HIFU Ablation vs Fixed-dose RAI-131 Therapy in Moderate-sized Non-toxic MNG

NCT ID: NCT04009863

Last Updated: 2022-05-20

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

156 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-04-01

Study Completion Date

2022-04-30

Brief Summary

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After obtaining informed consent, eligible subjects will be assigned randomly into either High intensity focused ultrasound group (HIFU) or Radioactive iodine (131I) therapy group (RAIT). After treatment, they will be followed up for 4 visits (1-month, 3-month, 6- month, 12-month of post treatment). At each visit, they will have physical examination, regular blood test and questionnaire to evaluate their quality of life. The collected data will be used to compare the effectiveness between HIFU and RAIT for non-toxic multi-nodular goiter (NMNG). The primary purepose is to find out the best non-invasive way in treating NMNG.

For HIFU, you may experience:

1. Mild bruising and redness at the site of treatment
2. Edema of the skin tissue
3. Pain/discomfort during the procedure
4. Skin burns but rare (\<1%)
5. Vocal cord paresis on the side of the treated lobe but rare (\<1%)
6. Unintentional damage to the surrounding tissue (outside the planned treatment area).

For RAIT, you may experience neck tenderness or sore throat in the following few days as developing moderate inflammation in the thyroid and producing discomfort in the neck or throat area. Your symptoms may turn worse for first few week, but will improve over weeks.

Detailed Description

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Non-toxic multinodular goiter (NMNG) is a condition referred to as a nodular enlargement of the thyroid gland due to the presence of two or more nodules without clinical hyper- or hypothyroidism. It is undoubtedly one of the most common thyroid disorders worldwide and it is estimated that more than 5% of the female population have a clinically-palpable NMNG (1,2).

Although the majority of NMNGs do not cause symptoms and therefore, do not require any intervention other than simple surveillance, some can cause local pressure symptoms and cosmetic concerns over time (1-3).

For NMNGs that cause symptoms, the most widely-accepted treatment has been surgical resection either in the form of a hemithyroidectomy or total thyroidectomy. Despite being safe when done in experienced hands, surgery is associated with complications such as recurrent laryngeal nerve injury and hypoparathyroidism, both of which can be permanent. In addition, a general anesthesia is almost inevitably required when surgery is performed. As a result, non-surgical thermal ablation techniques have been increasingly recognized as an alternative treatment in symptomatic NMNG (4). These ablation techniques utilize thermal energy to cause shrinkage of adenomatous nodules and thereby, relieve symptoms. Types of ablation include radiofrequency, laser and microwave ablations and more recently, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Regardless of which ablation technique, they have all been shown to not only induce significant nodule shrinkage but also alleviate symptoms (4-6). Radioactive iodine (131I) therapy (RAIT) is another promising non-surgical alterative which is recommended in patients who refuse or have contraindications for surgery. Despite being a less recognized treatment in both Asia and North America, this treatment has increasingly been adopted. In some European countries such as Denmark and Netherlands, it has replaced surgery as the treatment of choice in moderately-sized NMNG as recommended in recently-published clinical practice guidelines (1,7,8). However, RAIT has limitations. For example, it is less applicable in very large-sized NMNG (\>100 mL) because large goiters tend to have a lower radioiodine uptake leading to suboptimal shrinkage. Also considerable inconsistency in goiter shrinkage has been reported (7). With our population getting older and the general public placing a greater emphasis on preserving organ function and lessinvasive treatments, non-surgical treatment alternatives will have an increasing role in the future treatment of NMNG. To our knowledge, it remains unknown whether one particular treatment modality is superior over the other modality because there has not been any direct comparison between the two modalities. Only one previous study compared treatment efficacy between laser ablation and RAIT. However, it mainly focused on the treatment of toxic thyroid nodules (9). To enhance treatment efficacy, a recent study reported promising results of combining the effect of thermal ablation and RAIT (10).

Conditions

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Non Toxic Multinodular Goiter High Intensity Focused Ultrasound RAI

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

group 1 is for HIFU treatment, group 2 is for RAI treatment
Primary Study Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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HIFU on NMNG

The patients with non-toxic multinodular goiter are assigned to have high intensity focused ultrasound treatment.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Echopulse

Intervention Type DEVICE

Echopulse is a real-time US-guided High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system, the HIFU session is a noninvasive procedure that involves application of a focused high-energy ultrasound beam for thermal tissue ablation inside the targeted zone, with minimal effect on the surrounding tissue

RAI on NMNG

The patients with non-toxic multinodular goiter are assigned to have radioactive iodine (i131) treatment.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Radioactive iodine (Radioidine i131)

Intervention Type RADIATION

Radioactive iodine (RAI) is a radioactive form of iodine that for ablation in thyroid disease (i.e. Graves' disease or few thyroid cancer)

Interventions

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Echopulse

Echopulse is a real-time US-guided High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system, the HIFU session is a noninvasive procedure that involves application of a focused high-energy ultrasound beam for thermal tissue ablation inside the targeted zone, with minimal effect on the surrounding tissue

Intervention Type DEVICE

Radioactive iodine (Radioidine i131)

Radioactive iodine (RAI) is a radioactive form of iodine that for ablation in thyroid disease (i.e. Graves' disease or few thyroid cancer)

Intervention Type RADIATION

Other Intervention Names

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High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Have a moderate-sized NMNG. The dimension of the largest nodule cannot exceed 50mm in diameter. Also on USG volumetry, the total combined volume of the three largest nodules (i.e. the largest nodule volume + second largest nodule volume + third largest nodule volume) or in short, TNV cannot exceed 80 mL or cm\^3.
* The NMNG has to benign. Each nodule within the goiter will be carefully evaluated on USG by an experienced clinician to look for suspicious features for malignancy. Suspicious-looking nodules will be biopsied by USG-guided FNAC. Only nodules with Bethesda II on FNAC will be considered benign.
* Aged between 18 and 70 years old at the time of informed consent.
* Have genuine cosmetic and/or pressure symptoms.
* Have to have normal serum free T4 (FT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels.

