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Completed Phase 1 Interventional

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) for Recurrent Pediatric Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT01682746

Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01682746. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.

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Official title

Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) for Poor Prognosis Recurrent/Refractory Malignant Brain Tumors - A Phase I Study

Brief summary

Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.

The goal of this proposal is to evaluate a new Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) modification which could revolutionize the treatment of brain tumors in children and adults. There are currently few cases published involving the use of PDT in infratentorial (in the posterior fossa) brain tumors in general and specifically those occurring in children. The investigators propose to test a technique, for the first time in the U.S., that demonstrated in Australian adult glioblastoma patients dramatic long-term, survival rates of 57% (anaplastic astrocytoma) and 37% (glioblastoma multiforme). These results are unprecedented in any other treatment protocol. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a paradigm shift in the treatment of tumors from the traditional resection and systemic chemotherapy methods. The principle behind photodynamic therapy is light-mediated activation of a photosensitizer that is selectively accumulated in the target tissue, causing tumor cell destruction through singlet oxygen production. Therefore, the photosensitizer is considered to be the first critical element in PDT procedures, and the activation procedure is the second step. The methodology used in this proposal utilizes more intensive laser light and larger Photofrin photosensitizer doses than prior PDT protocols in the U.S. for brain tumor patients. The PDT will consist of photoillumination at 630 nm beginning at the center of the tumor resection cavity, and delivering a total energy of 240 J cm-2. The investigators feel that the light should penetrate far enough into the tissue to reach migrating tumor cells, and destroy these cells without harming the healthy cells in which they are dispersed. The investigators will be testing the hypothesis that pediatric subjects with progressive/recurrent malignant brain tumors undergoing PDT with increased doses of Photofrin® and light energy than were used in our previous clinical study will show better progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) outcomes. PDT will also be effective against infratentorial tumors. The specific aims include determining the maximum tolerable dose (MTD) of Photofrin in children and looking for preliminary effectiveness trends.

Study identification

NCT ID
NCT01682746
Recruitment status
Completed
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 1
Lead sponsor
Harry T Whelan, MD
Other
Enrollment
5 participants

Conditions and interventions

Eligibility (public fields only)

Age range
6 Months to 18 Years
Sex
All
Healthy volunteers
Healthy volunteers not accepted

This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.

Study timeline

Start date
Feb 28, 2013
Primary completion
Jun 28, 2018
Completion
Jun 28, 2018
Last update posted
Feb 24, 2019

2013 – 2018

United States locations

U.S. sites
1
U.S. states
1
U.S. cities
1
Facility City State ZIP Site status
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Wauwatosa Wisconsin 53226

Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.

About this trial record page

What this page shows
Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01682746, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
What this page does not do
No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
Where the data comes from
Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
Last refresh
Last update posted Feb 24, 2019 · Synced Sep 5, 2026

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Open the official record

The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT01682746 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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