NIR-Guided Sentinel Lymph-Node Mapping for Esophageal Cancer

Summary

This research study is a Phase I clinical trial. Phase I clinical trials test the feasibility and safety of an investigational technique or drug. This study will try to define an appropriate dose of the investigational drug indocyanine green (ICG) in combination with near infrared (NIR) imaging to use for further studies. "Investigational" means that this drug, ICG, is approved by the FDA for other imaging uses, but not for lymphatic mapping using NIR light. Its use for following lymphatic pathways from tumors in the human body is still being studied and research doctors are trying to find out more about it. It also means that the FDA has not approved ICG mapping for your type of cancer. ICG is a dye and is approved for testing liver function and measuring blood flow from the heart. This drug has been used in studies to map lymphatic pathways in lung cancer and breast cancer and information from those other research studies suggests that this dye may help to identify lymph nodes associated with your esophageal tumor in this research study. ICG can be detected within the body using special near-infrared light cameras. In this research study, the investigators are looking at how easily ICG can get to the first lymph node (called the sentinel lymph node or SLN) associated with your esophageal tumor and whether the investigators can see the path of the ICG and the respective SLN using a near infrared camera.

Timeline

Start

2013-06-21

Primary completion

2014-04-11

Completion

2015-04-07

Drugs

Indications