The SAFE-Trial: Awake Craniotomy Versus Surgery Under General Anesthesia for Glioblastoma Patients.

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The SAFE-Trial: Awake Craniotomy Versus Surgery Under General Anesthesia for Glioblastoma Patients.

Study Purpose

The trial is designed as a multicenter randomized controlled study. 246 patients with presumed Glioblastoma Multiforme in eloquent areas on diagnostic MRI will be selected by the neurosurgeons according the eligibility criteria (see under). After written informed consent is obtained, the patient will be randomized for an awake craniotomy (AC) (+/-123 patients) or craniotomy under general anesthesia (GA) (+/-123 patients), with 1:1 allocation ratio. Under GA the amount of resection of the tumour has to be performed within safe margins as judged by the surgeon during surgery. The second group will be operated with an awake craniotomy procedure where the resection boundaries for motor or language functions will be identified by direct cortical and subcortical stimulation. After surgery, the diagnosis of GBM will have to be histologically confirmed. If GBM is not histologically confirmed, patients will be considered off-study and withdrawn from the study. These patients will be followed-up according to standard practice. Thereafter, patients will receive the standard treatment with concomitant Temozolomide and radiation therapy and standard follow up. Total duration of the study is 5 years. Patient inclusion is expected to take 4 years. Follow-up is 1 year after surgery. Statistical analysis, cost benefit analysis and article writing will take 3 months.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms	No
Study Type An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes. An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes. Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.	Interventional
Eligible Ages	18 Years - 90 Years
Gender	All

More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age ≥18 years and ≤ 90 years. 2. Tumor diagnosed as Glioblastoma Multiforme on MRI with distinct ring-like pattern of contrast enhancement with thick irregular walls and a core area reduced signal suggestive of tumour necrosis as assessed by the surgeon. 3. Tumors situated in or near eloquent areas; motor cortex, sensory cortex, subcortical pyramidal tract or speech areas as indicated on MRI (Sawaya Grading II and II) 4. The tumor is suitable for resection (according to neurosurgeon) 5. Karnofsky performance scale 80 or more. 6. Written Informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Tumors of the cerebellum, brain stem or midline. 2. Multifocal contrast enhancing lesions. 3. Substantial non-contrast enhancing tumor areas suggesting low grade gliomas with malignant transformation. 4. Medical reasons precluding MRI (eg, pacemaker) 5. Inability to give consent because of or language barrier. 6. Psychiatric history. 7. Previous brain tumour surgery. 8. Previous low-grade glioma. 9. Second primary malignancy within the past 5 years with the exception of adequately treated in situ carcinoma of any organ or basal cell carcinoma of the skin. 10. Severe aphasia or dysphasia

Trial Details

Trial ID: This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.	NCT03861299
Phase Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans. Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data. Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs. Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.	N/A
Lead Sponsor The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.	Jasper Gerritsen
Principal Investigator The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.	Arnaud Vincent, MD PhD
Principal Investigator Affiliation	Erasmus Medical Center
Agency Class Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.	Other
Overall Status	Recruiting
Countries	Belgium, Netherlands
Conditions The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.	Glioblastoma, Glioblastoma Multiforme, Glioblastoma Multiforme of Brain, Astrocytoma, Grade IV, Brain Tumor, Brain Cancer, Brain Neoplasms

Additional Details

Rationale Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) or Astrocytoma's grade IV (WHO) are devastating tumors with one of the worst prognoses in oncology. Extending resection improves survival in patients with GBM. Surgery of GBM nowadays is usually performed under general anesthesia (GA) and resections are not as aggressive as possible, due to the chance of seriously damaging the patient with a rather low life expectancy. A surgical technique optimizing resection of the tumor in eloquent areas but preventing neurological deficits is necessary to improve survival and quality of life in these patients. Awake craniotomy (AC) with the use of cortical and subcortical stimulation is an alternative surgical technique that is standardly implemented in surgery for low grade glioma, but not yet for GBM. AC has shown to increase resection percentage and preserve quality of life in low grade glioma (LGG) and could be of important value in the surgery of GBM. Objective The study is performed to increase safety and efficacy during surgery in patients with GBM in eloquent areas. This study will compare awake craniotomy with surgery under general anesthesia for patients with GBM near or in eloquent areas. Primary end points are: 1) Proportion of patients with NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) deterioration at 6 weeks post- surgery, where deterioration is defined as at least one point increase in total NIHSS score compared to baseline. 2) Proportion of patients without residual contrast-enhancing tumour on postoperative MRI. Secondary end points are: 1) Health related quality of life (HRQoL) at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months after operation. 2) Progression-free survival (PFS) at 12 months after operation. 3) Overall survival (OS) at 12 months after operation. 4) Frequency and severity of Serious Adverse Effects in each group: Infections, intracranial bleeding, epilepsy, aphasia, paresis/paralysis in arms or/and legs. Also, a cost benefit analysis will be performed. Study design The trial is set up as a multicenter randomized controlled study. The study will include 246 patients in 5 neurosurgical centers in the Netherlands. Patients with GBM in eloquent areas on diagnostic MRI will be selected by the neurosurgeons according to the eligibility criteria. After informed consent the patient will be randomized for awake craniotomy (AC) or regular craniotomy under general anesthesia (GA) with 1:1 allocation ratio. After surgery, only patients with histologically proven GBM will continue with the study. Patients in whom no GBM could not be proven histologically, will be considered off-study. Thereafter, patients will receive the standard treatment with concomitant Temozolomide and radiation therapy and standard follow up. Total duration of the study is 5 years. Patient inclusion is 4 years. Follow-up is 1 year. Study population Patients aged 18-90 years old, with Glioblastoma Multiforme near or in eloquent areas and eligible for awake craniotomy. Intervention Awake craniotomy compared to craniotomy under general anaesthesia. Main study parameters/endpoints. 1. Proportion of patients with NIHSS deterioration at 6 weeks post-surgery. 2. Proportion of patients without residual contrast-enhancing tumour on postoperative MRI. Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness Patients have 50% chance to be randomized for an awake procedure. The risk-benefit-ratio of this procedure in patients with GBM is subject of this trial and the investigators expect less neurological morbidity than surgery under generalised anaesthesia. Three quality of life questionnaires and 1 neurological examination will take place preoperatively, 6 weeks after, 3 months after and 6 months after the surgery. The burden of this trial for the patient is therefore confined.

Arms & Interventions

Arms

Experimental: Awake craniotomy

Cortical stimulation is performed with a bipolar electrical stimulator. The Boston naming test and repetition of words is done in cooperation with a neuropsychologist/linguist, who will inform the neurosurgeon of any kind of speech arrest or dysarthria. When localizing the motor and sensory cortex, the patient is asked to report any unintended movement or sensation in extremities or face. Functional cortical areas are marked with a number. When the tumour margins or white matter is encountered or when on regular neuronavigation the eloquent white matter tracts are thought to be in close proximity, subcortical stimulation (biphasic currents of 8-16 mA, pulse frequency 60 Hz, single pulse phase duration of 100 microsec., 2-second train) is performed to localize functional tracts.

Active Comparator: Craniotomy under general anesthesia

Trephination and tumour resection are performed without any additional neuro-psychological monitoring or brain mapping, guided by STEALTH-neuronavigation.

Interventions

Procedure: - Awake craniotomy

Awake craniotomy

Procedure: - Craniotomy under general anesthesia

Craniotomy under general anesthesia

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.