Spine Radiosurgery for Symptomatic Metastatic Neoplasms

Official title

Spine Patient Optimal Radiosurgery Treatment for Symptomatic Metastatic Neoplasms (SPORTSMEN) Multicenter Randomized Phase II Clinical Trial

Overview

The purpose of this study is to compare three types of radiation therapy for cancer that has spread to the spine. The two types of radiation therapy used in this trial are External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). EBRT delivers tightly targeted radiation beams from outside the body. SBRT is a specialized type of radiation therapy that allows high doses of radiation to small targets. This study will include standard dose SBRT and higher dose SBRT. Each participant will be randomly assigned to either EBRT, standard dose SBRT, or higher dose SBRT.

Detailed description

Metastatic spine cancer incidence is increasing; the primary treatment is radiation therapy. Metastatic spine disease has been historically treated with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) with conventional fractionation, yielding relatively limited durability in pain control. The increased lifespan of patients with metastatic cancer has resulted in an increase in the incidence of spine metastases, which has led to a need for more durable treatment results. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)/Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of the spine has exponentially increased, with the theoretical advantages of higher tumoricidal dose and more rapid fall off between tumor and surrounding normal tissue compared with EBRT. The goal of this study is to compare three types of radiation therapy to draw conclusions on what is an effective treatment to reduce pain and increase pain freedom rates.

Patients in this trial will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio into one of three treatment arms: SBRT (24 Gy in 2 fractions), SBRT (19 Gy in 1 fraction), or conventional EBRT (8 Gy in 1 fraction). Participants will complete three questionnaires-the Brief Pain Inventory, COST-FACIT, and EuroQol EQ-5D-at baseline and again during the 3- to 12-month follow-up period.

Interventions

• Radiation Conventional external beam radiation therapy dose (EBRT)
  Participants will undergo 8 Gray in 1 fraction of EBRT. Questionnaires (brief pain inventory, COST-FACIT, EuroQol EQ-5D) will be administered at baseline, and again at 3,6,9,12 month follow-up.
• Radiation Spine radiosurgery/stereotactic body radiation therapy standard dose
  Participants will undergo 24 Gray in 2 fractions of SBRT. Questionnaires (brief pain inventory, COST-FACIT, EuroQol EQ-5D) will be administered at baseline, and again at 3,6,9,12 month follow-up.
• Radiation Spine radiosurgery/stereotactic body radiation therapy high dose
  Participants will undergo 19 Gray in 1 fraction of SBRT. Questionnaires (brief pain inventory, COST-FACIT, EuroQol EQ-5D) will be administered at baseline, and again at 3,6,9,12 month follow-up.

Primary outcome measures

• Proportion of patients who experience 3-month pain freedom based on BPI score [Time frame: 3 months]

Secondary outcome measures (7)

• Proportion of patients who experienced 6-month pain freedom based on the BPI score [Time frame: 6 months]
• Local control actuarial rate at 6-months [Time frame: 6 months]
• Vertebral compression fracture rate at 6-months [Time frame: 6 months]
• Proportion of patients who experienced progression-free survival [Time frame: 6 months]
• Vertebral compression fracture rate at 12-months [Time frame: 12 months]
• Perceived demographic disparities in patients at 3-month follow-up [Time frame: 3 months]
• Perceived demographic disparities in patients at 6-month follow-up [Time frame: 6 months]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Participant must have histologic confirmation of malignancy. Spinal metastatic disease must be confirmed by imaging.
• Participant must have received no prior therapies for this disease. Prior therapy includes previous radiation therapy encompassing the anatomic site to be treated with spine SBRT. This includes any previous radiation therapy where the treatment field overlaps with the anatomic site to be treated with spine SBRT (even if that previous radiation therapy was not for treatment of spinal disease). Systemic radiation therapy for metastatic disease such as Pluvicto also counts as previous radiation therapy.
• Age >18 years. This study requires informed consent by the participant; as children are not able to perform this without parental approval, Participant < age 18 are excluded from this study.
• Life expectancy of≥ 3 months, in the opinion of and as documented by the investigator.
• Participant must have a worst pain score < 2 of 10 according to the Brief Pain Inventory
• Participant must have no intention of changing pain medications on the first day of SBRT
• Participant must have a Spinal Instability score (SINS) ≤ 12
• Participant must be a spine SBRT candidate per Radiation Oncology
• Participant must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Exclusion criteria

• Participant receiving any other investigational agents.
• Participant with prognosis less than 3 months will be excluded from this clinical trial because of their poor prognosis and decreased likelihood to meet the primary endpoint
• Participant with uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
• Pregnant or nursing Participant are excluded due to toxicity of radiation therapy.
• Participant is unable to receive MRI of the spine
• Participant has a Spinal Instability in Neoplasia score (SINS) ≥ 12
• Participant has received previous stereotactic radiosurgery where the 50% isodose line overlaps with current treatment field
• Participant has more than 3 consecutive vertebral bodies in the SBRT treatment volume
• Participant is not an SBRT candidate per radiation oncology discretion
• Participant has a known primary and has an estimated median survival≤ 3 months
• Participant has an unknown primary
• Participant has a Brief Pain Inventory score > 2
• Participant has received previous radiation therapy involving the intended SBRT treatment field
• Participant has received previous spinal surgical procedure involving the SBRT target volume. Biopsy is not considered a previous spinal surgical procedure.
• Participant has neurological deficits from malignant cauda equina compression or epidural spinal cord compression

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

United States · 2 centers

• Johns Hopkins University Hospitals — Baltimore
• OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center — Oklahoma City

Publications

• Oboh EC, Anwar M, Perry L, Cleaver N, McClelland S 3rd. Early Economic and Patient-Centered Outcomes Before Spine Metastases Radiation Therapy From an Ongoing Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial. Am J Clin Oncol. 2026 Jun 16. doi: 10.1097/COC.0000000000001346. Online ahead of print. PMID 42302152
• Gardner UG Jr, Brawley OW, Obi EE, Redmond KJ, McClelland S 3rd. Establishing a Protocol to Increase Racial/Ethnic Under-Represented Minority Enrollment on an Active Radiation Oncology Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial. Am J Clin Oncol. 2025 Jun 1;48(6):310-313. doi: 10.1097/COC.0000000000001174. Epub 2025 Feb 11. PMID 39930584
• McClelland S 3rd, Sun Y, Spratt DE. Spine Patient Optimal Radiosurgery Treatment for Symptomatic Metastatic Neoplasms (SPORTSMEN): a randomized phase II study protocol. Rep Pract Oncol Radiother. 2023 Jul 25;28(3):379-388. doi: 10.5603/RPOR.a2023.0037. eCollection 2023. PMID 37795393

Identifiers

NCT: NCT05617716 · OU-SCC-SPORTSMEN

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