How often staging laparoscopy finds hidden spread in liver, pancreas, and bile duct cancers

To Revisit the Yield of Staging Laparoscopy in Hepatopancreatobiliary Malignancies

This project will test whether staging laparoscopy still finds hidden metastases in people with suspected hepatopancreatobiliary cancers given modern imaging like CT, MRI, EUS, and PET-CT.

Quick facts

• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 350 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Years and up
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, India (Academic / other)
• Locations: 1 site (New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi)
• Trial ID: NCT07480005 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This ambispective cohort at the Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences includes all patients who underwent staging laparoscopy for suspected hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) malignancies from January 2012 to March 2026. The primary goal is to measure the yield of staging laparoscopy in detecting occult metastases, with secondary analyses of false positives/negatives, the incremental value of PET-CT over CT, and clinical or radiological predictors of findings. Eligible cases require preoperative CT scans with slice thickness ≤1.5 mm and exclude non-adenocarcinoma histologies, procedures without curative intent, and final benign histopathology.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Ideal candidates are patients with suspected HPB adenocarcinomas being considered for curative surgery who are scheduled for staging laparoscopy and have preoperative CT imaging with ≤1.5 mm slice thickness at ILBS, New Delhi.

Not a fit: Patients with non-adenocarcinoma tumors, those not undergoing surgery with curative intent, or those whose final diagnosis is benign would not be expected to benefit from this analysis.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, the results could help avoid unnecessary invasive procedures and guide surgeons on when staging laparoscopy is likely to change management.

How similar studies have performed: Earlier studies have shown that staging laparoscopy can detect occult metastases, but findings have been mixed and there is limited large-scale reappraisal in the era of modern high-resolution imaging.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

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All patients with suspected HPB malignancies undergoing staging laparoscopy before proceeding to laparotomy.

Pre-op CT scans of cut size less than or equal to 1.5 mm

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients undergoing staging laparoscopy without intent of curative resection in the same sitting.
2. malignancies other than adenocarcinoma
3. Final histopathology is benign

Where this trial is running

New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi

• Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences — New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi, India (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Study coordinator: Rahul Shivhare, MS

Conditions HPB Malignancies