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NCT05101798

The Role of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid Fluorescence-Guided Surgery in Head and Neck Cancers: a Pilot Trial

Terminated Phase 2 Results posted Last updated 28 July 2025
What this trial tests

Phase 2 trial testing 5-Aminolevulinic acid Hydrochloride in Neoplasm in 7 participants. Terminated before completion.

Timeline
14 September 2021
Primary endpoint
25 December 2022
25 December 2022

Quick facts

Lead sponsorIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
PhasePhase 2
StatusTerminated
Study typeINTERVENTIONAL
Allocationna
Designsingle group
Maskingnone
Primary purposediagnostic
Enrollment7
Start date14 September 2021
Primary completion25 December 2022
Estimated completion25 December 2022
Sites3 locations across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Who can join

Adults 18 to 80, any sex, with Neoplasm or Skull Base Neoplasm. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Number of Participants With Positive Test Result of PPIX Tissue Fluorescence Primary · Through completion of surgery, up to 24 hours

The feasibility of using oral Gleolan® as an adjunct diagnostic imaging tool for malignant tumor tissue fluorescence will be primarily assessed by computing sensitivity of intraoperative Gleolan® induced PPIX tissue fluorescence. PPIX tissue fluorescence will be defined categorically as "no" (score 0), "low" (score 1), "medium" (score 2), and "high" (score 3) by operative surgeon, and images will be recorded. For purposes of computing measures of diagnostic performance a score of 0 will be considered a negative test result and a score of 1, 2 or 3 will be considered a positive test result.

GroupValue95% CI
5-aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride (Gleolan®)1
5-aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride (Gleolan®)0
5-aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride (Gleolan®)0
5-aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride (Gleolan®)6

Adverse events — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Time frame: 24 hours. Reporting threshold: 0%. Adverse-event reports describe events observed during the trial — not all are caused by the drug.

5-aminolevulinic Acid Hydrochloride (Gleolan®)
Serious: 0/7 (0%)
Deaths: 0/7
Other adverse events (2 terms — click to expand)

ReactionSystem5-aminolevulinic Acid Hydr…
Mild photosensitivity reaction (CTCAE grade I)Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders
NauseaGastrointestinal disorders

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05101798 adverse events section.

Sponsor's own description

This study allows head and neck cancer surgeons to specifically visualize cancerous cells apart from normal healthy tissue. 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a safe and effective FDA-approved agent successfully used by neurosurgeons for FGS of different brain tumors is given to the patients preoperatively. Using specific wavelengths of light as well as specialized magnified lenses the surgeons use this technique to assist in tumor resection.

Publications & conference data

7 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

  1. Recent Studies in Photodynamic Therapy for Cancer Treatment: From Basic Research to Clinical Trials.
    Kim TE, Chang JE. · · 2023 · cited 96× · PMID 37765226 · DOI 10.3390/pharmaceutics15092257
  2. The Warburg effect: a score for many instruments in the concert of cancer and cancer niche cells.
    Jaworska M, Szczudło J, Pietrzyk A, Shah J, et al · · 2023 · cited 84× · PMID 37332080 · DOI 10.1007/s43440-023-00504-1
  3. Interplay of Ferroptosis and Cuproptosis in Cancer: Dissecting Metal-Driven Mechanisms for Therapeutic Potentials.
    Wang J, Li J, Liu J, Chan KY, et al · · 2024 · cited 33× · PMID 38339263 · DOI 10.3390/cancers16030512
  4. Fluorescence-Guided Surgery for Gliomas: Past, Present, and Future.
    Rodriguez B, Brown CS, Colan JA, Zhang JY, et al · · 2025 · cited 4× · PMID 40507320 · DOI 10.3390/cancers17111837
  5. Breaking the Resistance: Photodynamic Therapy in Cancer Stem Cell-Driven Tumorigenesis.
    Rajan SS, Merlin JPJ, Abrahamse H. · · 2025 · cited 2× · PMID 40430852 · DOI 10.3390/pharmaceutics17050559
  6. Recent Advances in Nanomedicine for Targeted Phototherapy in Head and Neck Cancer.
    Liu H, Lin C, Li W, Wu L, et al · · 2026 · PMID 42164815 · DOI 10.2147/ijn.s596902
  7. Intraoperative fluorescence in solid head and neck cancer: A scoping review.
    Keith BA, Marrero-Gonzalez AR, Chau IJ, Nguyen SA, et al · · 2025 · PMID 40380992 · DOI 10.1007/s00405-025-09442-5

Verify or expand the search:

Other recruiting trials for Neoplasm

Currently open trials in the same condition.

Other Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai trials

Trials by the same sponsor.

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Data sources for this page

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