DREAM: Double Lung Transplant REgistry Aimed for Lung-limited Malignancies (DREAM)
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05671887 |
Recruitment Status :
Recruiting
First Posted : January 5, 2023
Last Update Posted : May 6, 2023
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Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment |
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Lung Cancer Bilateral Cancer Lung Transplant | Procedure: Double Lung Transplantation |
Ever since human lung transplantation was first performed in a patient with advanced lung cancer in 1963 [1], it has emerged as a well-established treatment for patients suffering from a variety of end-stage pulmonary diseases. While lung transplant continues to be performed for refractory lung-limited malignancies that do not have extrapulmonary disease [2-6], given the perceived risks of tumor recurrence following transplantation and potentially reduced survival compared to patients with chronic end-stage lung diseases, transplants for cancer constitutes less than 0.5% of all such procedures (www.srtr.org). The need for lung transplantation is not only confined to patients with primary lung cancers. There are unmet needs for patients who have lung-limited metastasis after successful treatment for primary tumors such as sarcomas or colorectal cancer (CRC). Indeed, successful reports of lung transplantation for lung only metastasis that are refractory to standard of care treatment has been demonstrated [3] and proposed by international experts in highly selected patients [6]. Solid organ transplantation for both primary and metastatic cancers has been demonstrated in liver transplantation [7, 8]. While uncommonly performed, for patients with refractory lung cancer or those with concomitant respiratory failure, lung transplantation may be the only treatment option. The 5-year overall survival of patients in some prior reports who underwent double lung transplantation (DLT) for lung cancer was 39-57%[2, 9], compared to those with non-malignant diseases 50-59%[10, 11]. Indeed, lung transplants have been steadily increasing for cancers, as evident in the International Society of Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) [4-6]. However, the reported cases represent heterogeneity in the surgical technique, patient selection, and post-operative management.
This prospective observational registry aims to better understand the long-term outcomes in patients undergoing double lung transplantation for lung-limited cancers in the clinical programs at Northwestern Medicine and participating centers. We aim to study the impact of a standardized approach to patient selection, tumor staging, surgical technique, and post-operative management on the long-term survival following lung transplantation in patients with lung-limited malignancy. Specifically, this study aims to investigate the clinical outcomes of patients who undergo lung transplantation for treatment of a select group of medically refractory cancers affecting the lungs without extrapulmonary metastases. Patients will undergo transplantation if they have failed standard of care treatments and do not have further curative treatment/trials options. Their clinical courses including overall survival, disease-free survival, and graft failure will be monitored as well as the molecular and genetic biomarkers to investigate the correlation with the prognosis.
Study Type : | Observational [Patient Registry] |
Estimated Enrollment : | 75 participants |
Observational Model: | Cohort |
Time Perspective: | Prospective |
Target Follow-Up Duration: | 5 Years |
Official Title: | Double Lung Transplant REgistry Aimed for Lung-limited Malignancies (DREAM) - a Prospective Observational Registry Study for Patients Undergoing Lung Transplantation for Medically Refractory Cancers Confined to the Lungs |
Actual Study Start Date : | November 16, 2022 |
Estimated Primary Completion Date : | November 2032 |
Estimated Study Completion Date : | November 2032 |

Group/Cohort | Intervention/treatment |
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Cohort A: Primary lung cancers
- Examples include invasive mucinous/non-mucinous non-small cell lung cancers and multifocal carcinomas
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Procedure: Double Lung Transplantation
To evaluate outcomes among patients who undergo lung transplantation for treatment of a select group of medically refractory cancers affecting the lungs alone without extrapulmonary nodal and distant metastasis.
Other Name: Lung Transplantation |
Cohort B: Metastatic cancers to the lung only
- Examples include germ cell tumors, head & neck tumors, colorectal tumors, renal cell tumors
|
Procedure: Double Lung Transplantation
To evaluate outcomes among patients who undergo lung transplantation for treatment of a select group of medically refractory cancers affecting the lungs alone without extrapulmonary nodal and distant metastasis.
Other Name: Lung Transplantation |
- overall survival (OS) rate [ Time Frame: 30-day ]
- overall survival (OS) rate [ Time Frame: 90-day ]
- disease-free survival (DFS) rate [ Time Frame: 30-day ]
- disease-free survival (DFS) rate [ Time Frame: 90-day ]
- allograft rejection (AR) rate [ Time Frame: 30-day ]
- allograft rejection (AR) rate [ Time Frame: 90-day ]
- allograft survival (AS) rate [ Time Frame: 30-day ]
- allograft survival (AS) rate [ Time Frame: 90-day ]
- overall survival (OS) rate [ Time Frame: 6-month, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year ]
- disease-free survival (DFS) rate [ Time Frame: 6-month, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year ]
- allograft rejection (AR) rate [ Time Frame: 6-month, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year ]
- allograft survival (AS) rate [ Time Frame: 6-month, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year ]
- Major post-transplantation morbidity (MPTM) [ Time Frame: 6-month, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year ]including acute kidney failure requiring continuous renal replacement therapy

