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NCT02243878CompletedPhase 3

Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Wet AMD (STAR)

StereoTactic Radiotherapy for Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (STAR): A Randomised, Double-masked, Sham-controlled, Clinical Trial Comparing Low-voltage X-ray Irradiation With as Needed Ranibizumab, to as Needed Ranibizumab Monotherapy.

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 6 Aug 2025

Brief summary (registry, in English)

This study investigates the use of radiation to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The radiation is delivered using a robotically controlled device that projects overlapping beams of radiation onto the macula, the part of the eye that is affected by wet AMD. Participants will be randomized to receive radiation (stereotactic radiotherapy) or simulated placebo treatment (sham control). They will be followed up regularly for two years, and then again at the end of three and four years for a safety visit. Participants will also receive injections of ranibizumab (Lucentis) into their eye if their wet AMD is active. Ranibizumab is the standard anti-VEGF agent that is used to treat wet AMD. The study aims to determine if stereotactic radiosurgery can maintain vision and reduce the need for such regular anti-VEGF injections.

Status (registry)
Completed
Phase (registry)
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
411 (estimated)
First submitted
8 Sept 2014
Start date
Dec 2014
Primary completion date
Dec 2021
Lead sponsor
King's College Hospital NHS Trust
NCT number
NCT02243878

What you commit to

  • Study type: Interventional · Phase 3
  • Planned participants: 411
  • From Dec 2014 to the primary completion date, Dec 2021
  • 30 sites in 1 country
  • Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them

Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.

Who cannot take part

Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.

Prior treatment

  • Prior or current therapies in the study eye for age-related macular degeneration, other than anti-VEGF agents, including submacular surgery, subfoveal thermal laser photocoagulation, photodynamic therapy (PDT), or transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT).
  • Previous radiation therapy to the study eye, head, or neck with the exception of radio-iodine treatment for hyperthyroidism, epimacular brachytherapy to the non-study eye, or Oraya SRT to the non-study eye.
  • Intraocular surgery or laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in the study eye within 12 weeks prior to enrolment.
  • Prior pars plana vitrectomy in the study eye.
  • Women who are pregnant at the time of radiotherapy.
  • Participants with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) or pacemaker implant (or any implanted device) where the device labelling specifically contraindicates patients undergoing X-ray.

Other illness

  • Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus.
  • Study eyes with CNV due to causes other than AMD, including presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (POH), angioid streaks, multifocal choroiditis, choroidal rupture, and pathological myopia (greater than 8 Dioptres spherical equivalent). Participants with retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) or idiopathic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (IPCV) are not excluded.
  • Known allergy to intravenous fluorescein, ICG or intravitreal ranibizumab.
  • Any other condition, which in the judgment of the investigator, would prevent the participant from granting informed consent or completing the study, such as dementia, and mental illness (including generalized anxiety disorder and claustrophobia).

Other

  • Disciform scarring that involves the fovea, in the study eye.
  • Visual acuity worse than 6/96 (24 ETDRS letters) in the study eye.
  • Lesion size greater than 4 mm in greatest linear dimension, or greater than 2 mm from the centre of the fovea to the furthest point on the lesion perimeter.
  • An axial length of less than 20 mm, or greater than 26 mm, in the study eye.
  • Contraindication or sensitivity to contact lens application, including recurrent corneal erosions, in the study eye.
  • Retinopathy in the study eye.
  • Presence of an intravitreal device in the study eye.
  • Inadequate pupillary dilation or significant media opacities in the study eye, including cataract, which may interfere with visual acuity testing, the clinical evaluation of the posterior segment, or fundus imaging.
  • Current participation in another interventional clinical trial, or participation in such a clinical trial within the last six months.
  • Unwilling, unable, or unlikely to return for scheduled follow-up for the duration of the trial.

Who the study is looking for

  • Participants must have neovascular AMD in the study eye, for which they have received at least 3 prior intravitreal injections of either bevacizumab (Avastin), aflibercept (Eylea), ranibizumab (Lucentis), or pegaptanib (Macugen).
  • Participants must have received an anti-VEGF injection in the study eye within 3 months prior to enrolment.
  • Participants must require treatment with anti-VEGF therapy at the time of enrolment, due to OCT evidence of subretinal fluid and/or cystoid macular oedema, and have a macular volume that is greater than the 95th percentile of normal for the SD-OCT machines used in the investigational sites.
  • Participants must be at least 50 years of age.

Age in the registry: 50 years to 110 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers

Full criteria on ClinicalTrials.gov

Sites (30)

Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.

SiteCityCountrySite status
Stoke Mandeville Hospital
Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status
AylesburyUnited KingdomUnknown status
Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust
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BirminghamUnited KingdomUnknown status
Royal Blackburn Hospital
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BlackburnUnited KingdomUnknown status
Sussex Eye Hospital
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BrightonUnited KingdomUnknown status
Bristol Eye Hospital
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BristolUnited KingdomUnknown status
Addenbrooke's Hospital
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CambridgeUnited KingdomUnknown status
Essex County Hospital
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ColchesterUnited KingdomUnknown status
Leighton Hospital
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CreweUnited KingdomUnknown status
Royal Derby Hospital
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DerbyUnited KingdomUnknown status
Dorset County Hospital
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DorchesterUnited KingdomUnknown status
Frimley Park Hospital
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FrimleyUnited KingdomUnknown status
James Paget University Hospital
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Great YarmouthUnited KingdomUnknown status
Calderdale Royal Hospital
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HalifaxUnited KingdomUnknown status
The Princess Alexandra Hospital
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HarlowUnited KingdomUnknown status
Hinchingbrooke Hospital
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HuntingdonUnited KingdomUnknown status
Whipps Cross Hospital
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LeytonstoneUnited KingdomUnknown status
Lincoln Country Hospital
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LincolnUnited KingdomUnknown status
Epsom and St Helier Hospital
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LondonUnited KingdomUnknown status
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
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LondonUnited KingdomUnknown status
Central Middlesex Hospital
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LondonUnited KingdomUnknown status
Maidstone Hospital
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MaidstoneUnited KingdomUnknown status
Manchester Royal Eye Hospital
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ManchesterUnited KingdomUnknown status
Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital
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NorwichUnited KingdomUnknown status
Queen's Hospital
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RomfordUnited KingdomUnknown status
Salisbury District Hospital
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SalisburyUnited KingdomUnknown status
Royal Hallamshire Hospital
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SheffieldUnited KingdomUnknown status
Hillingdon Hospital
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UxbridgeUnited KingdomUnknown status
Ashford William Harvey Hospital
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WillesboroughUnited KingdomUnknown status
New Cross Hospital
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WolverhamptonUnited KingdomUnknown status
Yeovil District Hospital
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YeovilUnited KingdomUnknown status

Related publications

This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.