Exclusion Criteria

* Have a non-toxic diffuse goiter or a NMNG with the largest nodule \< 20mm in diameter.
* Prefer or have a clear indication for thyroidectomy (such as rapidly growing, compressive goiter or suspected or documented thyroid malignancy).
* Have a pre-existing vocal cord palsy.
* Unable to tolerate even slight neck extension during HIFU ablation.
* Pregnant, lactating women or women wishing to become pregnant within 6 months.
* Previous thyroid surgery or neck irradiation.
* Family history of non-medullary thyroid carcinoma.
* Have any medical conditions that would make them too ill to undergo treatment.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

70 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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The University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Dr. Lang Hung Hin, Brian

Clinical Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Hung Hin Brian Lang, MBBS(Hons)

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

The University of Hong Kong

Locations

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Queen Mary Hospital

Hong Kong, , Hong Kong

Site Status

Countries

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Hong Kong

References

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Lang BH, Woo YC, Wong CKH. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Treatment of Symptomatic Benign Thyroid Nodules: A Prospective Study. Radiology. 2017 Sep;284(3):897-906. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2017161640. Epub 2017 Apr 18.

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Bonnema SJ, Hegedus L. Radioiodine therapy in benign thyroid diseases: effects, side effects, and factors affecting therapeutic outcome. Endocr Rev. 2012 Dec;33(6):920-80. doi: 10.1210/er.2012-1030. Epub 2012 Sep 7.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22961916 (View on PubMed)

Paschke R, Hegedus L, Alexander E, Valcavi R, Papini E, Gharib H. Thyroid nodule guidelines: agreement, disagreement and need for future research. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2011 Jun;7(6):354-61. doi: 10.1038/nrendo.2011.1. Epub 2011 Mar 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21364517 (View on PubMed)

Dossing H, Bennedbaek FN, Bonnema SJ, Grupe P, Hegedus L. Randomized prospective study comparing a single radioiodine dose and a single laser therapy session in autonomously functioning thyroid nodules. Eur J Endocrinol. 2007 Jul;157(1):95-100. doi: 10.1530/EJE-07-0094.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 17609407 (View on PubMed)

Mader A, Mader OM, Groner D, Korkusuz Y, Ahmad S, Grunwald F, Kranert WT, Happel C. Minimally invasive local ablative therapies in combination with radioiodine therapy in benign thyroid disease: preparation, feasibility and efficiency - preliminary results. Int J Hyperthermia. 2017 Dec;33(8):895-904. doi: 10.1080/02656736.2017.1320813. Epub 2017 May 5.

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Lang BHH, Woo YC, Chiu KW. Sequential high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation in the treatment of benign multinodular goitre: an observational retrospective study. Eur Radiol. 2018 Aug;28(8):3237-3244. doi: 10.1007/s00330-018-5333-2. Epub 2018 Mar 19.

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Lang BH, Woo YC, Chiu KW. Single-Session High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Treatment in Large-Sized Benign Thyroid Nodules. Thyroid. 2017 May;27(5):714-721. doi: 10.1089/thy.2016.0664. Epub 2017 Mar 22.

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Eng OS, Potdevin L, Davidov T, Lu SE, Chen C, Trooskin SZ. Does nodule size predict compressive symptoms in patients with thyroid nodules? Gland Surg. 2014 Nov;3(4):232-6. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2227-684X.2014.08.03.

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Zimmermann M, Saad A, Hess S, Torresani T, Chaouki N. Thyroid ultrasound compared with World Health Organization 1960 and 1994 palpation criteria for determination of goiter prevalence in regions of mild and severe iodine deficiency. Eur J Endocrinol. 2000 Dec;143(6):727-31. doi: 10.1530/eje.0.1430727.

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Wong KP, Lang BH, Ng SH, Cheung CY, Chan CT, Lo CY. A prospective, assessor-blind evaluation of surgeon-performed transcutaneous laryngeal ultrasonography in vocal cord examination before and after thyroidectomy. Surgery. 2013 Dec;154(6):1158-64; discussion 1164-5. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2013.04.063. Epub 2013 Aug 19.

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Royal College of Physicians. Radioiodine in the management of benign thyroid disease: clinical guidelines. Report of a Working Party. London: RCP, 2007. Available from: http://www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/guidelines/Radioiodine%20guidelines%202007.pdf

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Hospital Authority. 2013. Revisions to List of charges: G.N. 1488 to Gazette No. 12/2013. In Hong Kong Government Printers. Available: http://www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/english/gazette/toc.php [Accessed at 1st February 2018]

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

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UW 19-016

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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