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NCT Number: NCT07076472

Sonodynamic Therapy With SONALA-001 or 5-ALA HCL and Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound for the Treatment of Progressive or Recurrent Glioblastoma

This early phase I trial tests the safety, best dose, and effectiveness of SONALA-001 or 5-ALA HCL in combination with magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS), also called sonodynamic therapy, in treating patients with glioblastoma that is growing, spreading, or getting worse (progressive) or that has come back after a period of improvement (recurrent). Sonodynamic therapy is a non-invasive combination therapy that uses low-intensity ultrasound, such as MRgFUS, to activate a drug, such as SONALA-001 or 5-ALA HCL, to kill tumor cells. SONALA-001 or 5-ALA HCL binds to the tumor and may help the sonodynamic therapy target the tumor. MRgFUS is an image-guided, non-invasive technique that uses high energy ultrasound from the Exablate 4000 Type 2.0 device to kill tumors without damaging surrounding healthy tissue. Giving sonodynamic therapy using SONALA-001 or 5-ALA HCL with MRgFUS may be safe, tolerable, and/or effective in treating patients with progressive or recurrent glioblastoma.

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Key information

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Early Phase 1

Primary location

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

Rochester, Minnesota, 55905, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Clinical Trials Referral Office

CONTACT

[email protected]

Terry Burns, MD, PhD

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

About this study

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To characterize the safety and toxicity after treatment with aminolevulinic acid intravenous formulation SONALA-001 (SONALA-001) or orally administered aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride (5-ALA HCL) in combination with MRgFUS in subjects with progressive or recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM).

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate the preliminary antitumor activity as assessed by objective response rate (ORR; proportion of patients with complete or partial response) per Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) 2.0 guidelines.

II. To evaluate preliminary signals of activity as measured by clinical benefit rate (CBR) (proportion of patients with complete response, partial response or stable disease), progression-free survival (PFS), PFS rate at 6 months, and overall survival (OS).

OUTLINE:

Patients receive SONALA-001 intravenously (IV) over 15 minutes or 5-ALA HCL orally (PO) and undergo transcranial MRgFUS 3-8 hours after infusion on day 1 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 42 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Additionally, patients undergo a computed tomography (CT) of the brain prior to treatment and blood sample collection and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) throughout the study.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 30 days, and then every 3 to 6 months for up to 3 years after registration.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Age ≥ 18 years
  • Diagnosis of recurrent or progressive glioblastoma (as defined in 2021 World Health Organization [WHO] Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System; Louis, Perry, et al. 2021) for which resection is not indicated as assessed by the study physician
  • Radiographic evidence of disease which may be measurable or non-measurable
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) 0, 1 or 2
  • Previous treatment with radiotherapy (RT)
  • Have a life expectancy of ≥ 12 weeks
  • Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1500/mm^3 (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3 (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) ≤ 3 x ULN (≤ 5 x ULN for patients with liver involvement) (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Albumin ≥ 3 g/dL (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Potassium ≥ lower limit of normal (LLN) (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Serum total calcium ≥ LLN (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Creatinine ≤ 1.5 x ULN OR calculated creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/min using the Cockcroft-Gault formula (obtained ≤ 15 days prior to registration)
  • Negative pregnancy test done ≤ 8 days prior to registration, for persons of childbearing potential only
  • Provide written informed consent
  • Willing to participate in the neuro-oncology biorepository [Institutional Review Board (IRB) 12-003458, principal investigator (PI): Jann Sarkaria, MD, PhD] for collecting and archiving biospecimens samples on neuro-oncology patients
  • Willing to return to enrolling institution for follow-up (during the active monitoring phase of the study)

Exclusion criteria

  • Any of the following because this study involves an investigational agent, the genotoxic, mutagenic, and teratogenic effects of which on the developing fetus and newborn are unknown:
  • Pregnant persons
  • Nursing persons
  • Persons of childbearing potential (and persons able to father a child) who are unwilling to employ adequate contraception
  • Recurrence ≤ 4 weeks after the completion of RT, defined from the imaging assessment immediately after completion of RT
  • Three or more prior systemic treatments for recurrent or progressing disease
  • Diagnosis of porphyria, or hypersensitivity to porphyrins
  • Failure to recover to grade 1 or baseline from any adverse events (AEs) (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events [CTCAE] version [v] 5.0) related to prior anticancer therapy
  • EXCEPTIONS: Alopecia, lymphopenia, peripheral neuropathy, and ototoxicity ≤ grade 3)
  • Known history of the following conditions:
  • Allergy to gadolinium contrast agents
  • Patients known to be HIV positive and currently receiving antiretroviral therapy
  • NOTE: Patients known to be HIV positive, but without clinical evidence of an immunocompromised state, are eligible for this trial
  • Inability to undergo MRI scans
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to:
  • Ongoing or active infection
  • Patients with platelet count < 100
  • Symptomatic congestive heart failure
  • Unstable angina pectoris
  • Cardiac arrhythmia
  • Or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
  • History of myocardial infarction ≤ 6 months, or congestive heart failure requiring use of ongoing maintenance therapy for life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias
  • Co-morbid systemic illnesses or other severe concurrent disease which, in the judgment of the investigator, would make the patient inappropriate for entry into this study or interfere significantly with the proper assessment of safety and toxicity of the prescribed regimens

