ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07628634Updated Jul 31, 2026

Feasibility Study on the Effect of a Methionine-Reduced Diet on Serum Levels in Pts w/ Solid Tumors

An Early Phase 1 interventional study of Methionine-Reduced Diet in Adenocarcinoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma, sponsored by University of California, Irvine. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-31.

Primary conditionCarcinoma, DuctalRegistry: AdenocarcinomaReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Adenocarcinoma — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Carcinoma, Ductal
Why
  1. The study's listed conditions name Carcinoma, Ductal, a narrower term within Adenocarcinoma.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by University of California, Irvine · Early Phase 1, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Started May 2026; still recruiting 6 months later.
Phase
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
25
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This is a pilot clinical trial determining the effect of a Methionine-reduced diet on serum levels in subjects with solid tumors. These are subjects who will receive systemic standard of care cancer therapy.

02

Conditions studied

  • Adenocarcinoma
  • Basal Cell Carcinoma
  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  • Transitional Cell Carcinoma
  • Ductal Carcinoma
  • Osteosarcoma
  • Soft Tissue Sarcoma
  • Ewing Sarcoma
  • Rhabdomyosarcoma
  • Leiomyosarcoma
  • Melanoma
  • Germ Cell Tumor
  • Lymphoma
  • Endocrine Tumor
  • Glioma
03

In context

Carcinoma, Ductal Reclassified

20 studies on the registry are indexed under Carcinoma, Ductal; 3 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 25 is below the median of 49 across 16 interventional studies indexed under Carcinoma, Ductal.

Browse Carcinoma, Ductal studies →

Lead sponsor

University of California, Irvine is the lead sponsor of 476 studies on the registry; 98 are open to participants now.

Of its 41 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 30 (73%) have results posted.

Compared within Carcinoma, Ductal, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Adenocarcinoma. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

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

  • Age: Subjects must be 18 years of age or older.
  • Diagnosis: Has a diagnosis of , recurrent, or unresectable solid tumors.
  • : Subjects must have an expected life expectancy of at least 3 months.
  • Performance Status: Subjects must have an performance status of 0-2.
  • Organ Function: Subjects must have adequate organ function, as determined by the investigator through review of standard labs.
  • Pregnancy and : Women of (WOCBP) must have a negative pregnancy test within 7 days prior to study enrollment and must agree to use adequate contraception throughout the study period and for 30 days after the last dose of study treatment. Female patients who are considered not to be of childbearing potential must have a history of being (with a minimum of 1 year without menses), tubal ligation, or hysterectomy.
  • Dietary Compliance: Subjects must be willing and able to comply with the methionine-reduced diet as prescribed by the study protocol.
  • : Subjects or Legally Authorized Representatives (LAR) must provide written informed consent prior to any study-specific procedures, indicating that they understand the purpose of the study and are willing to comply with its requirements.
  • Able to receive systemic standard of care cancer therapy.

Additional criteria specifically for the glioma population:

  • Diagnosis: Histopathological proven diagnosis: a) newly diagnosed grade 2-3 glioma or b) all grades for recurrent glioma.
  • Treatment: Subjects must be able to receive radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy as a part of their treatment.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • : Subjects with uncontrolled or symptomatic brain metastases. Subjects with brain metastases that have been treated, are asymptomatic, and patients who require are eligible.
  • Significant Clinical Illness: Subjects with uncontrolled significant clinical illnesses, including but not limited to: a) Active infections requiring systemic therapy. b) Severe cardiovascular conditions such as recent myocardial infarction (within 6 months), uncontrolled angina, congestive heart failure ( class III or IV), or significant arrhythmias. (c) Uncontrolled diabetes.
  • Significant Amino Acid/Metabolic Illnesses: Subjects with severe or inherited illnesses that affect metabolism of amino acids or disrupt nutrient absorption, including but not limited to: a) Severe liver disease, such as cirrhosis or severe hepatic insufficiency, that may have compromised ability to metabolize amino acids. b) Inherited metabolic disorders, such as homocystinuria or other disorders affecting sulfur amino acid metabolism, that may have potential metabolic imbalances. c) Severe gastrointestinal disorders, such as active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), short bowel syndrome, or other conditions that significantly impair nutrient absorption, that may lead to nutritional deficiencies and gastrointestinal complications.
  • Recent Surgery: Major surgery within 4 weeks of randomization ( are acceptable per investigator judgement)
  • Concurrent : Subjects with another malignancy that requires active treatment during the study period or is expected to interfere with the study intervention.
  • Pregnancy or Lactation: Female subjects who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • Malnutrition: Subjects with severe malnutrition or significant nutritional deficiencies per investigator's discretion.
  • Substance Abuse: Subjects with a history of substance abuse or dependency within the past 6 months that, in the opinion of the investigator, would interfere with adherence to study requirements.
  • Subjects with chronic kidney disease with advanced stages 3b or higher.
  • Psychiatric Disorders: Subjects with psychiatric disorders that would interfere with the ability to give or adhere to study requirements per investigator judgment.
  • Subjects with known allergies or intolerances to low-methionine foods.
  • Subjects with any medical or surgical conditions that, in the opinion of the investigator, would make adherence to the methionine-reduced diet unsafe or impractical.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(12)

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.

Metastases

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

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

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.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

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.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Postmenopausal

Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).

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.

Brain metastases

Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).

Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.

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.

NYHA class (heart failure)

The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.

I
No limits: ordinary activity causes no undue tiredness or breathlessness.
II
Slight limits: comfortable at rest, ordinary activity causes symptoms.
III
Marked limits: comfortable at rest, less than ordinary activity causes symptoms.
IV
Symptoms even at rest; any activity makes them worse.

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.

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.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Early Phase 1
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
25 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Single Arm: Methionine-Reduced Diet

    Other: Methionine-Reduced Diet

Interventions

  • OtherMethionine-Reduced Diet

    Normal diet days 1-3 and 8, Methionine-Reduced Diet days 4-7, standard of care cancer treatment initiation on day 8.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Feasibility of Patient Adherence to Diet

    Describe the feasibility of patients' ability to adhere to a methionine-reduced diet

    Time frame: 8 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. Safety and Tolerability of Diet

    Number of subjects who experience Grade 3 or greater Adverse Events related to methionine-reduced diet per Clinical Trial Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events

    Time frame: 43 days

  2. Correlative Biomarker changes

    measure changes in serum methionine levels

    Time frame: 43 days

  3. Change in Quality of Life

    Changes in quality of life during intervention per EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire.

    Time frame: 8 day

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started May 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for May 2027, 12 months after the start.

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

Registered
May 20, 2026
First posted
Jun 5, 2026
StartActual
May 1, 2026
Primary completionEst.
May 1, 2027
CompletionEst.
May 1, 2028
Last update
Jul 31, 2026
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 Jul 31, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07628634
Responsible party
Zhaohui Liao Arter (Medical Oncologist | Assistant Clinical Professor, University of California, Irvine) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jun 5, 2026
Start date
May 1, 2026
Primary completion
May 1, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
May 1, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 31, 2026

Study contacts

Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center University of California, Irvine
Contact
ucstudy@uci.edu
877-827-8839
University of California Irvine Medical
Contact
Zhaohui A Arter, MD
principal investigator · Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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