Evaluating safety of a new treatment for high-grade glioma before surgery

A Phase 1 Single Center Clinical Trial Evaluating Safety of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid (5-ALA) Combined With CV01 Delivery of Ultrasound for Sonodynamic Therapy (SDT) in Patients With Newly Diagnosed High-Grade Glioma (HGG) Prior to Resection and Standard Adjuvant Therapy

Phase 1 Interventional Universität Münster · NCT06665724

This study is testing a new treatment using a combination of a special drug and ultrasound to see if it can safely help people with high-grade glioma before their surgery.

Quick facts

PhasePhase 1
Study typeInterventional
Enrollment14 (estimated)
Ages18 Years and up
SexAll
SponsorUniversität Münster Academic / other
Drugs / interventionschemotherapy, immunotherapy
Locations1 site (Münster)
Trial IDNCT06665724 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This clinical trial aims to assess the safety and potential efficacy of 5-aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride (5-ALA) combined with CV01 delivery of ultrasound for sonodynamic therapy in patients with newly diagnosed high-grade glioma. The study will enroll 10 patients who will receive this therapy 2 to 5 days prior to their scheduled surgical resection. Following the treatment, patients will undergo magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the effects before standard adjuvant therapy begins. Participants will be monitored for any toxicities or adverse events for 28 days post-treatment.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults aged 18 and older with newly diagnosed high-grade glioma who have not received prior treatment.

Not a fit: Patients with previous tumor-specific treatments or those with performance status worse than WHO 0-2 may not benefit from this study.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this treatment could improve outcomes for patients with high-grade glioma by enhancing tumor resection and potentially reducing recurrence.

How similar studies have performed: While this approach is novel, similar studies exploring sonodynamic therapy have shown promise in other contexts.

Eligibility criteria

Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age ≥ 18 years
2. WHO Performance Status of 0-2
3. Patients with cranial MRI displaying typical features of high-grade glioma on imaging or histologically proven high-grade glioma including GBM, anaplastic astrocytoma (AA), anaplastic oligodendroglioma (AO). No previous tumor specific treatment such as surgery (apart from biopsy), radio- or chemotherapy, antiangiogenic or immunotherapy.
4. Planned debulking or cytoreductive surgery
5. The following laboratory values at study entry

   1. Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1500 cells/mm3
   2. Platelet count ≥ 100,000 cells/mm3
   3. Hemoglobin (Hgb) \> 10g/dL
   4. AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 x Upper Limit of Normal (ULN)
   5. Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x ULN
   6. Creatine clearance (CrCL) as estimated by Cockcroft-Gault equation of

      ≥ 40 mL/min
   7. Blood clotting within acceptable limits according to investigator
6. For female and male patients and their female partners of childbearing/reproductive potential: Willingness to apply highly effective contraception (Pearl index \<1) during the entire study and in female patients for 6 months after the last application of Gliolan® and in male patients and their female partners for 3 months after the last application of Gliolan®.
7. Ability to understand and provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Infra-tentorial tumors
2. Patients who have clinically significant edema or tumor mass effect requiring urgent intervention (e.g., surgery, initiation of steroids, escalating doses of steroids)
3. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
4. Inability to undergo MRI or receive gadolinium (Gd)
5. Hypersensitivity to 5-ALA or porphyrins
6. Average skull thickness at the treatment field \> 10 mm from standard navigation CTs. The treatment field is defined as the various locations on the head where the transducer will be coupled to the patient. The average skull thickness at each treatment field will be determined through post-processing the thin cut head computed tomography (CT) scan (without contrast).
7. Hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke (including transient ischemic attacks) and central nervous system bleeding in the preceding 6 months that are not related to glioma biopsy. History of prior intratumoral bleeding is not an exclusion criterion; however, all patient's navigation CTs will be reviewed for the presence of fresh blood.
8. Participation in another interventional clinical trial during this trial or within 4 weeks before entry into this trial
9. Known acute or chronic types of porphyria
10. Gastrointestinal disorder that negatively affects absorption
11. Known active hepatitis B or C (Note: testing is not required)
12. Known Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (Note: testing is not required)
13. Unable to avoid photosensitising drugs (eg, St. John's wort, griseofulvin, thiazide diuretics, sulfonylureas, phenothiazines, sulfonamides, quinolones, and tetracyclines) for up to 2 weeks following 5-ALA administration
14. Any other concurrent severe and/or uncontrolled concomitant medical condition that could compromise participation in the study (e.g, clinically significant pulmonary disease, clinically significant psychiatric or neurological disorder, active or uncontrolled infection)
15. Diagnosis of other invasive cancer (except basal cell carcinoma/squamous cell carcinoma of the skin) within the last 5 years; adequately treated carcinoma in situ is allowed
16. Patient has a condition the investigator believes would interfere with the ability to provide informed consent or comply with study instructions, or that might confound the interpretation of the study results or put the patient at undue risk
17. Patients who are dependent on the sponsor, investigator or trial site
18. Patients who are committed to an institution by virtue of an order issued either by the judicial or the administrative authorities

Where this trial is running

Münster

Study contacts

How to participate

  1. Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
  2. Visit the official trial page on ClinicalTrials.gov for the most current contact information and recruitment status.
  3. Contact the listed study coordinator or principal investigator to request pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.
Conditions Anaplastic AstrocytomaAnaplastic OligodendrogliomaGlioblastomanewly diagnosed high-grade gliomasonodynamic therapy
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.