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NCT Number: NCT03741673

Pre-operative SRS or Post-operative SRS in Treating Cancer Patients With Brain Metastases

This phase III trial studies stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) before surgery to see how well it works compared with SRS after surgery in treating patients with cancer that has spread to the brain (brain metastases). SRS is the delivery of focused, high-dose radiation given in a single session to the tumors, with a minimal dose given to uninvolved areas of the brain.

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Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 3

Primary location

M D Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas, 77030, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Debra N. Yeboa

CONTACT

713-563-2300

Debra N. Yeboa

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

About this study

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To investigate the 1 year leptomeningeal disease (LMD)-free rate among patients with surgically resectable metastatic brain lesions randomized to post-operative stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) (standard care) versus pre-operative SRS followed by surgery (experimental arm).

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To investigate the local control (LC), distant brain metastasis rate, overall survival (OS) of pre-operative (pre-op) versus (vs) post-operative (post-op) SRS in patients with brain metastasis.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:

I. To assess the reliability of different imaging features by using a combination of patient data and phantom data to quantify the uncertainties associated with using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for radiomics studies.

II. To assess the correlation of imaging-pathology correlates using multiparametric imaging that characterize the tumor and peri-tumoral microenvironment including features such as tumor vascular characteristics, cellular density, oxygenation and presence of inflammation/immune reactivity.

III. To investigate the neuro-cognitive impact, patient reported outcomes and health-related quality of life of pre-operative (pre-op) vs post-operative (post-op) SRS in patients with brain metastasis.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 groups.

GROUP I (PRE-OPERATIVE SRS): Patients undergo SRS within 15 days of randomization followed by surgery within 15 days. Patients may undergo additional SRS if disease returns after treatment.

GROUP II (POST-OPERATIVE SRS): Patients undergo surgery within 15 days of randomization followed by standard of care SRS within 30 days. Patients may undergo additional SRS if disease returns after treatment.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up periodically.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • The primary lesion pre-operatively can have a maximum diameter of =< 4 cm for single fraction and =< 7 cm for multifraction therapy
  • Patients must be considered candidates for SRS within +/- 30 days of surgical resection as defined by either history and physical (H&P) or presentation at brain metastasis tumor board conference note
  • Patients must have a Karnofsky performance scores >= 70 or Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) >= 2 within 30 days of enrollment
  • Patients must agree to randomization as documented by signing the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved consent form
  • No radiographic evidence of leptomeningeal disease on MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) departmental radiology report or study neuro-radiologist review
  • Documented history of malignancy

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients who have received prior radiation therapy to the brain for any reason
  • The primary tumor is small-cell lung cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, or multiple myeloma
  • For females, if they are pregnant or breast-feeding (The exclusion is made because gadolinium may be teratogenic in pregnancy)

Treatment and study plan

Quality-of-Life Assessment

Other

Ancillary studies

Other names: Quality of Life Assessment

Questionnaire Administration

Other

Ancillary studies

Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Radiation

Undergo SRS

Other names: Stereotactic External Beam Irradiation, stereotactic external-beam radiation therapy, stereotactic radiation therapy, Stereotactic Radiotherapy, stereotaxic radiation therapy, stereotaxic radiosurgery

Primary outcomes

  1. Leptomeningeal disease (LMD)-free rate

    Time frame: At 1 year

    Aalen-Johansen estimates will be used for LMD. Uni- and multi-variable analysis of time to LMD will be done using Fine-Gray proportional hazards regression. Model assumptions will be verified graphically by residual analyses.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Local control rate

    Time frame: At 1 year

    Aalen-Johansen estimates will be used for local recurrence. Uni- and multi-variable analysis of time to local recurrence will be done using Fine-Gray proportional hazards regression. Model assumptions will be verified graphically by residual analyses.

  2. Distant brain control

    Time frame: At 1 year

    Aalen-Johansen estimates will be used for distant brain recurrence. Uni- and multi-variable analysis of time to distant brain recurrence will be done using Fine-Gray proportional hazards regression. Model assumptions will be verified graphically by residual analyses.

  3. Overall survival (OS)

    Time frame: At 1 year

    Kaplan-Meier estimates will be utilized for survival. Uni- and multi-variable analysis of overall survival will be done with Cox proportional hazards regression.

Other outcomes

  1. Delta radiomics

    Time frame: Up to 4 years

    Radiomic texture features and changes in features at diagnosis with pathology and over time will be included in various classifiers for modeling including decision trees, discriminate analysis, and nearest neighbor classifiers using classification learner in Matlab.

  2. Circulating tumor cell analysis

    Time frame: Up to 4 years

  3. Cerebral spinal fluid analysis

    Time frame: Up to 4 years

  4. Neurocognitive function measured by HVLT-R questionnaire

    Time frame: Up to 1 year from start of treatment

    Measured by neurocognitive decline on Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R)

  5. Symptom burden questionnaire

    Time frame: Up to 1 year from start of treatment

    Measured by the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory Brain Tumor (MDASI-BT).

  6. Health outcomes questionnaire

    Time frame: Up to 1 year from start of treatment

    Measured by the European Quality of Life Five Dimension Five Level Scale questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L).

  7. Neurocognitive function measured by COWA questionnaire

    Time frame: Up to 1 year from start of treatment

    Measured by neurocognitive decline on Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA)

  8. Neurocognitive function measured by TMT questionnaire

    Time frame: Up to 1 year from start of treatment

    Measured by neurocognitive decline on and Trail Making Test (TMT) parts A and B

  9. Neurocognitive function measured by CTB COMP questionnaire

    Time frame: Up to 1 year from start of treatment

    Measured by neurocognitive decline on Clinical Trial Battery Composite (CTB COMP) score.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Debra Yeboa

CONTACT

[email protected]

713-563-2300

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Other

Collaborators

  • National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Registry information

Official study title

A Phase III Trial of Pre-Operative Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) Versus Post-Operative SRS for Brain Metastases

Important dates

Study start
2018
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Nov 15, 2018
Registry last updated
Sep 5, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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