Treatment and study plan

Aminolevulinic Acid Intravenous Formulation SONALA-001

Drug

Given IV

Other names: ALA Intravenous Formulation SONALA-001, SONALA 001, SONALA-001, SONALA001

Biospecimen Collection

Procedure

Undergo blood sample collection

Other names: Biological Sample Collection, Biospecimen Collected, Specimen Collection

Computed Tomography

Procedure

Undergo CT

Other names: CAT, CAT Scan, Computed Axial Tomography, Computerized Axial Tomography, Computerized axial tomography (procedure), Computerized Tomography, Computerized Tomography (CT) scan, CT, CT Scan, tomography

Electronic Health Record Review

Other

Ancillary studies

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Procedure

Undergo MRI

Other names: Magnetic Resonance, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetic resonance imaging (procedure), Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan, Medical Imaging, Magnetic Resonance / Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, MR, MR Imaging, MRI, MRI Scan, MRIs, NMR Imaging, NMRI, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging, sMRI, Structural MRI

MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound Ablation

Procedure

Undergo transcranial MRgFUS

Other names: Magnetic Resonance Imaging-guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound, Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound, MR-HIFU, MRgFUS, MRI Guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery, MRI-HIFU

Oral Aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride

Drug

Given PO

Other names: 5-ALA fluorescence, 5-Aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride, 5-Aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride, Oral, Gleolan, Gliolan, Oral 5-ALA, Oral ALA HCl

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of adverse events (AEs)

    Time frame: Up to 30 days after last dose of study treatment

    Defined per the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version (v) 5 as AEs considered to be at least possibly related to study treatment. The maximum grade for each type of AE will be recorded for each patient, and frequency tables will be reviewed to determine patterns (by dose level and overall).

  2. Incidence of grade 3 or higher non-hematologic AEs

    Time frame: Up to 30 days after last dose of study treatment

    Defined per the CTCAE v5 as AEs considered to be at least possibly related to study treatment. The maximum grade for each type of AE will be recorded for each patient, and frequency tables will be reviewed to determine patterns (by dose level and overall).

  3. Incidence of grade 4 or higher AE

    Time frame: Up to 30 days after last dose of study treatment

    Defined per the CTCAE v5 as AEs considered to be at least possibly related to study treatment. The maximum grade for each type of AE will be recorded for each patient, and frequency tables will be reviewed to determine patterns (by dose level and overall).

  4. Dose-limiting event (DLE)

    Time frame: During first 6 weeks of therapy [first cycle of treatment (cycle length = 42 days)]

    AEs will be evaluated using CTCAE v5. The target DLE rate is < 33%.

  5. Maximum tolerated dose (MTD)

    Time frame: Up to 6 weeks

    Will be defined as the highest safety-tolerated dose level where at most one patient out of six experiences a DLE.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Overall response rate (ORR)

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Assessed by the proportion of patients with complete or partial response.

  2. Clinical benefit rate

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Assessed by the proportion of patients with complete response, partial response or stable disease.

  3. Progression-free survival (PFS)

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Defined as the time from registration to the earliest date of documentation of disease progression, relapse, or death due to any cause.

  4. PFS at 6 months (PFS6)

    Time frame: At 6 months

    The PFS6 rate will be estimated as the number of patients who are progression-free and alive at 6 months.

  5. Overall survival (OS)

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Defined as the time from registration to death due to any cause.

  6. Time to response

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Defined as the time from registration to the first incidence of a response, estimated in patients who have achieved a response (PR or CR).

  7. Duration of response

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Defined as the time from response to progression or death, whichever occurs first estimated among patients who have achieved objective response (PR or CR).

  8. Duration of clinical benefit

    Time frame: Up to 3 years

    Defined as the time from response to progression or death, whichever occurs first, estimated among patients who achieved clinical benefit (stable disease, PR, or CR).

Study contacts

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

Clinical Trials Referral Office

CONTACT

[email protected]

855-776-0015

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Mayo Clinic

Other

Collaborators

  • National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Registry information

Official study title

MC240704 Pilot Dose Escalation and Expansion Study of Sonodynamic Therapy With Aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride (5-ALA HCl Or SONALA-001) in Combination With Exablate 4000 Type 2.0 MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) in Patients With Progressive or Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme (RGBM)

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Jul 22, 2025
Registry last updated
Feb 23, 2026

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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