Can radiation beads shrink untreatable liver tumors?

NCT ID NCT06773845

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Aug 20, 2026 · Last updated Aug 21, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This trial tests a targeted radiation therapy for people with large, localized liver cancer that cannot be surgically removed. Tiny glass beads carrying Yttrium-90 are injected into the liver's blood vessels to deliver a high dose of radiation directly to tumors. Researchers will track how well the tumors shrink and how long patients live over two years, while also monitoring side effects.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
Yttrium-90 glass microspheres (TheraSphere) delivered via radioembolization
What this could lead to
If successful, this approach could offer a new way to control large liver tumors that are currently hard to treat, potentially improving survival and quality of life.
What could go wrong
This is a phase 2 trial, so results are preliminary. High-dose radiation may cause liver damage or other side effects, and not all tumors may respond as hoped.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Phase 2

Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.

Participants

About 100 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Mar 2025

Expected to finish

Dec 2030

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

19 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion criteria * Adult aged 19 and over * HCC diagnosed by histology or non-invasive criteria of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease * Unresectable HCC beyond the UT7 criteria: the sum of the diameter of the largest tumor (cm) and the number of tumors \> 7 * Localized HCC: all tumors are in the one to five geographically adjacent Couinaud segments * No current or previous HCC in the untreated liver (i.e., future liver remnant \[FLR\]) * FLR volume \> 30% of total non-tumorous liver volume * Child-Pugh class A * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤ 1 * No major organ dysfunction according to blood test performed within two months of study enrollment: * Leukocytes ≥ 2,000/µL and ≤ 15,000/µL * Hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL (transfusion allowed to meet this criterion) * Total bilirubin ≤ 2.0 mg/dL * Platelet ≥ 40,000/µL * International normalized ratio (INR) ≤ 2.0 for patients not taking anticoagulants * Aspartate transaminase (AST) ≤ 200 IU/L (i.e., ≤ 5X upper normal limit) * Alanine transaminase (ALT) ≤ 200 IU/L (i.e., ≤ 5X upper normal limit) * Creatinine ≤ 2.5 mg/dL * Patients with a life expectancy of more than 3 months * For women of childbearing age, a negative serum pregnancy test * Patients who have adequately understood the clinical trial and consented in writing Exclusion Criteria: * HCC with vascular invasion and/or bile duct invasion on dynamic computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) * HCC with extrahepatic spread on chest CT and abdominal CT or MRI * Multinodular disseminated HCC: largest tumor size \< 6 cm, or number of tumors \> 10 * Patients who are not suitable for ablative radioembolization as indicated by pre-treatment mapping with 99mTc-macroaggregated albumin (MAA): * Cases where the estimated lung dose exceeds 30 Gy when 350 Gy of tumor absorbed dose is administered to the tumor based on the multicompartment Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) model * Cases with severe hepatic artery-portal vein shunting that might lead to irradiation of the non-tumorous liver segments * Cases where the operator determines that there is substantial adhesion with the surrounding organs such as the bowel, making ablative radioembolization infeasible * Cases where the operator judges that the occurrence of even mild radiation pneumonitis could be fatal, based on marked emphysema or interstitial lung disease findings on chest CT * Patients who have had active cancer within the last two years prior to the study enrollment * History of severe allergy of intolerance to contrast agents * Contraindication to angiography or selective visceral catheterization

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    8 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Gangneung Asan Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Gangneung, Gangwon-do, 25440, South Korea

  • Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, 14068, South Korea

  • National Cancer Center

    RECRUITING

    Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do, 10408, South Korea

  • Samsung Medical Center

    RECRUITING

    Seoul, 06351, South Korea

  • Seoul Asan Hospital

    NOT_YET_RECRUITING

    Seoul, 05505, South Korea

  • Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 13620, South Korea

  • Seoul National University Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Seoul, 03080, South Korea

  • Severance Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Seoul, 03722, South Korea

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