ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05241249Updated Jun 5, 2025

Stimulation With Bethanechol in Combination With Gemcitabine and Nab-paclitaxel in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

A Phase 2 interventional study of Bethanechol and Gemcitabine in Pancreas Cancer, sponsored by Susan E. Bates. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-06-05.

Sponsored by Susan E. Bates · Phase 2, Interventional, and Other

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Jan 2026, 10 months ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Feb 2022; still recruiting 4 years 9 months later.

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Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
37
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-14

Among 370 studies testing gemcitabine in Pancreatic Neoplasms — 29 open to participants now, 44 under way, 5 of them phase 3. Gemcitabine · Pancreatic Neoplasms.

Planned enrollment
176th of 353
37 · median 37
Started
2022
with 3 others
Phase 2
196 of 370
18 open now
Primary completion
2026-01
later than 15 of 43 live
Registered
340th of 370
by date

Among the 370 studies testing gemcitabine in Pancreatic Neoplasms, this one is the 176th largest by planned enrollment of the 353 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 4 that started in 2022, is one of 196 in phase 2, reaches primary completion later than 15 of the 43 other live ones, and was the 340th registered.

Pancreatic Neoplasms

3,896 studies on the registry are indexed under Pancreatic Neoplasms; 1,005 are open to participants now.

Browse Pancreatic Neoplasms studies →

Open to participants now

29 of the 370 studies testing gemcitabine in Pancreatic Neoplasms are open now, in 12 countries. Recruiting first, the newest first:

23 more — sign in →

By country, each count listing its studies:

All 29 open studies →

About gemcitabine

Gemcitabine: first FDA approval 1996 (GEMZAR). What it is approved for, and how studies give it, is on its page →

Who these studies take

Of the 745 Pancreatic Neoplasms studies recruiting now, 478 (64%) set no upper age limit and 151 (20%) stop at 75 or younger; 40 take children under 18; 59 take healthy volunteers.

This study: 18 Years and older · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.

The full table on the hub →

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Watch this landscapeDownload CSVNarrow it in search →With an account: a weekly mail of what changed among 370 studies testing gemcitabine in Pancreatic Neoplasms, or all of them as a file.
02

Study summary

The primary objective of this study is to assess the impact of bethanechol therapy on R0 resection rates. The safety objective will be assessment of the safety and tolerability of bethanechol in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel. The exploratory objective will be to evaluate genomic biomarkers associated with parasympathetic stimulation in pancreatic cancer, and the ability to reduce tumor growth rate.

Read the detailed description

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the drug, bethanechol, could potentially be used in combination with chemotherapy regimen gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel and surgery to decrease the chance of the cancer coming back after it is removed. Animal models have shown that treatment with bethanechol can inhibit cancer growth and spread. The chemotherapy regimen nab-paclitaxel for use in combination with gemcitabine to treat patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer is FDA approved. Although bethanechol is FDA approved, in this study its use is experimental. The aim of the study is to show that the medication is easy to tolerate and that it shows signs of slowing cancer cell growth. The investigators hypothesize that treatment with bethanechol will alter nerve conduction within tumors by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system and reduce tumor proliferation, decrease CD44+ expression in cancer cells, decrease tumor growth rate resulting in an improved R0 resection rate.

03

Conditions studied

  • Pancreas Cancer

Keywords

  • Pancreas
  • pancreatic adenocarcinoma
  • adenocarcinoma
  • bethanechol
  • parasympathetic
04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
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

  • Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
  • Plan for chemotherapy
  • Available diagnostic tissue adequate for biomarker analysis
  • Ability to tolerate PO meds and comply with study procedures

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • disease
  • Evidence of GI obstruction
  • Baseline bradycardia (HR\<55) or hypotension (systolic blood pressure\<90)
  • Use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
  • Medical conditions including: hyperthyroidism, active/symptomatic coronary artery disease, seizure disorder, peptic ulcer disease.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

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.

Adjuvant and neoadjuvant

Neoadjuvant treatment is given before the main treatment (usually surgery), often to shrink a tumour. Adjuvant treatment is given after it, to lower the chance of the cancer coming back.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
37 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Bethanechol

    Patients with borderline resectable pancreatic cancer and no contraindication to bethanechol therapy will receive bethanechol on day 1 and continue until 2 days prior to scheduled surgery for a minimum of 2 months.

    Drug: Bethanechol · Drug: Gemcitabine · Drug: nab-paclitaxel

Interventions

  • Study Drug: Bethanechol (generic), supplied as 50mg oral tablets. Subjects will take 2 tablets (100mg) twice daily. Medication should be taken 1 hour before meals in AM and PM. Medication will be purchased commercially and dispensed at the research pharmacy.

    Also known as: Bethanechol chloride tablet

  • Non-experimental. Chemotherapy will be administered on a day 1, 8 and 15 schedule with gemcitabine at a dose of 1000 mg/m2

  • Non-experimental. Chemotherapy will be administered on a day 1, 8 and 15 schedule with nab-paclitaxel dose at 125 mg/m2

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. R0 resection rate

    This rate will be analyzed in patients treated with bethanechol in combination with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel compared to historical R0 resection rates.

    Time frame: 36 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Ki-67 expression in tumor cells

    This is to measure cell proliferation by Ki-67 expression in tumor cells, to quantify the change in tumor growth and alterations in inflammatory cytokines and immune profiles.

    Time frame: 36 months

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Columbia University Medical Center
    New York, New York 10032, United States
    Recruiting
    • Susan E Bates, MD · Principal investigator
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Feb 2022 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jan 2026, 47 months after the start.

Of 324 non-industry phase 2 interventional studies under Pancreatic Neoplasms, half reached primary completion within 60 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 36 and three quarters within 80. This study's planned 47 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 393 studies reached it within 57 months; a quarter within 35 and three quarters within 80.

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

Registered
Feb 3, 2022
First posted
Feb 15, 2022
StartActual
Feb 1, 2022
Primary completionEst.
Jan 2026
CompletionEst.
Jan 2026
Last update
Jun 5, 2025
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 Jun 5, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05241249
Lead sponsor
Susan E. Bates
Responsible party
Susan E. Bates (Associate Professor of Medicine, Columbia University) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Feb 15, 2022
Start date
Feb 1, 2022
Primary completion
Jan 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Jan 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Jun 5, 2025

Study contacts

Research Nurse Navigator
Contact
cancerclinicaltrials@cumc.columbia.edu
212-342-5162
Susan E Bates, MD
Contact
seb2227@cumc.columbia.edu
Susan E Bates, MD
principal investigator · Columbia University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Bethanechol · Gemcitabine · Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel

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