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Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 75 Years (Adult, Older Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Sampling Method: | Non-Probability Sample |
This is a prospective observational registration trial for patients who undergo lung transplantation using cadaveric organs for medically refractory cancers affecting the lungs alone and without extrapulmonary metastasis after meeting the inclusion criteria of the clinical program at Northwestern Medicine and participating centers.
Essential Clinical Criteria:
- The tumor should be without any extrapulmonary metastasis as determined by standard of care diagnostic and staging workup.
- All standard of care or experimental oncological treatments known to improve survival should have failed or deemed infeasible
- Patients should meet the general criteria for lung transplant evaluation and listing
Inclusion Criteria:
Any patient who is undergoing double lung transplantation as part of the clinical program, consents for this prospective observational trial, and has one of the following conditions will be eligible.
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Common Inclusion Criteria
- Adults of Age ≦ 75
- Resistant or refractory to or without available standard of care treatment options or experimental treatment options that are known to increase survival outcome
- Patients without any extrapulmonary disease
- Patients with good general health with an ability to withstand physiologic stressors and undergo psychosocial evaluation by the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation (SIPAT) or other assessment tools
- Patients to meet all other criteria for lung transplantation including insurance approval and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) registration
Inclusion Criteria for Cohort A
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Histologically confirmed selected lung non-small cell lung cancer including but not limited to:
o according to the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)/American Thoracic Society (ATS)/European Respiratory Society (ERS) classification
- Lepidic dominant pattern
- Adenocarcinoma in situ
- Minimally invasive adenocarcinoma
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Non mucinous lepidic predominant invasive adenocarcinoma
o based on 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of lung tumors including
- Invasive mucinous adenocarcinoma
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Mixed invasive mucinous and mucinous adenocarcinoma
- Colloid adenocarcinoma
- Enteric adenocarcinoma
- Minimally invasive adenocarcinoma
- Nonmucinous
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Mucinous
- Preinvasive lesions
- Atypical adenomatous hyperplasia
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Adenocarcinoma in situ
- Nonmucinous
- Mucinous
- based on the 2004 WHO classification of lung tumors including - Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma
- Nonmucinous
- Mucinous
- Mixed nonmucinous and mucinous or indeterminate
- Without any distant metastasis confirmed by standard staging work-up
- Without brain metastasis confirmed by brain imaging
- Without unidentified primary site of cancer
Inclusion Criteria for Cohort B
- Metastatic cancers to lung alone - including but not limited to germ cell tumors, head & neck tumors, colorectal tumors, renal cell tumors, testicular cancer
- Without any other distant metastasis confirmed by standard staging work-up
Exclusion Criteria:
-
Exclusion criteria
- Adults unable or unwilling to consent
- Individuals who are not yet adults (infants, children, teenagers)
- Pregnant women
- Prisoners
- Vulnerable Populations
- Presence of extrapulmonary disease or mediastinal nodal disease at the time of transplant referral
- Small Cell Cancers
- Unidentified primary site of cancer for Cohort A
- Progression of disease or confirmed distant metastases or mediastinal nodal disease at any point during transplantation work-up
- Medical ineligibility for lung transplantation after multidisciplinary assessment
- Not a suitable candidate according to the lung transplantation protocol for treatment of lung confined primary or metastatic tumors
- Body mass index more than 35 kg/m2
- Evidence of co-existing malignancies for Cohort A
- Untreatable significant dysfunction of another major organ system including heart, liver, kidney, or brain unless combined organ transplantation can be performed
- Uncorrected atherosclerotic disease with suspected or confirmed end-organ ischemia or dysfunction and/or coronary artery disease not amenable to revascularization
- Uncorrectable bleeding diathesis
- Evidence of active Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
- Significant chest wall or spinal deformity expected to cause severe restriction after transplantation

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT05671887
Contact: Lung Transplant Thoracic Surgery, Canning Thoracic Institute (Northwestern Memorial Hospital) | 312-695-5864 | anne.oboye@nm.org | |
Contact: Liam Il-Young Chung, MD MPH | 312-472-6245 | ilyoung.chung@northwestern.edu |
United States, Illinois | |
Thoracic Surgery, Canning Thoracic Institute (Northwestern Memorial Hospital) | Recruiting |
Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611 | |
Contact: Lung Transplant Thoracic Surgery, Canning Thoracic Institute (Northwestern Memorial Hospital) 312-695-5864 anne.oboye@nm.org | |
Contact: Liam Il-Young Chung, MD MPH 312-472-6245 ilyoung.chung@northwestern.edu | |
Principal Investigator: Young Chae, MD MPH MBA | |
Principal Investigator: Ankit Bharat, MD | |
Principal Investigator: Rade Tomic, MD |
Principal Investigator: | Young Chae, MD MPH MBA | Northwestern University | |
Principal Investigator: | Ankit Bharat, MD | Northwestern University | |
Principal Investigator: | Rade Tomic, MD | Northwestern University |
Responsible Party: | Young Kwang Chae, Associate Professor, Northwestern University |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT05671887 |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
STU00217958 NU 22L02 ( Other Identifier: Northwestern university ) |
First Posted: | January 5, 2023 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | May 6, 2023 |
Last Verified: | May 2023 |
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement: | |
Plan to Share IPD: | No |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: | No |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: | No |
Cancer Lung Cancer Bilateral Cancer Lung Transplant |
Double Lung Transplant Bronchioloalveolar Carcinoma (BAC) Lepidic Mucinous |
Lung Neoplasms Respiratory Tract Neoplasms Thoracic Neoplasms Neoplasms by Site |
Neoplasms Lung Diseases Respiratory Tract Diseases |