MedPath

Glutamine in Preventing Acute Diarrhea in Patients With Pelvic Cancer

Phase 3
Completed
Conditions
Cancer
Registration Number
NCT00003170
Lead Sponsor
Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
Brief Summary

RATIONALE: Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to damage tumor cells. Glutamine may be an effective treatment for acute diarrhea caused by radiation therapy. It is not known if glutamine is an effective treatment for acute diarrhea caused by radiation therapy.

PURPOSE: Randomized double-blinded phase III trial to determine the effectiveness of glutamine in preventing acute diarrhea in patients who have pelvic cancer and who are receiving radiation therapy.

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether glutamine is effective in reducing the acute treatment related diarrhea in patients receiving pelvic external beam radiation therapy as adjuvant or primary treatment of malignancy. II. Determine whether glutamine can reduce chronic treatment related enteropathy following completion of therapy. III. Determine whether glutamine causes any toxicity in this situation. IV. Provide initial reliability and validity data for a patient bowel function questionnaire.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study. Patients are stratified by history of anterior resection of the rectum (yes vs no); total planned cumulative dose, including boost fields of external beam radiotherapy (4500-5350 cGy vs 5350-6000 cGy vs greater than 6000 cGy); use of fluorouracil (none vs bolus vs continuous infusion); and primary site (rectal cancer vs prostate cancer vs gynecological cancer vs other). Beginning the first or second day of radiotherapy, patients receive either oral glutamine or a placebo twice daily, including the days that they do not receive radiotherapy. Patients continue on treatment throughout radiotherapy and continue 2 weeks postradiotherapy or until grade 3 diarrhea occurs. Patients are followed weekly for 4 weeks, then at 12 months, and then at 24 months after radiotherapy.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
129
Inclusion Criteria

Not provided

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
reduction of acute treatment related to diarrheaUp to 2 years post-radiation treatment
reduction of chronic treatment related to enteropathyUp to 2 years post-radiation treatment
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (18)

CCOP - Scottsdale Oncology Program

🇺🇸

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

CCOP - Illinois Oncology Research Association

🇺🇸

Peoria, Illinois, United States

CCOP - Carle Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Urbana, Illinois, United States

CCOP - Cedar Rapids Oncology Project

🇺🇸

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States

CCOP - Iowa Oncology Research Association

🇺🇸

Des Moines, Iowa, United States

Siouxland Hematology-Oncology

🇺🇸

Sioux City, Iowa, United States

CCOP - Wichita

🇺🇸

Wichita, Kansas, United States

CCOP - Ann Arbor Regional

🇺🇸

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

CCOP - Duluth

🇺🇸

Duluth, Minnesota, United States

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

🇺🇸

Rochester, Minnesota, United States

Scroll for more (8 remaining)
CCOP - Scottsdale Oncology Program
🇺🇸Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

MedPath

Empowering clinical research with data-driven insights and AI-powered tools.

© 2025 MedPath, Inc. All rights reserved.