The Natural History of Gene Expression in the Lung Cells of Non-Smokers, Smokers and Ex-Smokers in Health and Disease

July 24, 2020 updated by: Weill Medical College of Cornell University

The Natural History of Gene Expression in Lung Cells of Non-Smokers, Smokers, and Ex-Smokers in Health and Disease

Cigarette smoking is the major risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, commonly known as chronic bronchitis and emphysema). Despite this clear link, only 15-20% of smokers develop COPD suggesting that genetic factors affect the lung's susceptibility to the stress of cigarette smoke. The cells lining the airways (epithelium) and cells that help defend the lung (alveolar macrophages) of smokers develop gene expression changes that are different from that of nonsmokers. In the investigators' previous studies they have demonstrated that there are greater than 200 genes that are responsive to cigarette smoke in these cells. But the investigators do not know whether the gene expression is static or changes as a function of time. Genes that show significant changes over time may be relevant to the progression of the disease. Even though quitting smoking reduces the rate at which the lungs decline, many-smokers still go on to develop COPD. This study will provide insights into the natural history of smoking-related gene expression of the lung cells in health and disease.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

Cigarette smoke is responsible for the majority of lung cancers and is the major cause of COPD, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Despite the well established causal role of cigarette smoking in lung cancer and COPD, only 10-20% of smokers actually develop these diseases. This suggests that there are genetic predisposing factors that place some individuals at greater risk. Our prior work shows that healthy smokers (cigarette smokers with normal history, physical exam, lung function tests and chest x-rays) and smokers with COPD have marked up and down regulation of greater than 200 genes in the small airway epithelium and alveolar macrophages. There is however, a varied response to smoking among individuals, with some individuals abnormally expressing far fewer genes. The focus of this study is to evaluate the hypothesis that the response of the lung cells to the stress of smoking is unique to each individual but is consistent over time. Furthermore, individuals that stop smoking will each have a unique response, but is constant over time for each individual. By defining the patterns of biologic response over time among smoking, ex-smoking and nonsmoking subjects, we will be able to identify common biologic pathways as potential targets for intervention.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
171

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10065-4870
        • Weill Cornell Medical College and Weill Cornell Medical Center, Department of Genetic Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

New York Metropolitan area residents

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Group A: Healthy nonsmokers

  • All study individuals should be enrolled in the "Airway" protocol #1204012331 "Collection of Airway, Blood and/or Urine Specimens from Subjects for Research Studies"
  • Willing and able to provide informed consent for the long term follow up study with repeated bronchoscopies
  • Male and Female subject ≥18 years of age
  • Never smokers is defined as someone who has smoked < 100 cigarettes per lifetime and whose urine nicotine <2 ng/mL and/or urine cotinine <5 ng/mL, at entry into the study

Group B: Healthy current smokers Inclusion:

  • All study individuals should be enrolled in the "Airway" protocol
  • Willing and able to provide informed consent for the long term follow up study with repeated bronchoscopies
  • Male and Female subject ≥18 years of age
  • Active smoker as evidenced by self-report and urine nicotine >30 ng/mL and/or urine cotinine >50 ng/mL

Group C: Healthy smokers who elect to stop smoking Inclusion:

  • All study individuals should be enrolled in the "Airway" protocol
  • Willing and able to provide informed consent for the long term follow up study with repeated bronchoscopies
  • Male and Female subject ≥18 years of age
  • Current smoker as evidenced by self-report and urine nicotine >30 ng/mL and/or urine cotinine >50 ng/mL
  • Be a current smoker willing to stop smoking

Group D - Current smokers with COPD Inclusion:

  • All study subjects will be enrolled in the "Airway" protocol #1204012331 "Collection of Airway, Blood and/or Urine Specimens from Subjects for Research Studies"
  • All study subjects should meet the lung disease criteria for having COPD may be of any stage (GOLD I - IV), be ambulatory and have no evidence of respiratory failure
  • All study subjects should be able to provide informed consent for the long term follow up study with repeated bronchoscopies
  • Male and Female subject ≥18 years of age
  • Active smokers as evidenced by urine nicotine >30 ng/mL and/or urine cotinine >50 ng/mL

Group E - Current smokers with COPD who elect to stop smoking Inclusion:

  • All study subjects will be enrolled in the "Airway" protocol #1204012331 "Collection of Airway, Blood and/or Urine Specimens from Subjects for Research Studies"
  • All study subjects should meet the lung disease criteria for having COPD may be of any stage (GOLD I - IV), be ambulatory and have no evidence of respiratory failure
  • All study subjects should be able to provide informed consent for the long term follow up study with repeated bronchoscopies
  • Male and Female subject ≥18 years of age
  • Active smokers as evidenced by urine nicotine >30 ng/mL and/or urine cotinine >50 ng/mL
  • Be a current smoker willing to stop smoking

Exclusion Criteria:

Groups A - E

  • Individuals unable to provide proper informed consent
  • Habitual use of drugs and/or alcohol within the past six months (Acceptable: Marijuana one time in three months; average of two alcoholic beverages per day; drug and/or alcohol abuse is defined as per the DSM-IV Substance Abuse Criteria)
  • Individuals with asthma and with recurrent or recent (within three months) and/or acute pulmonary infection
  • Individuals with allergy to lidocaine
  • Significant kidney disease or subjects on dialysis
  • Females who are pregnant or lactating or intending to become pregnant in the next 12 months
  • Subjects who are HIV positive
  • Subjects that have unstable coronary artery disease as evidenced by unstable angina, >Class II New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac status, history of congestive heart failure or MI within the last 12 months
  • Subjects who are contraindicated for undergoing bronchoscopy
  • Subjects having any medical condition that in the opinion of the investigator would preclude the subject from entering the study

Groups D and E

- Subjects may not have evidence of respiratory failure such as SpO2 <90% or PaO2 <60 mmHg

Groups C and E

  • Current major depression or other significant psychiatric disorder
  • Subjects currently taking anti-depressant medication

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
A-Healthy Non smokers
Healthy nonsmokers. Defined as non-smokers by self report and urine cotinine levels consistent with a nonsmoker (urine cotinine <5 ng/mL).
B-Healthy smoker
Healthy current smokers. Subjects categorized as healthy according to criteria under "Collection" (#1204012331) protocol.
C-Healthy smoker to quit
Healthy smokers willing to quit. Defined by self-report and urine cotinine levels consistent with an active smoker (urine cotinine >50 ng/mL).
D-Current smoker w. COPD
Current smokers with COPD. COPD as defined by the GOLD criteria and currently smoking as defined by self-report and urine cotinine levels consistent with an active smoker (urine cotinine >50 ng/mL)
E-Current COPD smoker to quit
Current smokers with COPD willing to stop smoking. Subjects have COPD as defined by the GOLD criteria

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Evaluate gene expression over time
Time Frame: 12/31/2013
To prospectively assess changes in lung cell gene expression over time in healthy nonsmokers, healthy smokers and smokers with COPD. To examine what smoking-induced gene expression changes occur in the lung cells of healthy smokers and COPD smokers over time in response to cessation of smoking.
12/31/2013

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quitters who return to smoking and the effects on gene expression
Time Frame: 12/31/2012
In individuals who quit but start smoking again despite the standard smoking cessation therapy, what are the effects on gene expression of returning to smoking. To assess whether baseline gene expression determines what genes rapidly change to a more "normal" expression pattern with smoking cessation. Does having established COPD determine the relative reversibility of the gene expression pattern with smoking cessation compared to healthy smokers.
12/31/2012

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 9, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 9, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 10, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 27, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 24, 2020

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 0905010391

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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