Stereotactic Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Advanced Liver Cancer
Liver Cancer
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Liver Cancer focused on measuring adult primary hepatocellular carcinoma, advanced adult primary liver cancer, localized unresectable adult primary liver cancer, recurrent adult primary liver cancer
Eligibility Criteria
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:
- Histologically or cytologically confirmed advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
- Measurable disease, defined as ≥ 1 unidimensionally target lesion that can be accurately measured by CT scan or MRI according to RECIST and must have a maximum diameter ≤ 8 cm
- No known CNS tumors, including metastatic brain disease
- Child-Pugh class A-B cirrhotic status
PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:
- Karnofsky performance status 60-100%
- Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks
- WBC ≥ 2,000/μL
- Platelet count ≥ 60,000/mm³
- Hemoglobin ≥ 8.5 g/dL
- INR ≤ 2.3
- No malignancy within the past 3 years that is distinct in its primary site or histology from HCC, except for carcinoma in situ of the cervix, treated basal cell carcinoma, or superficial bladder tumors (i.e., Ta, Tis, and T1), or any other cancer that has been curatively treated > 3 years prior to study entry
- No renal failure requiring hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis
No uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, any of the following:
- Ongoing or active infection > grade 2
- NYHA class II-IV congestive heart failure
- Active coronary artery disease
- Cardiac arrhythmias requiring anti-arrhythmic therapy other than beta blockers or digoxin
- Uncontrolled hypertension
- Condition that could jeopardize the safety of the patient or study compliance
- More than 6 months since prior myocardial infarction
- No history of variceal bleeding where the varices have not been eradicated or decompressed by shunt placement
- No condition that would prevent the patient from undergoing marker implantation
- Not pregnant or nursing
- Negative pregnancy test
- No substance abuse, medical, psychological, or social condition that may interfere with the patient's participation in the study or evaluation of the study results
PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:
- Prior systemic chemotherapy allowed
- At least 6 weeks since prior non-radiation local therapy (e.g., surgery, hepatic arterial therapy, chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation, percutaneous ethanol injection, or cryoablation)
- No prior radiotherapy to the liver
- Concurrent therapeutic anticoagulation (e.g., warfarin or heparin) allowed provided that no prior evidence of underlying abnormality in PT, PTT, INR exists
Sites / Locations
- University of Nebraska Medical Center
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Experimental
Hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT)
All patients who have had successful implantation of a liver marker will undergo a 4D CT scan for planning SRT. Following transfer to the treatment planning system, the CT scan may be correlated by imaging fusion with MRI for contouring integrated tumor volume (ITV). The planning target volume (PTV) will be defined as ITV plus individualized margins which are determined by a 4D CT scan. Novalis with 6MV photons will be used for imaging guided SRT. Cohorts of 3-6 patients will receive SRT at daily doses of 8, 10, 12, 14 Gy within 2 weeks. The starting daily dose level will be 10 Gy. The marker will be localized by orthogonal X-ray to ensure reproducibility. A continuous respiratory gating will be accomplished with ExacTrac Adaptive Gating system if the required planning target margin is larger than 1 cm based on the 4D CT data.