Study Protocol STEREOLAB: Stereotactic Liver Ablation Assisted with Intra-Arterial CT Hepatic Arteriography and Ablation Confirmation Software Assessment

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the technical efficacy and local tumor progression-free survival (LTPFS) of a standardized workflow for thermal ablation of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) consisting of CT during hepatic arteriography (CTHA)-based imaging analysis, stereotactic thermal ablation, and computer-based software assessment of ablation margins. Materials and Methods: This investigator initiated, single-center, single-arm prospective trial will enroll up to 50 patients (≤ 5 CRLM, Measuring ≤ 5 cm). Procedures will be performed in an angio-CT suite under general anesthesia. The primary objective is to estimate LTPFS with a follow-up of up to 2 years and secondary objectives are analysis of the impact of minimal ablative margins on LTPFS, adverse events, contrast media utilization and radiation exposure, overall oncological outcomes, and anesthesia/procedural time. Adverse events (AE) will be recorded by CTCAE (Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Events), and Bayesian optimal phase-2 design will be applied for major intraprocedural AE stop boundaries. The institutional CRLM ablation registry will be used as benchmark for comparative analysis with the historical cohort. Discussion: The STEREOLAB trial will introduce a high-precision and standardized thermal ablation workflow for CRLM consisting of CT during hepatic arteriography imaging, stereotactic guidance, and ablation confirmation. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: (NCT05361551). Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]