A Phase 2 interventional study of Tetrahydrobiopterin in Radiation Enteritis, sponsored by West China Second University Hospital. Status unknown at 1 site in China. Open to female participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-03-02.
Sponsored by West China Second University Hospital · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
This present study envisaged a single-center, prospective, open-label, placebo and randomized controlled phase II clinical study to assess the efficacy and Safety of Tetrahydrobiopterin in Treating Radiation Enteritis in Gynecological Cancer Patients.
Radiotherapy is one of the most effective treatments for pelvic malignancies. About 35\~61% of the patients with pelvic cancer receive pelvic radiotherapy. Although radiotherapy significantly prolongs the survival time of the patients, it induces an injury to the normal tissues that may damage the pelvic and abdominal organs, with rectal damage as the most common and persistent adverse effect. Radiation proctitis refers to the rectal damage as a result of radiotherapy for the treatment of pelvic cancer such as cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, rectal cancer, and bladder cancer. According to the time of onset and changing course of the disease, it can be divided into acute radiation-induced proctitis (ARP) and chronic radiation-induced proctitis (CRP), usually taking three months as a threshold. More than 75% of the patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy develop ARP, and 5%-20% of the patients develop CRP. In fact, the incidence of CRP is highly likely to be underestimated, since not every patient with symptoms goes for a clinical intervention. Studies have shown that 81% of the patients receiving pelvic radiotherapy developed gastrointestinal symptoms, but only 55% consulted the healthcare professionals. Approximately 90 % of the CRP patients exhibited permanent bowel habit changes, and 50% of the patients developed various gastrointestinal symptoms affecting their quality of life. Radiation enteritis seriously affects the treatment process of the patients, worsens the prognosis, and impairs the quality of life. The current common treatments for radiation enteritis are psychological intervention, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, probiotics to rebalance the gut microbiome, antioxidants, antidiarrheal agents, and surgical treatment, if necessary. However, the overall treatment effect does not yield satisfactory results. It is particularly important to find safe and effective preventive and treatment measures for the radiation enteritis to improve the prognosis of patients, and improve the quality of life.
Free radicals produced by the indirect action of ionizing radiation are considered to be one of the main causes of radiation enteritis. Tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), also known as Sapropterin, is an important cofactor of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) enzyme. Under normal physiological conditions, guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) is the key enzyme for the synthesis of BH4. Reduction in GCH1 activity lowers the production of BH4, causes NOS uncoupling, and leads to an elevated level of oxygen free radicals (reactive oxygen species, ROS). Studies have shown that GCH1 over expression can restore BH4 level and NO products in irradiated skin cells, reverse and inhibit the NOS uncoupling caused by ionizing radiation, thereby eliminating the ionizing radiation-induced ROS, reducing DNA damage, and postponing the cell apoptosis and cell aging. In animal experiments, BH4 administration significantly reduced the occurrence of acute radiation enteritis.
This present study envisaged a single-center, prospective, open-label, placebo and randomized controlled phase II clinical study. The research subjects included the patients, who received radical radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and patients who needed supplementary radiotherapy due to prognostic risk factors for treating pathologically diagnosed gynecological malignancies (including cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, and vulvar cancer), with no pathological type restrictions.
The enrolled cases were randomly divided into three groups ina ratio of 1:1:1. The placebo group was administered a vitamin tablet (Centrum) orally, once a day. The two experimental groups were administered BH4 orally, with a dose of 100 mg, once per day, and a dose of 100 mg, three times a day (morning, noon, and evening). The oral administration of pills was started on the same day of the first radiation treatment, and ended three months after the treatment ended. The degree of injury of the radiation enteritis among the patients was evaluated weekly after the treatment started. It was evaluated one month and three months after the end of treatment, once per three months for two years and once per six months between 2\~5 years after the treatment ended. The degree of ARP and CRP was evaluated according to the radiation morbidity scoring criteria of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG).
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was adopted, using the conventional split mode,(1.8\~2.0) Gy/day, 5 times/week.The pelvic clinical target volume (CTV) was(45\~50.4)Gy/25\~28 times, and the boost for local lymph nodes metastasis was raised to (60\~70) Gy. Patients with indications for brachytherapy were treated with brachytherapy following the International Commission on Radiation Units \& Measurements (ICRU) Report No. 89. The radical therapy treated or postoperative high-risk patients receiveda concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, usingunrestricted chemotherapy regimen.
34 studies on the registry are indexed under Enteritis; 7 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 366 is above the median of 53 across 26 interventional studies indexed under Enteritis.
Browse Enteritis studies →West China Second University Hospital is the lead sponsor of 38 studies on the registry; 22 are open to participants now.
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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.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
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.
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
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).
The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.
It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.
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.
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
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.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.
The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.
The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.
Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Histologically or cytologically confirmed
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ECOG performance status
A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.
Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)
The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.
It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Bilirubin
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Creatinine clearance (CrCl)
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
QT and QTc
On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.
The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
NYHA class (heart failure)
The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.
Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)
Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.
Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The placebo group was administered a vitamin tablet (Centrum) orally, once a day
Drug: Tetrahydrobiopterin
The experimental group 1 was administered BH4 orally, with a dose of 2mg/kg.d (If the drug dose is within the range of 51-150mg, the drug dose will be 100mg), once per day
Drug: Tetrahydrobiopterin
The experimental group 2 was administered BH4 orally, with a dose of 5 mg/kg.d (If the drug dose is within the range of 151-250mg, the drug dose will be 200mg, two times a day; If the drug dose is within the range of 251-350mg, the drug dose will be 300mg, three times a day)
Drug: Tetrahydrobiopterin
The experimental group1 was administered BH4 orally with a dose of 2 mg/kg.d, once per day, and the experimental group 2 was administered BH4 orally witha dose of 5 mg/kg.d, two times a day (If the drug dose is within the range of 151-250mg, the drug dose is 200mg) or three times a day (If the drug dose is within the range of 251-350mg, the drug dose is 300mg). The oral administration of pills was started on the same day of the first radiation treatment, and ended three months after the treatment ended.
acute radiation-induced proctitis (ARP) incidence
evaluated every week (according to RTOG radiation morbidity scoring criteria)
Time frame: up to 12 weeks
chronic radiation-induced proctitis (CRP) incidence
according to RTOG radiation morbidity scoring criteria
Time frame: up to 5 years
progression-free survival (PFS)
Follow-up until the patient dies or withdraws from the study
Time frame: up to 5 years
overall survival (OS
Follow-up until the patient dies or withdraws from the study
Time frame: up to 5 years
cancer remission rate assessed by imaging
Until the end of treatment, The objective tumor response rate is used as the evaluation standard, which is divided into CR, PR, SD and PD
Time frame: up to 12 weeks
quality of life (QoL)
Until the end of treatment, The quality of life assessment was performed using QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CX24, before treatment and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after treatment. results from multiple questionnaires will be reported.
Time frame: up to 5 years
adverse events
Follow-up until the patient dies or withdraws from the study
Time frame: up to 5 years
Plan to share: No
Start is estimated for Mar 2022; primary completion for Oct 2023, 19 months later.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is status unknown, as verified in Feb 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Studies of the drug tested here: Sapropterin
West China Second University Hospital