Can MRI-Guided radiation offer a safer way to treat kidney cancer?
NCT ID NCT07767500
First seen Aug 17, 2026 · Last updated Aug 21, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This trial is testing whether MRI-guided radiation therapy can treat early-stage kidney cancer with fewer side effects than standard CT-based radiation. The study enrolls adults with kidney cancer who are not candidates for surgery or who decline it. Participants receive a single, high-dose radiation treatment guided by real-time MRI, which allows precise targeting and motion tracking. The goal is to see if this approach reduces treatment-related complications while effectively controlling the cancer.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- MRI-guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) using the Elekta Unity MR linac system, delivering stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) at 26 Gy in one fraction.
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this approach could offer a safer, non-surgical treatment option for early-stage kidney cancer patients who cannot or choose not to have surgery, with fewer side effects.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase study (30 participants) without a comparison group, so results may not be definitive. Radiation to the kidney carries risks, including potential damage to surrounding organs.
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
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- 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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Aug 2026
- Expected to finish
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Oct 2030
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.
- Ages
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18 years 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: 1. Patients at or over 18 years old. 2. Patients may enter the study if they are diagnosed with bilateral kidney cancer, recurrent kidney cancer, or if they have previous or current history of a another primary cancer, given all other inclusion criteria met. 3. Have a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) of any histology, or radiographic diagnosis if biopsy is not clinically indicated, consistent with standard clinical practice where imaging findings provide sufficient diagnostic certainty. In such cases, biopsy may not be required to avoid additional procedural risk; however, inclusion of patients without histologic confirmation may introduce some diagnostic uncertainty, which will be considered in the interpretation of study results. 4. Patients must be deemed a suboptimal surgical or ablation candidate, as determined by the patient's primary urologist at NYU Langone Health and confirmed by multidisciplinary consensus, or may be individuals who decline surgery or ablation following appropriate clinical evaluation and discussion.. o At or before the time of enrollment, a note documenting multidisciplinary consensus supporting active treatment will be recorded in the patient's chart. 5. Tumor stage of cT1a-b, cN0, M0 (i.e. less than 7 cm in greatest dimension). 6. Be technically and anatomically appropriate for MRI-guided radiation therapy, as determined by patient's primary radiation oncologist. o Factors considered will include distance between tumor and bowel, tumor movement with respiration as assessed by 4-dimensional (4D) imaging, and prior radiotherapy in close proximity to treatment which would lead to high dose overlap from the prior radiation fields. 7. Have Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-2. 8. Have life expectancy of 2 years or more. Exclusion Criteria: 1. An MRI contraindication (e.g. severe claustrophobia or MRI-incompatible device). In the event of mild claustrophobia, patients will be permitted to take anti-anxiety medication as required for simulation and treatment. 2. A pre-treatment estimated glomerular filtration rate \< 30 cc/min. 3. Visceral, nodal, or bony metastatic disease. 4. Is pregnant or expecting to conceive within the projected duration of the trial at the screening visit. 5. Pregnant or breastfeeding individuals, or individuals of childbearing potential who have a positive pregnancy test at screening or prior to radiation treatment initiation. 6. Individuals of childbearing potential who are unwilling to use one highly effective method of contraception and one additional effective method of contraception, or abstain from heterosexual intercourse, during study participation and for 6 months after completion of study therapy. 7. Previous high dose radiation treatment to an overlapping area. 8. Has a diagnosis of active scleroderma, lupus, or other rheumatologic disease which in the opinion of the treating radiation oncologist precludes safe radiation therapy. 9. Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial. 10. Is on systemic therapy that is reasonably expected to modify radiation sensitivity and cannot be stopped for a sufficient washout period to allow for radiation treatment.
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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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NYU Langone Health
RECRUITINGNew York, New York, 10016, United States