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CancerNCT01143467

Relationship Between Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Fatique in Cancer Patients Following External Beam Radiation Therapy

An observational study of Cancer and Fatigue, run by National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Background: Fatigue is a very common early and late side effect of cancer treatment, including radiation therapy. The cause of fatigue is poorly understood, making it hard to diagnose and treat. More research is necessary to understand why patients receiving cancer treatment experience fatigue. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 100 years, men only
Conditions the study is for
Cancer, Fatigue
How many people
26 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
24 May 2010to 6 Nov 2015
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 100 years
  • Men only
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Clinically localized prostate cancer;
  • Scheduled to receive EBRT either by 3D conformal or IMRT techniques that is not anticipated to change during the course of the study, with or without Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT);
  • Able to provide written informed consent;
  • Men greater than or equal to 18 years of age;
  • Have enrolled in the study of molecular-genetic correlates of fatigue in cancer patients receiving localized radiation therapy (09-NR-0088).

Who cannot join

  • Any condition other than prostate cancer able to cause clinically significant fatigue including cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, central nervous system, psychiatric, endocrine, hematologic, renal, or immunologic disorders, and including patients with any of the following broad disease categories:
  • Systemic infections (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus [HIV], active hepatitis);
  • Documented history of major depression, bipolar disease, psychosis, or alcohol dependence/abuse within the past 5 years;
  • Uncorrected hypothyroidism and anemia;
  • Chronic inflammatory disease that may be anticipated to alter the proinflammatory cytokine profile (i.e. rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, cirrhosis).
  • Patients taking tranquilizers, steroids, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents because these medications are known to affect cytokine production;
  • Patients who have second malignancies or those receiving chemotherapy with their EBRT.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike

    Bethesda, Maryland, 20892

Other trials in United States

About this study

Background:

  • Fatigue is a very common early and late side effect of cancer treatment, including radiation therapy. The cause of fatigue is poorly understood, making it hard to diagnose and treat. More research is necessary to understand why patients receiving cancer treatment experience fatigue. Changes in mitochondria, parts of body cells that help provide energy to the cell, may contribute to fatigue. Researchers are interested in looking at blood chemicals and mitochondrial genes of cancer patients to study those associated with fatigue.
Read more

Objectives:

  • To study the relationship between fatigue and the effects of cancer treatment.

Eligibility:

  • Men at least 18 years of age who have been diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and are scheduled to receive external beam radiation therapy.
  • Participants on study 09-NR-0088, Molecular-Genetic Correlates of Fatigue in Cancer Patients Receiving External Beam Radiation Therapy, are also eligible.

Design:

  • This study requires three outpatient visits to the NIH Clinical Center.
  • Participants will be seen before they start radiation treatment, at the middle of treatment, and at the end of treatment. Each visit will take less than 30 minutes to complete.
  • Participants will complete questionnaires that ask about fatigue and depression.
  • Participants will provide blood samples for research testing and potential HIV testing.
  • No treatment will be provided as part of this protocol.
Read the detailed description

Fatigue is a common early and chronic adverse effect of radiation but its correlates and prevalence are poorly understood. Over 40% of cancer patients receive radiation therapy during the management of their disease. While external beam intensity modulated radiation therapy (EBRT/IMRT) successfully increases disease-free survival rates and life expectancy, ionizing radiation leads to increased treatment-related adverse effects including fatigue. Multidimensional causes and mechanisms of cancer-related fatigue remain unclear, and early biomarkers prognostic for radiation-induced fatigue have not been identified.

There is evidence that an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation will cause cellular damage resulting in dysfunction to mitochondria. ROS are considered one of the major direct causes of ionizing radiation-induced damage, resulting in a number of adverse effects (e.g. fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, peripheral neuropathy, and cognitive function impairment) that reduce the efficacy of treatment. Mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in all clinical conditions including fatigue which are associated with the deficient energy metabolism of oxidative phosphorylation. Mitochondria are vulnerable to ROS which are generated endogenously (e.g. mitochondrial superoxide) and exogenously (e.g. ionizing radiation, inflammation). Once mitochondrial proteins are damaged, the affinity of substrates or enzymes is decreased resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction including reduced ATP production, increased ROS generation, and initiated apoptosis signaling. While mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in a variety of clinical fatigue states, the physiological pathways and pathophysiological mechanisms are complicated and remain unclear.

The primary purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between mitochondrial dysfunction and fatigue in prostate cancer patients receiving EBRT. Specific aims include: (1) identify mitochondrial-related gene expression profile changes over time; (2) quantify the severity of perceived fatigue before, during and at the end of radiation therapy; (3) determine possible pathways and early biomarkers of mitochondrial dysfunction related to fatigue in patients with prostate cancer receiving EBR. Blood samples and self-administrated questionnaires are collected at baseline, midpoint and the end of EBRT. Human mitochondrial PCR array will be utilized to identify differential regulation of genes involved in mitochondrial dysfunction at the different time points compared with gene expression from the baseline samples.

Conditions
Cancer, Fatigue
Keywords
Fatigue, Mitochondria, Mitochondrial Abnormality, Oxidative Stress, Gene Expression, Prostate Cancer
Medical subject headings
Neoplasms, Fatigue, Prostatic Neoplasms

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted14 Jun 2010 (estimated)
  2. Study start24 May 2010
  3. Study completion6 Nov 2015

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
26 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT01143467
Sponsor's protocol ID
100128
Other IDs
10-NR-0128
Status last verified
6 Nov 2015
First submitted
11 Jun 2010
Last updated
6 Oct 2017
Results posted
No

Publications

  • Lemle MD. Hypothesis: chronic fatigue syndrome is caused by dysregulation of hydrogen sulfide metabolism. Med Hypotheses. 2009 Jan;72(1):108-9. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2008.08.003. Epub 2008 Sep 16. No abstract available.

    PubMed 18799269
  • Greenberger JS. Radioprotection. In Vivo. 2009 Mar-Apr;23(2):323-36.

    PubMed 19414422
  • Cheville AL. Cancer-related fatigue. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2009 May;20(2):405-16. doi: 10.1016/j.pmr.2008.12.005.

    PubMed 19389620

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Cancer and Fatigue, run by National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 6 Oct 2017. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT01143467, which also lists 3 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 6 Oct 2017.

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