An Imaging Agent (Pafolacianine) for Identifying Lesions in Pediatric Patients With Primary or Metastatic Solid Tumors

Launched by MAYO CLINIC · Mar 31, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new imaging agent called pafolacianine to help doctors find cancerous lesions in children and teenagers with solid tumors. These tumors can be located in various parts of the body, such as the neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, or limbs. Pafolacianine works by attaching to cancer cells and lighting them up during surgery, which allows doctors to see them more clearly using a special camera. The goal is to see if this method is better at identifying tumors than the current imaging agents used.

To participate in the trial, children must be between 6 months and 17 years old and have a solid tumor that needs to be surgically removed. Parents or guardians need to give permission for their child to join the study. Participants will receive the pafolacianine injection and undergo surgery where doctors will use it to help locate the tumors. It's important to note that certain health conditions, allergies, or recent participation in other trials might prevent someone from joining. Overall, this trial aims to improve the way doctors detect and treat cancer in young patients.

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Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Willingness of research participant or legal guardian/representative to give written informed consent
• • Age 6 months to 17 years
• • Have a diagnosis, or a high clinical suspicion, of a solid tumor in the neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis, or extremities with a plan for surgical resection including embryonal tumors, sarcomas, neurogenic tumors, carcinomas, mesenchymal tumors, germ cell tumors. Children may undergo surgical resection or biopsy of a solid tumor that is suspected to be malignant without a separate preoperative biopsy; therefore, the tumor type may not be definitively known preoperatively
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Previous exposure to Cytalux™ (pafolacianine) injection
• • Any medical condition that in the judgement of the investigators could potentially jeopardize the safety of the participant
• • History of anaphylactic reactions to products containing indocyanine green for near infrared imaging. Participants with a medical history of 'idiopathic anaphylaxis' will require evaluation
• • History of allergy to any of the components of Cytalux™ (pafolacianine) injection
• • Presence of any psychological, familial, sociological condition or geographical challenges potentially hampering compliance with the study protocol or follow-up schedule
• • Received an investigational agent in another investigational drug or vaccine trial within 30 days prior to the administration of the study drug. Investigational trials involving administration of drugs or vaccines which are already Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved, such as Children's Oncology Group cooperative trials, are okay
• • Known sensitivity to fluorescent light
• • Pregnancy
• • Unable or unwilling to discontinue folic acid, folate supplements, and multi-vitamins containing folate 48 hours prior to drug administration
• • Renal failure on dialysis or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) \< 30 mL/min/1.72m\^2 as measured by the U25 eGFR equation for patients ≤1 year(s) of age. For patients \< 1 year of age, creatinine \> 2x the upper limit of normal will serve as an exclusion criteria. Creatinine will be measured by enzymatic assay with calibration traceable to the international standard reference materials and minimal bias compared to isotope-dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) reference methodology.
• • Undergoing workup for liver failure or listed for liver transplant. Patients with Gilbert's syndrome will be excluded if impaired liver function defined as values \> 3x the upper limit of normal (ULN) for alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), or total bilirubin
• • Unable or unwilling to use adequate birth control/contraceptive measures or abstain from sexual activity for 30 days following the study intervention
• • Anticipated need to donate ova or sperm within 30 days following study intervention