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RecruitingNCT06748404Updated Jun 30, 2026

TriCalm Hydrogel® in the Treatment of Immunotherapy-Related Pruritus

A Phase 2 interventional study of TriCalm Hydrogel® and Triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% cream in Immunotherapy-related Pruritus, sponsored by University of California, San Diego. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-30.

Sponsored by University of California, San Diego · Phase 2, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Mar 2025; still recruiting 1 year 8 months later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
28
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This is a phase 2, randomized, open-label, single-center study that will assess the efficacy of TriCalm Hydrogel®, a topical gel containing strontium, for treating pruritus related to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

Read the detailed description

Pruritus is a common immune-related adverse event of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI).

This is a phase 2, randomized, open-label, single-center study that will assess the efficacy of TriCalm Hydrogel®, a topical gel containing strontium, for treating pruritus related to ICIs. Topical strontium salts have been found to reduce the duration and severity of histaminergic and nonhistaminergic pruritus. The investigators hypothesize that TriCalm Hydrogel® will be effective in reducing the severity of immunotherapy-related pruritus and improve quality of life.

02

Conditions studied

  • Immunotherapy-related Pruritus

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Keywords

  • Immunotherapy
  • Pruritus
03

In context

Pruritus

490 studies on the registry are indexed under Pruritus; 93 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 28 is below the median of 60 across 422 interventional studies indexed under Pruritus.

Browse Pruritus studies →

Lead sponsor

University of California, San Diego is the lead sponsor of 980 studies on the registry; 195 are open to participants now.

Of its 113 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 71 (63%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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

  1. Patients aged 18 years or older.
  2. Patients receiving ICIs for hematologic or oncologic at the Moores Cancer Center Infusion Center at UC San Diego. ICIs include inhibitors (ipilimumab), PD-1 inhibitors (cemiplimab, nivolumab, pembrolizumab) and PD-L1 inhibitors (atezolizumab, avelumab, durvalumab).
  3. Patients who develop grade 1-3 pruritus at any time after receiving at least one dose of ICI.
  4. Preexisting use of oral antihistamines and/or GABA analogs more than 7 days prior to study entry are allowed.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Diagnosis of primary skin disorders with pruritus symptoms (e.g., atopic dermatitis, psoriasis).
  2. Initiation of any new oral or topical antipruritic medications and/or systemic within 7 days prior to study entry.
  3. Presence of open wounds on the skin.
  4. Presence of pruritus on the face.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(3)

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.

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.

PD-1, PD-L1 and checkpoint inhibitors

PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.

PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
28 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    ARM A

    TriCalm Hydrogel® during cycles 1 and 2

    Drug: TriCalm Hydrogel®

  • Active comparator
    ARM B

    Triamcinolone cream during cycle 1 followed by TriCalm Hydrogel® during cycle 2

    Drug: TriCalm Hydrogel® · Drug: Triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% cream

Interventions

  • DrugTriCalm Hydrogel®

    TriCalm Hydrogel® is a topical gel that allows rapid administration to the affected areas of the skin. TriCalm Hydrogel® is available over-the-counter and contains the active ingredient, aluminum acetate 0.2%, and inactive ingredient, strontium chloride hexahydrate.

    Also known as: TriCalm Steroid Free Soothing Itch Relief Hydrogel

  • Triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% cream is a topical steroid cream that will be applied directly to the skin.

    Also known as: Triamcinolone Acetonide

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To evaluate the efficacy of TriCalm Hydrogel® in reducing the severity of immunotherapy-related pruritus.

    Efficacy of TriCalm Hydrogel® in reducing the severity of pruritus as defined as change in mean pruritus Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores. A randomized comparison of the change in mean pruritus NRS scores after cycle 1 (Arm A, one cycle of TriCalm Hydrogel®; Arm B, one cycle of topical corticosteroid) will be tested between treatment arms. NRS is a single item questionnaire assessing the patient-reported severity of itch at its greatest intensity over the past 24 hours on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being 'no itch' and 10 being 'the worst itch'. NRS scores will be assessed weekly in this study.

    Time frame: 6-8 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. To evaluate the efficacy of TriCalm Hydrogel® in improving the quality of life in patients with immunotherapy-related pruritus.

    Change in mean Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores after 1 and 2 cycles of TriCalm Hydrogel® for all patients in both treatment arms will be assessed by 95% confidence intervals. Randomized comparison of the change in mean pruritus DLQI scores, after cycle 2, between treatment arms will be assessed by 95% confidence intervals. DLQI is a 10-item questionnaire assessing the impact of pruritus on quality of life in the last 7 days. Responses are scored on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all or not relevant) to 3 (very much) for a total maximum of 30 points and a minimum of 0 points. Higher total scores correspond to greater impairment in quality of life. DLQI scores will be assessed weekly in this study.

    Time frame: 6-8 weeks

  2. To evaluate the safety of TriCalm Hydrogel® in patients with immunotherapy-related pruritus.

    AEs will be graded according to CTCAE version 5.0.

    Time frame: 6-8 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 30, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06748404
Responsible party
Karen Yun (Assistant Clinical Professor, Medicine, University of California, San Diego) — Principal investigator
First posted
Dec 27, 2024
Start date
Mar 5, 2025
Primary completion
Dec 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Jun 30, 2026

Study contacts

Karen M Yun, MD
Contact
k5yun@health.ucsd.edu
(858) 822-6100
Lung Research Team
Contact
CancerCTO@health.ucsd.edu
(858) 822-5354
Karen M Yun, MD
principal investigator · University of California, San Diego

Oversight

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

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