NCT05665322: MARGIN

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Two Guidance Techniques (Standard Injected CT vs Porto-scanner With Angio-CT) for Thermoablation Treatment of Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases

Terminated NA Last updated 23 January 2026

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Thermoablation with standard CT guidance in Colorectal Cancer Metastatic in 7 participants. Terminated before completion.

Timeline

27 February 2024

Primary endpoint
9 October 2025

9 October 2025

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes
Phase	NA
Status	Terminated
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	single
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	7
Start date	27 February 2024
Primary completion	9 October 2025
Estimated completion	9 October 2025
Sites	2 locations across France

Drugs / interventions tested

• Thermoablation with standard CT guidance
• Thermoablation with porto-scanner guidance with Angio-CT

Conditions studied

• Colorectal Cancer Metastatic — all drugs for Colorectal Cancer Metastatic →

Sponsor

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Colorectal Cancer Metastatic. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Hepatic metastases of colorectal cancer (CRC) are partially necrotic tumors mainly vascularized by the hepatic artery. When resectable, these metastases must be removed with a safety margin of 1 mm. Resection margins greater than 1 cm are associated with better disease-free survival and no local recurrence. Thermoablation systems allow for ablation zones of approximately 4.5-5 cm in diameter. For tumors \<3 cm, subject to perfect targeting, it is possible to obtain ablation margins of 1 cm, which would greatly reduce the local recurrence rate. Accurate assessment of these tumor boundaries and characterization of these margins are paramount to ensure complete ablation.

Thermoablation for these small liver metastases (\<3cm) has shown equivalent efficacy to surgery in terms of recurrence and survival with fewer complications. Thermoablation treatment is indicated for patients with stable disease undergoing chemotherapy. This leads to liver remodeling and metastases become difficult to see on ultrasound and CT scans. The study authors hypothesize that the porto-scanner guidance technique with Angio-CT for thermoablation treatment of CRC liver metastases will allow a better exploration of these metastases by allowing a better identification of the margins and thus ensure a more accurate and complete treatment for patients.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. MARGIN: Randomized Trial of Arterial CT Portography Versus Standard Imaging Guidance for Percutaneous Thermal Ablation of Colorectal Liver Metastases.
   Doppelt G, de Oliviera F, Minier C, Chevallier T, et al · · 2026 · PMID 41457158 · DOI 10.1007/s00270-025-04267-5