HIFU Ablation vs Fixed-dose RAI-131 Therapy in Moderate-sized Non-toxic MNG
Primary Purpose
Non Toxic Multinodular Goiter, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, RAI
Status
Completed
Phase
Not Applicable
Locations
Hong Kong
Study Type
Interventional
Intervention
Echopulse
Radioactive iodine (Radioidine i131)
Sponsored by
About this trial
This is an interventional health services research trial for Non Toxic Multinodular Goiter
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Have a moderate-sized NMNG. The dimension of the largest nodule cannot exceed 50mm in diameter. Also on USG volumetry, the total combined volume of the three largest nodules (i.e. the largest nodule volume + second largest nodule volume + third largest nodule volume) or in short, TNV cannot exceed 80 mL or cm^3.
- The NMNG has to benign. Each nodule within the goiter will be carefully evaluated on USG by an experienced clinician to look for suspicious features for malignancy. Suspicious-looking nodules will be biopsied by USG-guided FNAC. Only nodules with Bethesda II on FNAC will be considered benign.
- Aged between 18 and 70 years old at the time of informed consent.
- Have genuine cosmetic and/or pressure symptoms.
- Have to have normal serum free T4 (FT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Have a non-toxic diffuse goiter or a NMNG with the largest nodule < 20mm in diameter.
- Prefer or have a clear indication for thyroidectomy (such as rapidly growing, compressive goiter or suspected or documented thyroid malignancy).
- Have a pre-existing vocal cord palsy.
- Unable to tolerate even slight neck extension during HIFU ablation.
- Pregnant, lactating women or women wishing to become pregnant within 6 months.
- Previous thyroid surgery or neck irradiation.
- Family history of non-medullary thyroid carcinoma.
- Have any medical conditions that would make them too ill to undergo treatment.
Sites / Locations
- Queen Mary Hospital
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Arm Type
Active Comparator
Active Comparator
Arm Label
HIFU on NMNG
RAI on NMNG
Arm Description
The patients with non-toxic multinodular goiter are assigned to have high intensity focused ultrasound treatment.
The patients with non-toxic multinodular goiter are assigned to have radioactive iodine (i131) treatment.
Outcomes
Primary Outcome Measures
The absolute change in Thyroid nodule volume (TNV) after sequential HIFU treatment and a fixed-dose (370MBq) RAIT after 12 months.
To compare the absolute change in Thyroid nodule volume (in cm^3) after sequential HIFU treatment and a fixed-dose (370MBq) RAIT after 12 months.
Secondary Outcome Measures
Change in total thyroid volume (TTV) (in cm^3)
To compare the absolute change in TTV between HIFU and RAIT groups
Change in the largest/dominant nodule dimensions
To compare the change in the largest/dominant nodule dimensions (in cm) between HIFU and RAIT groups
Incidence of treatment-related morbidities after HIFU/RAIT
To compare incidence of treatment-related morbidities and hypothyroidism between HIFU and RAIT groups
Change in World Health Organization goiter grade
To compare WHO goiter grade over time between HIFU and RAIT groups
Change in symptom improvement score
To compare symptom improvement score (0-10) over time between HIFU and RAIT groups
Change in pressure symptom score
To assess the changes in pressure symptom score (by Visual Analogue Scale, VAS, scoring from 0-10, 0 is for no pressure and 10 is for the maximum pressure feeling as subjects' view) over time between the HIFU and RAIT groups.
Change in quality of life
To assess the changes in quality of life (QOL) using by "12-Item Short Form Survey (SF-12) (VERSION 2.0)" between the two treatment groups. SF-12 is scoring 70 in total, the higher score represent higher quality of life.
Change in patient satisfaction
To assess the changes in patient satisfaction (by Visual Analogue Scale, VAS, scoring from 0-10, 10 is for the maximum score representing well satisfaction) between the two treatment groups
Compare the costs (in dollars)
To compare the direct and indirect costs between HIFU and RAIT (in dollars)
Full Information
NCT ID
NCT04009863
First Posted
June 26, 2019
Last Updated
May 19, 2022
Sponsor
The University of Hong Kong
1. Study Identification
Unique Protocol Identification Number
NCT04009863
Brief Title
HIFU Ablation vs Fixed-dose RAI-131 Therapy in Moderate-sized Non-toxic MNG
Official Title
A Randomized, Open-label, Parallel-group Study to Determine the Efficacy of Sequential High-intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Ablation Versus Fixed-dose Radioiodine-131 Therapy in Moderate-sized Non-toxic Multinodular Goiter
Study Type
Interventional
2. Study Status
Record Verification Date
May 2022
Overall Recruitment Status
Completed
Study Start Date
April 1, 2020 (Actual)
Primary Completion Date
February 20, 2022 (Actual)
Study Completion Date
April 30, 2022 (Actual)
3. Sponsor/Collaborators
Responsible Party, by Official Title
Principal Investigator
Name of the Sponsor
The University of Hong Kong
4. Oversight
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product
No
5. Study Description
Brief Summary
After obtaining informed consent, eligible subjects will be assigned randomly into either High intensity focused ultrasound group (HIFU) or Radioactive iodine (131I) therapy group (RAIT). After treatment, they will be followed up for 4 visits (1-month, 3-month, 6- month, 12-month of post treatment). At each visit, they will have physical examination, regular blood test and questionnaire to evaluate their quality of life. The collected data will be used to compare the effectiveness between HIFU and RAIT for non-toxic multi-nodular goiter (NMNG). The primary purepose is to find out the best non-invasive way in treating NMNG.
