ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT02438982Updated Aug 1, 2017

Efficacy and Safety of Rituximab to That of Calcineurin Inhibitors in Children With Steroid Dependent Nephrotic Syndrome

A Phase 3 interventional study of Tacrolimus and Rituximab in Nephrotic Syndrome, sponsored by Nilratan Sircar Medical College. Completed at 1 site in India. Open to participants aged 3 Years to 16 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2017-08-01.

Sponsored by Nilratan Sircar Medical College · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
120
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
3 Years to 16 Years
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-12

Among 19 studies testing rituximab in Nephrotic Syndrome — 5 open to participants now, 5 under way, 3 of them phase 3. Rituximab · Nephrotic Syndrome.

Enrollment
3rd of 19
120 · median 80
Started
2015
with 2 others
Phase 3
8 of 19
3 open now
Registered
7th of 19
by date
Lead sponsor
3 of 19
Nilratan Sircar Medical College

Among the 19 studies testing rituximab in Nephrotic Syndrome, this one is the 3rd largest by enrollment, is one of 3 that started in 2015, is one of 8 in phase 3, and was the 7th registered.

Nephrotic Syndrome

191 studies on the registry are indexed under Nephrotic Syndrome; 65 are open to participants now.

Browse Nephrotic Syndrome studies →

Open to participants now

5 of the 19 studies testing rituximab in Nephrotic Syndrome are open now, in 3 countries. Recruiting first, the newest first:

By country, each count listing its studies:

All 5 open studies →

About rituximab

Rituximab: first FDA approval 1997 (RITUXAN), first EMA approval 1998. What it is approved for, and how studies give it, is on its page →

Who these studies take

Of the 50 Nephrotic Syndrome studies recruiting now, 23 (46%) set no upper age limit and 22 (44%) stop at 75 or younger; 37 take children under 18; 4 take healthy volunteers.

This study: 3 Years to 16 Years · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.

The full table on the hub →

This tab as a report to print or save as PDF → With an account.

Was this useful?
Watch this landscapeDownload CSVNarrow it in search →With an account: a weekly mail of what changed among 19 studies testing rituximab in Nephrotic Syndrome, or all of them as a file.
02

Study summary

Nephrotic syndrome in children is primarily caused by minimal change disease. Majority of these patients respond well to corticosteroids. However, as many as 70% of children with nephrotic syndrome experience at least one relapse, and 30% develop a more complicated course with frequent relapses (FRNS)(≥2 relapses/ 6 months) with or without steroid dependency (SDNS)(relapse during tapering or within 2 weeks after discontinuation of corticosteroids). Repeated and prolonged courses of steroids in these children often result in long-term complications. The goal of the treatment is to reduce the rate of relapses, the cumulative dose of corticosteroids, and the incidence of serious complications. In order to minimize the side effects of steroid therapy, different steroid sparing agents such as cyclophosphamide, calcineurin inhibitors(CNI), levamisole, and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) have been used in SDNS. Whereas CNI are usually considered the steroid sparing drug class of first choice, rituximab is increasingly used as alternative to minimize CNI toxicity. Various prospective studies suggest that Rituximab, a B cell depleting monoclonal antibody, could be a safe and effective alternative to steroid or immunosuppressants to achieve and maintain remission in this population.Single rituximab course have been shown to be efficacious for 6 to 12 months and the side effect profile observed to date is very benign. Studies comparing the usefulness of these agents are lacking. In our proposed randomized controlled trial, the investigators want to compare the efficacy and safety of CNI to that of Rituximab in treating children with SDNS.

03

Conditions studied

  • Nephrotic Syndrome

Browse trials for

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
3 Years to 16 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Children between 3 and 16 years with SDNS
  • Minimal Change disease/FSGS/MesPGN/ as per Kidney report.
  • Estimated (eGFR) >80 ml/min per 1.73 m2 at study entry.
  • Remission at study entry (trace or nil proteinuria, as determined by the dipstick test or \<100 mg/dl for at least 3 days).
  • Not received any sparing agent previously.
  • Parents willing to give informed written consent.
  • Ability to swallow tablet

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known etiology (e.g., lupus erythematosus, IgA nephropathy, amyloidosis, , other secondary forms of NS)
  • Patients with severe leucopenia (leucocytes \<3.0× 1000 cells/mm3), severe anemia ( \<8.9 g/dl), thrombocytopenia ( \<100.0 × 1000 cells/mm3) or deranged liver function tests ( or ALT to >50 IU/L ) at enrolment.
  • Known active chronic infection (tuberculosis, , or C) within 1 mo
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(10)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Live vaccines

Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
120 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Tacrolimus

    Oral Tacrolimus (Tablet form) 0.2mg/kg/day starting dose. Targeting trough level of Tacrolimus (T0) 5-7 ng/ml.

    Drug: Tacrolimus

  • Experimental
    Rituximab

    Two rituximab infusions will be administered once every week at standard dose (Intravenous infusion of rituximab 375mg/mt2). Circulating B cells will be measured 24 hours after rituximab administration. If \>5 B cells per mm3 , it will be measured again after 1 week. If count is still \>5 B cells per mm3, third \& fourth doses of rituximab will be given.

    Drug: Rituximab

Interventions

  • Oral Tacrolimus (Tablet form) 0.2mg/kg/day starting dose. Targeting trough level of Tacrolimus (T0) 5-7 ng/ml.

    Also known as: Calcineurin inhibitor

  • Two rituximab infusions will be administered once every week at standard dose (Intravenous infusion of rituximab 375mg/mt2). Circulating B cells will be measured 24 hours after rituximab administration. If \>5 B cells per mm3, it will be measured again after 1 week. If count is still \>5 B cells per mm3, third \& fourth doses of rituximab will be given.

    Also known as: anti CD20 monoclonal antibody

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 12-month relapse-free survival

    Time frame: 12-month

07

Study locations

1 site
  • NRS Medical College & Hospital
    Kolkata, West Bengal 700014, India
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Basu B, Sander A, Roy B, Preussler S, Barua S, Mahapatra TKS, Schaefer F. Efficacy of Rituximab vs Tacrolimus in Pediatric Corticosteroid-Dependent Nephrotic Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2018 Aug 1;172(8):757-764. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.1323. Erratum In: JAMA Pediatr. 2018 Dec 1;172(12):1205. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.3632. PubMed 29913001 ↗
09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from May 2015 to primary completion in Aug 2016, 15 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
May 6, 2015
First posted
May 8, 2015
StartActual
May 8, 2015
Primary completionActual
Aug 2016
CompletionActual
Sep 2016
Last update
Aug 1, 2017
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 1, 2017, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02438982
Lead sponsor
Nilratan Sircar Medical College
Responsible party
Dr. Biswanath Basu (Assistant Professor & In charge, Division of Pediatric Nephrology, Nilratan Sircar Medical College) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 8, 2015
Start date
May 8, 2015
Primary completion
Aug 2016
Completion
Sep 2016
Last update
Aug 1, 2017

Study contacts

Biswanath Basu
principal investigator · Assistant Professor

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jul 2017. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Studies of the drug tested here: Rituximab

Start the discussion