New imaging method aims to spot rare childhood and adult cancers without surgery
NCT ID NCT07195500
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study is testing whether special PET scans using targeted tracers can accurately find and stage neuroblastoma and pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma tumors. About 30 people aged 1 to 70 will receive an injection of a radioactive tracer and then have a PET scan. The scan results will be compared to standard biopsy results to see how well the imaging works. The goal is to improve diagnosis and staging without relying solely on surgery.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
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About 30 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Dec 2024
- Expected to finish
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Jun 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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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.
Who is studied
This single-center cohort comprises pediatric and adult patients with suspected or confirmed neuroblastoma (NB) or pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PPGL) who are referred for somatostatin receptor (SSTR) and/or norepinephrine transporter (NET)-targeted molecular imaging as part of diagnostic evaluation, staging, restaging, suspected recurrence assessment, response evaluation, or treatment planning (e.g., selection for peptide receptor radionuclide therapy or 131I-MIBG therapy). Participants are enrolled primarily from oncology, endocrinology, and nuclear medicine clinics of a tertiary academic medical center, with referrals from affiliated hospitals; most imaging is performed in the outpatient setting, with inpatient cases included when clinically indicated. Both sexes and all racial/ethnic groups are eligible, reflecting the catchment population. The study population includes a prespecified subset undergoing multi-tracer imaging when clinically justified and feasible, and a PET/MRI su
- Ages
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6 months and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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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 Hide 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: * Age: ≥6 months (pediatric and adult). * Suspected or confirmed diagnosis of neuroblastoma (NB) or pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PPGL). * Clinical indication for SSTR and/or NET-targeted molecular imaging for initial staging, restaging, suspected recurrence, response assessment, or treatment planning. * Ability to undergo PET/CT or PET/MRI and/or SPECT/CT per protocol; for the PET/MRI subset, no MRI contraindications. * Provision of written informed consent/assent per local regulations. * Women of childbearing potential: negative pregnancy test within 72 hours prior to tracer administration and agreement to use effective contraception during the imaging window. * For the multi-tracer subset (if applicable): willingness to undergo two imaging studies within a predefined window (e.g., ≤28 days) without intervening antitumor therapy. Exclusion Criteria: * Pregnant or breastfeeding; breastfeeding participants unwilling to follow tracer-specific lactation interruption guidance per institutional policy. * Any condition that, in the investigator's judgment, precludes safe imaging or protocol compliance (e.g., uncontrolled cardiorespiratory disease, severe claustrophobia not amenable to sedation/anxiolysis). * Known hypersensitivity to study radiopharmaceuticals or their excipients. * Use of interfering medications without feasible washout: NET imaging: drugs that affect catecholamine transport/storage (e.g., labetalol, tricyclic antidepressants, certain sympathomimetics) per site SOPs. SSTR imaging: long-acting somatostatin analogues within \~3-4 weeks or short-acting within \~24-48 hours, unless clinically unavoidable. * Prior therapeutic or high-dose 131I-MIBG within a period that would confound diagnostic imaging or dosimetry (e.g., within 6 months), at the investigator's discretion. * Contraindications to required modality-specific procedures (e.g., MRI-incompatible implants for PET/MRI; iodinated/gadolinium contrast contraindication only if contrast is mandated and no alternative pathway is acceptable). * Inability to lie still for the required acquisition time and sedation not feasible per institutional policy. * Concurrent participation in an interventional study or receipt of anticancer therapy that would confound imaging interpretation within the imaging window; for multi-tracer comparisons, any interval systemic therapy between scans.
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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.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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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
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Nanjing First Hospital
RECRUITINGNanjing, Jiangsu, 210000, China
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