For HIFU, you may experience:
Mild bruising and redness at the site of treatment
Edema of the skin tissue
Pain/discomfort during the procedure
Skin burns but rare (<1%)
Vocal cord paresis on the side of the treated lobe but rare (<1%)
Unintentional damage to the surrounding tissue (outside the planned treatment area).
For RAIT, you may experience neck tenderness or sore throat in the following few days as developing moderate inflammation in the thyroid and producing discomfort in the neck or throat area. Your symptoms may turn worse for first few week, but will improve over weeks.
Detailed Description
Non-toxic multinodular goiter (NMNG) is a condition referred to as a nodular enlargement of the thyroid gland due to the presence of two or more nodules without clinical hyper- or hypothyroidism. It is undoubtedly one of the most common thyroid disorders worldwide and it is estimated that more than 5% of the female population have a clinically-palpable NMNG (1,2).
Although the majority of NMNGs do not cause symptoms and therefore, do not require any intervention other than simple surveillance, some can cause local pressure symptoms and cosmetic concerns over time (1-3).
For NMNGs that cause symptoms, the most widely-accepted treatment has been surgical resection either in the form of a hemithyroidectomy or total thyroidectomy. Despite being safe when done in experienced hands, surgery is associated with complications such as recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and hypoparathyroidism, both of which can be permanent. In addition, a general anesthesia is almost inevitably required when surgery is performed. As a result, non-surgical thermal ablation techniques have been increasingly recognized as an alternative treatment in symptomatic NMNG (4). These ablation techniques utilize thermal energy to cause shrinkage of adenomatous nodules and thereby, relieve symptoms. Types of ablation include radiofrequency, laser and microwave ablations and more recently, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Regardless of which ablation technique, they have all been shown to not only induce significant nodule shrinkage but also alleviate symptoms (4-6). Radioactive iodine (131I) therapy (RAIT) is another promising non-surgical alterative which is recommended in patients who refuse or have contraindications for surgery. Despite being a less recognized treatment in both Asia and North America, this treatment has increasingly been adopted. In some European countries such as Denmark and Netherlands, it has replaced surgery as the treatment of choice in moderately-sized NMNG as recommended in recently-published clinical practice guidelines (1,7,8). However, RAIT has limitations. For example, it is less applicable in very large-sized NMNG (>100 mL) because large goiters tend to have a lower radioiodine uptake leading to suboptimal shrinkage. Also considerable inconsistency in goiter shrinkage has been reported (7). With our population getting older and the general public placing a greater emphasis on preserving organ function and lessinvasive treatments, non-surgical treatment alternatives will have an increasing role in the future treatment of NMNG. To our knowledge, it remains unknown whether one particular treatment modality is superior over the other modality because there has not been any direct comparison between the two modalities. Only one previous study compared treatment efficacy between laser ablation and RAIT. However, it mainly focused on the treatment of toxic thyroid nodules (9). To enhance treatment efficacy, a recent study reported promising results of combining the effect of thermal ablation and RAIT (10).
6. Conditions and Keywords
Primary Disease or Condition Being Studied in the Trial, or the Focus of the Study
Non Toxic Multinodular Goiter, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, RAI
7. Study Design
Primary Purpose
Health Services Research
Study Phase
Not Applicable
Interventional Study Model
Parallel Assignment
Model Description
group 1 is for HIFU treatment, group 2 is for RAI treatment
Masking
None (Open Label)
Allocation
Randomized
Enrollment
156 (Actual)
8. Arms, Groups, and Interventions
Arm Title
HIFU on NMNG
Arm Type
Active Comparator
Arm Description
The patients with non-toxic multinodular goiter are assigned to have high intensity focused ultrasound treatment.
Arm Title
RAI on NMNG
Arm Type
Active Comparator
Arm Description
The patients with non-toxic multinodular goiter are assigned to have radioactive iodine (i131) treatment.
