Recruiting
Phase 2

Radiotherapy & Vertebroplasty

Sponsor:

AHS Cancer Control Alberta

Code:

NCT04242589

Conditions

Spinal Metastases

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Radiotherapy

Vertebropladty

Study Details

Brief summary:

Since patients with spinal metastases are living longer, durable palliation with long-term tumor control are becoming increasingly important.

EBRT results in durable local control of bone metastasis. However, about 25 % of patients with spinal metastases only achieved complete pain relief following EBRT for a median duration of less than 4 months. This could be partly due to spinal instability. In addition, almost half of the patients who receive EBRT will subsequently develop VCFs . Hence, RT does not stabilize the spine secondary to VCFs and is not effective in preventing imminent VCFs. Vertebroplasty has rapidly reduced pain and improved function in patients with VCFs. However, vertebroplasty does not provide local tumor control similar to EBRT.

It is theorized that combining vertebroplasty with EBRT will stabilize the spine, relieve the pain, prevent imminent VCFs and minimize or avoid the need for opioids. It is hypothesized that combining a spine stabilization procedure such as vertebroplasty with RT will be the most effective management for patients with spinal metastases than RT alone for patients with spinal metastases. Combined vertebroplasty and radiotherapy is not a standard treatment option at present. This study is designed to quantify the advantage of adding vertebroplasty to radiotherapy for patients with spinal metastases. If the study is proven to be significant, it could become the standard of care for patients with spinal metastases.

Conditions

Spinal Metastases

Study ID

NCT04242589

Start date

Mar 3, 2021

Status verified date

Jun, 2025

Completion date

Nov 1, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Sep 1, 2025

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Participants capable of giving informed consent, or if appropriate, participants having an acceptable individual capable of giving consent on the participant's behalf
2. Patients must be 18 years of age or older
3. Spinal vertebral metastases confirmed by CT, MRI or bone scan.
4. Patients with painful (VAS of at least ≥ 2) vertebral spinal metastases in the thoracic and /or lumbar spine (not cervical).
5. Patients must be willing and able to comply with schedule visits, treatment plan, tests and other study procedures
6. Life expectancy > 6 months. Life expectancy will be evaluated by the study investigator both clinically and by using Linden model. Patient should be in the group B or C of the Linden model.
7. Patients with an ECOG score 0-2 or Karnofsky performance status of ≥ 60% will be eligible for enrolment (see appendix 1).
8. No prior EBRT to the target +/-1 vertebral body level
9. Women of child bearing potential (WOCBP) must have a negative serum (or urine) pregnancy test at the time of screening. WOCBP is defined as any female who has experienced menarche and who has not undergone surgical sterilization (hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy or bilateral salpingectomy) and is not postmenopausal. Menopause is defined as 12 months of amenorrhea in a woman over age 45 years in the absence of other biological or physiological causes. In addition, females under the age of 55 years must have a serum follicle stimulating hormone, (FSH) level > 40 mIU/mL to confirm menopause
10. Patients of childbearing / reproductive potential should use highly effective birth control methods, as defined by the investigator, during the study treatment period. A highly effective method of birth control is defined as those that result in low failure rate (i.e. less than 1% per year) when used consistently and correctly (Note: abstinence is acceptable if this is established and preferred contraception for the patient and is accepted as a local standard) .
11. Females must not breastfeed during study treatment.
12. Male patients should agree to not donate sperm during study treatment.
13. Absence of any condition hampering compliance with study protocols and follow-up schedule; those conditions should be reviewed with the patient prior to trial registration

Exclusion Criteria

1. Patient cannot provide consent
2. Prior radiotherapy to the target +/-1 vertebral body level
3. Life expectancy < 6 months (assessed both clinically and using Linden model)
4. Karnofsky performance status of < 60%
5. Primary bone tumors
6. Plasmacytoma
7. Communicated fracture
8. Associated Impending cord compression or spinal cord compression
9. Epidural involvement

Study Design

Enrollment

64 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Crossover

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy dose: 20 Gy/5 fractions/1 week or 8 Gy/1 fraction (at the discretion of the Radiation Oncologist)

experimental: Vertebroplasty + Radiotherapy

Vertebroplasty followed by radiotherapy within 2-3 weeks

Radiotherapy dose: 20 Gy/5 fractions/1 week or 8 Gy/1 fraction (at the discretion of the Radiation Oncologist)

Interventions

Radiotherapy

External beam radiation therapy is a type of radiation therapy used for cancer treatment. A machine is used to aim high-energy rays from outside the body into tumor

Vertebropladty

Vertebroplasty is a procedure for stabilizing compression fractures in the spine. Bone cement is injected into vertebrae that have cracked or broken. The cement hardens, stabilizing the fractures and supporting your spine.

Primary outcome measure

  • Improvement in Pain Score based on the Visual Analog Scale [ Time Frame: 1,3,6 and 12 months post treatment ]
  • Improvement in Pain Score based on the Brief Pain Inventory [ Time Frame: 1,3,6 and 12 months post treatment ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Locations

Cross Cancer Institute

Recruiting

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 1Z2

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Kurian Joseph, MD

More Information

Sponsor

AHS Cancer Control Alberta

Last update posted

Jun 26, 2025

Last verified

Jun, 2025

Keywords

  • Vertebroplasty
  • Vertebral Compression Fracture
  • Radiotherapy

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by AHS Cancer Control Alberta on 2025-06-26.