventory pain scale, where on a scale 0 is "No Pain" and 10 is "Pain as bad as you can imagine", recorded in the pain diary, 6 weeks after sim-free celiac plexus SBRT.
Change in Amount of Pain Medication6 weeksChange in the amount of pain medications (Morphine equivalents) use 6 weeks after sim-free celiac plexus SBRT, recorded in the pain diary. Patients will record number of medication units taken (unit of medication is a tablet or capsule, a millilitre (mL) of liquid, a suppository, or a patch).
TCAE Grade 3+ Toxicity6 weeksAny CTCAE Grade 3+ Toxicity at 6 weeks related to the SBRT treatment.
Cost of workflow1 yearThe overall cost of simulation free workflow compared to select retrospective cases treated on conventional workflow. Timepoints include simulation, planning, treatment, and follow up. Components include planning, therapist, clinician.
Mean difference between diagnostic and ETHOS plans (COM)1 yearMean difference in location between diagnostic, planning, and hypersight scans at each time point for select organs at risk. These include liver, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, kidneys, small bowel, aorta, and large bowel. Rigid registration to spinal column as baseline (or aorta). Metrics will include center of mass (COM).
Mean difference between diagnostic and ETHOS plans (DTA)1 yearMean difference in location between diagnostic, planning, and hypersight scans at each time point for select organs at risk. These include liver, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, kidneys, small bowel, aorta, and large bowel. Rigid registration to spinal column as baseline (or aorta). Metrics will include distance to agreement (DTA).
Mean difference between diagnostic and ETHOS plans (ASSD)1 yearMean difference in location between diagnostic, planning, and hypersight scans at each time point for select organs at risk. These include liver, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, kidneys, small bowel, aorta, and large bowel. Rigid registration to spinal column as baseline (or aorta). Metrics will include average symmetric surface distance (ASSD).
Mean difference between diagnostic and ETHOS plans (DSC)1 YearMean difference in location between diagnostic, planning, and hypersight scans at each time point for select organs at risk. These include liver, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, kidneys, small bowel, aorta, and large bowel. Rigid registration to spinal column as baseline (or aorta). Metrics will include dice for volume overlap (DSC).
Mean difference between diagnostic and ETHOS plans (DVF)1 YearMean difference in location between diagnostic, planning, and hypersight scans at each time point for select organs at risk. These include liver, stomach, duodenum, pancreas, kidneys, small bowel, aorta, and large bowel. Rigid registration to spinal column as baseline (or aorta). Metrics will include deformation vector field (DVF).

Countries

Canada

Contacts

CONTACTMichael Yan
michael.yan@uhn.ca(416) 946-2320

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 11, 2026