Intervention Type
Device
Intervention Name(s)
Echopulse
Other Intervention Name(s)
High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)
Intervention Description
Echopulse is a real-time US-guided High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system, the HIFU session is a noninvasive procedure that involves application of a focused high-energy ultrasound beam for thermal tissue ablation inside the targeted zone, with minimal effect on the surrounding tissue
Intervention Type
Radiation
Intervention Name(s)
Radioactive iodine (Radioidine i131)
Intervention Description
Radioactive iodine (RAI) is a radioactive form of iodine that for ablation in thyroid disease (i.e. Graves' disease or few thyroid cancer)
Primary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
The absolute change in Thyroid nodule volume (TNV) after sequential HIFU treatment and a fixed-dose (370MBq) RAIT after 12 months.
Description
To compare the absolute change in Thyroid nodule volume (in cm^3) after sequential HIFU treatment and a fixed-dose (370MBq) RAIT after 12 months.
Time Frame
12 months
Secondary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
Change in total thyroid volume (TTV) (in cm^3)
Description
To compare the absolute change in TTV between HIFU and RAIT groups
Time Frame
12 months
Title
Change in the largest/dominant nodule dimensions
Description
To compare the change in the largest/dominant nodule dimensions (in cm) between HIFU and RAIT groups
Time Frame
12 months
Title
Incidence of treatment-related morbidities after HIFU/RAIT
Description
To compare incidence of treatment-related morbidities and hypothyroidism between HIFU and RAIT groups
Time Frame
12 months
Title
Change in World Health Organization goiter grade
Description
To compare WHO goiter grade over time between HIFU and RAIT groups
Time Frame
12 months
Title
Change in symptom improvement score
Description
To compare symptom improvement score (0-10) over time between HIFU and RAIT groups
Time Frame
12 months
Title
Change in pressure symptom score
Description
To assess the changes in pressure symptom score (by Visual Analogue Scale, VAS, scoring from 0-10, 0 is for no pressure and 10 is for the maximum pressure feeling as subjects' view) over time between the HIFU and RAIT groups.
Time Frame
12 months
Title
Change in quality of life
Description
To assess the changes in quality of life (QOL) using by "12-Item Short Form Survey (SF-12) (VERSION 2.0)" between the two treatment groups. SF-12 is scoring 70 in total, the higher score represent higher quality of life.
Time Frame
12 months
Title
Change in patient satisfaction
Description
To assess the changes in patient satisfaction (by Visual Analogue Scale, VAS, scoring from 0-10, 10 is for the maximum score representing well satisfaction) between the two treatment groups
Time Frame
12 months
Title
Compare the costs (in dollars)
Description
To compare the direct and indirect costs between HIFU and RAIT (in dollars)
Time Frame
12 months
10. Eligibility
Sex
All
Minimum Age & Unit of Time
18 Years
Maximum Age & Unit of Time
70 Years
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
Have a moderate-sized NMNG. The dimension of the largest nodule cannot exceed 50mm in diameter. Also on USG volumetry, the total combined volume of the three largest nodules (i.e. the largest nodule volume + second largest nodule volume + third largest nodule volume) or in short, TNV cannot exceed 80 mL or cm^3.
The NMNG has to benign. Each nodule within the goiter will be carefully evaluated on USG by an experienced clinician to look for suspicious features for malignancy. Suspicious-looking nodules will be biopsied by USG-guided FNAC. Only nodules with Bethesda II on FNAC will be considered benign.
Aged between 18 and 70 years old at the time of informed consent.
Have genuine cosmetic and/or pressure symptoms.
Have to have normal serum free T4 (FT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.
Exclusion Criteria:
Have a non-toxic diffuse goiter or a NMNG with the largest nodule < 20mm in diameter.
Prefer or have a clear indication for thyroidectomy (such as rapidly growing, compressive goiter or suspected or documented thyroid malignancy).
Have a pre-existing vocal cord palsy.
Unable to tolerate even slight neck extension during HIFU ablation.
Pregnant, lactating women or women wishing to become pregnant within 6 months.
Previous thyroid surgery or neck irradiation.
Family history of non-medullary thyroid carcinoma.
Have any medical conditions that would make them too ill to undergo treatment.
Overall Study Officials:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name & Degree
Hung Hin Brian Lang, MBBS(Hons)
Organizational Affiliation
The University of Hong Kong
Official's Role
Principal Investigator
Facility Information:
Facility Name
Queen Mary Hospital
City
Hong Kong
Country
Hong Kong
12. IPD Sharing Statement
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HIFU Ablation vs Fixed-dose RAI-131 Therapy in Moderate-sized Non-toxic MNG
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