Effects of 3 Day Preoperative Immunonutrition in Well-nourished Patients With Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancer Undergoing Surgery (IPOD-3)

December 3, 2025 updated by: Société des Produits Nestlé (SPN)

Effect of 3 Day Pre-operative Immunonutrition Regimen on Clinical Outcome in Well-nourished Patients With Gastrointestinal Cancer Undergoing Surgery , a Randomised Double-blind Controlled Trial

Major surgery is still associated with a high rate of postoperative morbidity despite improved techniques in surgical management. Surgery-induced alterations of the immune system are well described and may play a role in the genesis of postoperative complications. It has been shown by several large scale clinical trials, that the use of immunonutrition in postoperative cancer surgery, trauma and critically ill patients resulted in an improved immunocompetence and/or reduced postoperatively infectious morbidity and/or length of hospital stay.The pre-operative regimen was between 5 to 7 days of treatment. The aim of this trial is to evaluate if a shorter administration of 3 days pre-operatively would be beneficial as well.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

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.
Interventional

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.
107

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

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

  • Switzerland
      • Aarau, Switzerland, 5001
        • Kantonsspital Aarau
      • Baden, Switzerland, 5404
        • Kantonsspital Baden
      • Bern, Switzerland, 3012
        • Lindenhof-Spital
      • Liestal, Switzerland, 4410
        • Kantonsspital Liestal
      • Sankt Gallen, Switzerland, 9000
        • Kantonsspital St.Gallen
      • Schaffhausen, Switzerland, 8208
        • Kantonsspital Schaffausen

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

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with GI cancer (stomach, pancreas, small and large bowel and rectum) histologically proven
  • Well nourished patients as defined by a total score of <3 on the nutritional screening tool NRS-2002 (46) (Appendix III)
  • Patients who are >= 18 years of age;
  • Patients who have signed a written Informed Consent (Appendix I) prior to admission to the study;
  • Patients who have an ECOG performance status of 0, 1 or 2 (Appendix II).
  • Patients able to orally consume 750 mL or more of liquid a day prior to surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have co-morbid conditions, uncontrolled metabolic conditions or psychiatric conditions that might make tolerance or evaluation of the feeding formula difficult;
  • Patients who are pregnant;
  • Patients with cardiac failure as defined by the Goldman classification class>3
  • Patients with respiratory failure (FEV<0.8l/sec)
  • Patients with renal failure (Cr >= 3mg/dl or dialysis patients)
  • Patients with hepatic dysfunction (Child >A)
  • Patients suffering from an intestinal obstruction or ileum
  • Patients with an Hb level of <=8 g/dL experiencing gastrointestinal hemorrhaging
  • Patients with HIV, HCV, HBV
  • Patients requiring immunosuppression treatments
  • Patients undergoing emergency surgery
  • Other patients determined by a study investigator to be inappropriate for enrolment in this study

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Nutritional product
Oral nutritional supplement containing immuno nutrients
Dietary supplement: Immunonutrition
Oral Nutritional Supplement containing the amino acid arginine, omega-3 fatty acids, and nucleotides (RNA).
Placebo Comparator: Isocaloric control
Isocaloric and isonitrogenous control without immuno nutrients
Dietary supplement: Immunonutrition
Oral Nutritional Supplement containing the amino acid arginine, omega-3 fatty acids, and nucleotides (RNA).

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
Time Frame
Rate of post-operative complications
Time Frame: On the day of discharge from hospital
On the day of discharge from hospital

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
Time Frame
Incidence of non-infectious complications
Time Frame: On the day of discharge from hospital
On the day of discharge from hospital
Length of hospital stay
Time Frame: On the day of discharge from hospital
On the day of discharge from hospital
Nutritional status evaluation
Time Frame: On the day of discharge from hospital
On the day of discharge from hospital
Rate of post-operative infectious complications
Time Frame: On the day of discharge from hospital
On the day of discharge from hospital

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.
Société des Produits Nestlé (SPN)

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

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.
January 1, 2006

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.
May 1, 2008

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.
May 1, 2008

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).
November 16, 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.
December 1, 2009

First Posted (Estimated)

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.
December 2, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

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.
December 10, 2025

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.
December 3, 2025

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.
December 1, 2025

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.
  • SC-IRTD-01-05-CH

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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