Advanced MRI for Recurrent Brain Tumors and Radiation Damage

This study is looking at whether special types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can help tell the difference between brain tumors that have come back and damage to brain tissue caused by radiation treatment (radiation necrosis). Doctors often use radiation to treat brain tumors, but it can be hard to tell if changes seen on regular MRI scans are a new tumor or radiation damage. This study uses advanced MRI techniques, including DR-CSI and sodium MRI, to try and make this distinction clearer. You might be able to join if you are over 18, have a metastatic brain tumor (cancer that has spread to the brain), and are scheduled for surgery or radiation treatment called stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). The study aims to see if these advanced MRI images can help predict how you will do after treatment.

Study design
This interventional study plans to enroll 42 participants. It is not specified if it is randomized or blinded.
What's involved
You would undergo advanced DR-CSI and sodium MRI scans, and potentially clinical MRI and tissue sample collection. The timing of these procedures depends on whether you are in Aim 1 (before surgery/biopsy) or Aim 2 (before and after SRS for up to 6 months).
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
For some participants, imaging changes will be measured at baseline, 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

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NCT07339085

Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Identification of Recurrent Brain Tumors and Radiation Necrosis

Recruiting
NAAges 18+InterventionalDiagnostic
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
~42 participants
Updated 2026-01-15 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Advanced Magnetic Resonance ImagingBiospecimen CollectionMagnetic Resonance Imaging

At a glance

Recruiting sites
1 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Imaging features of recurrent brain metastasis (rBM) and radiation necrosis (RN) (Aim 1)
Measured over At time of advanced magnetic resonance imaging: Baseline
+2 more outcomes measured
Malignant Brain Neoplasm
Metastatic Malignant Neoplasm in the Brain
1 sites across 1 states
California1
  • Jingwen Yao · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · UCLA / Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Age \> 18 years old
Diagnosed with metastatic brain tumor
AIM 1: Scheduled for surgical resection or tissue biopsy +/- laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT)
AIM 2: Scheduled for SRS treatment

Exclusion

Patients with contraindications to MRI, severe renal impairment
Patients with evidence of disseminated leptomeningeal disease
  • Imaging features of recurrent brain metastasis (rBM) and radiation necrosis (RN) (Aim 1)At time of advanced magnetic resonance imaging: Baseline

    Will compute the diffusion-relaxation (DR) spectra and total sodium concentration (TSC) within biopsy regions of interest and use Student t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, depending on the data distribution, to compare imaging features between rBM and RN groups. Specifically, for DR spectra, the test statistic at each spectral location will be used to identify spectral components associated viable tumor and treatment effect. The information will subsequently be used to partition the voxel-wise DR spectra and compute voxel-wise "viable tumor" and "treatment effect" fraction maps. Multivariate logistic regression models will assess the predictive value of the imaging biomarkers, including DR-correlation spectrum imaging (CSI) spectral components and TSC. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis will evaluate diagnostic performance, calculating area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, and optimal cutoff values for differentiating rBM and RN.

  • Stereotacic imaging-guided biopsies and correlation with tissue quantifications (Aim 1)Up to completion of surgery

    Will prospectively acquire DR-CSI and sodium imaging-guided biopsies of tumor tissue in regions with different imaging characteristics. Pearson or Spearman correlations will be computed between imaging features and quantitative histological measures of cellularity, extracellular fraction, and percentages of tumor and necrosis.

  • Early imaging changes as predictors of clinical outcomes (Aim 2)At baseline and 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months post-stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)

    Will compute DR-CSI spectral components and TSC at each time point. Repeated measure analysis of variance will assess imaging changes over time. Will also plot trajectories of imaging biomarkers to visualize temporal patterns. Multivariate logistic regression models will evaluate early imaging changes (2 weeks and 3 months) as predictors of 6-month outcomes. Lesions will be stratified into responders (complete or partial response) and non-responders (stable disease or progression) based on their Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology Brain Metastases assessment at 6-month post-SRS. ROC curves will assess the predictive performance of early microstructural imaging changes and the multivariate model. Primary tumor type will be included as a covariate in analyses.