Imaging oxygen levels in tumours of people with spreading stomach or oesophageal cancer
Tests a PET/MRI scan with FAZA dye in adults with spreading gastro-oesophageal cancer.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- University Health Network, Toronto
- Where
- Toronto, CanadaSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- FAZA PETMRI Gastro-Oesophageal Study
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 40 people, planned
- Started
- 15 Sept 2020
- Expected to end
- 31 Dec 2027
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- FAZA PET/MRI scan
- Record updated
- 10 June 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults whose stomach or food-pipe cancer (adenocarcinoma) has spread, who will have a PET/MRI scan with a tracer called FAZA before and after standard chemotherapy.
- Age
- 18 years or older
- Sex
- All sexes can join.
- Disease stage
- Gastro-oesophageal cancer (adenocarcinoma) that has spread (metastasized), found at first diagnosis or later.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Cannot have an MRI scan under the hospital's rules
- Cannot lie flat on the back for at least 30 minutes
- Pregnant or breastfeeding
- Allergic to ethanol (the FAZA preparation contains ethanol)
- Unable or unwilling to give informed consent
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 9 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Age ≥18 years
- Patients with de novo or secondary metastasized gastro-oesophagesal cancer (adenocarcinoma)
- Glomerular Filtration rate> 45 ml/min
- No allergy to contrast agents
Who cannot take part
- Patients who are allergic to ethanol as the FAZA preparation contains ethanol
- Contraindication for MR as per current institutional guidelines
- Inability to lie supine for at least 30 minutes
- Any patient who is pregnant or breastfeeding
- Any patient unable or unwilling to provide informed consent
Where in Canada
- Univeristy Health NetworkToronto, CanadaContact: Nirushini SivasothyTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
This is a single arm, pilot study of PET/MRI scan with radiotracer 18F-Fluoroazomycin Arabinoside (FAZA) before and after standard of care platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with metastasized Gastro-Oesophageal Cancer.
Read full original descriptionShow less
Gastroesophageal cancer (GEC) accounted for 2,3000 deaths in Canada in 2017 and majority of the patients present or develop metastatic disease following diagnosis. These patients are treated with platinum-based chemotherapy. There is currently no biomarker that can be used to predict the therapy responses. Additionally, patients that do not respond to the chemotherapy often deteriorate rapidly and are unable to receive second line therapy. Intratumoral hypoxia (low oxygen concentration) is a signature feature of aggressive and resistant tumour phenotype. Accurately predicting hypoxia in solid tumours offers an innovative and rational pradigm for predicting therapy responses. PET/MRI is an imaging technique combining the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. A radiotracer called 18F-Fluoroazomycin Arabinoside (FAZA) is used as a type of "dye" in the PET/MRI scan.
The primary goal of the study is to validate FAZA PET/MRI as a biomarker of hyupoxia in setting of gastro-oesophageal carcinoma. Patients with GEC will undergo FAZA PET/MRI scan before and after the standard of care chemotherapy. This would be correlated with clinical outcome in patients with metastatic GEC that have different responses to chemotherapy. Ultimately, we hope that the use FAZA PET/MRI in the study can help select the most effective treatment method for advanced GEC to extend life and improve quality of life while minimizing toxicity and healthcare costs.
The study subjects' clinical management will not be changed based on the PET-MR scan within the trial.
The group in the trial
- FAZA PET/MRI scanOther group
FAZA PET/MRI scan before and after the standard of care chemotherapy
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Hypoxia Measurement With FAZA PET/MRI in Patients With Metastasized Gastro-Oesophageal Cancer
- Plain-language title
- Imaging oxygen levels in tumours of people with spreading stomach or oesophageal cancerGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 10 June 2026