Transdermal Methylphenidate for Cancer-Related Fatigue

August 25, 2010 updated by: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Efficacy and Safety of Transdermal Methylphenidate for Cancer-Related Fatigue

The purpose of this study is to compare the effects, good and/or bad, of the Methylphenidate patch and a placebo patch (a patch that contains no medicine) on patients and their fatigue caused by cancer or by cancer treatment. The Methylphenidate patch contains a medication that is known to increase alertness and wakefulness. Oral methylphenidate has been used in the past to treat cancer related fatigue and is often used to treat unusual sleepiness. But this is the first time that the patch form is offered to try treating cancer fatigue in patients who cannot always swallow tablets.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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Withdrawn

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

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

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

21 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of head and neck cancer who underwent combined modality treatment with curative intent
  • Has not undergone cancer treatment in the last 4 weeks
  • Is 21 years of age or older
  • Fatigue scale score of 4 or higher
  • Is able to understand English, through written and verbal communication
  • In the judgment of the consenting professional, is able to provide informed consent
  • Physically able to present for follow-up appointments at outpatient Radiation Oncology or Pain & Palliative Care clinics
  • Probable life expectancy of more than 6 months

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pulmonary or cardiovascular failure, seizure disorder, sleep disorder, mental impairment, psychiatric disorder, or pregnancy
  • Has known sensitivity or allergies to methylphenidate
  • Receiving concurrent treatment with a psychostimulant
  • Hospitalized patients
  • Evidence of impaired hepatic or renal function (hyperbilirubinemia, greater than two fold elevation of transaminases; >40mg/dl BUN or >1.5mg/dl Cr )
  • Anemia ( hemoglobin <10mg/dl)

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: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Double

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.
Experimental: methylphenidate via transdermal patch compared to placebo
The proposed study is a within-subject, cross-over, randomized and double-blinded pilot trial, designed to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of sustained-release, long-acting methylphenidate via transdermal patch compared to placebo in fatigued patients with Head and Neck malignancies
Drug: methylphenidate via transdermal patch compared to placebo
The participants will start with a 10mg MPH patch on day -4, the 1st day of the titration period. This will be increased up to 20mg over 4-day titration period as needed and tolerated, and continued on the optimal dose. Subjects will be seen on day 1 of the double-blind part of the study at a patient education room or the Dr.'s office and receive 10 identical patches including 5 MPH and 5 placebo patches that will be randomly assigned over the 10-day course. The patch will be placed at 9am and removed at 4pm daily for 10 days. During the 10 days, each subject will be monitored for continuous 240 hours by actigraphy based activity monitors to follow activity levels and energy expenditure.

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
To investigate the efficacy of sustained-release, transdermal methylphenidate compared to a placebo.
Time Frame: for 10 days
In reducing fatigue, increasing activity levels, and sustaining steady wakefulness throughout the day. The outcome measure will be BFI and ESS based self-reporting of the reduction of numeric rating scale on fatigue level and sleepiness, combined with objective measurement of increased activity intensity scores monitored by actigraphy.
for 10 days
To evaluate the possible side effects of a methylphenidate patch.
Time Frame: for 10 days
In adult head and neck cancer patients with fatigue.
for 10 days

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
To evaluate the feasibility of accelerometry-based objective outcome measures to assess improved activity levels and energy expenditure of cancer patients.
Time Frame: for 10 days
To evaluate the feasibility of accelerometry-based objective outcome measures to assess improved activity levels and energy expenditure, will be evaluated by examining the patients' rating of their comfort while wearing the actigraphy device and of how willing they would be to wear the device for a future study.
for 10 days

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.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

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.

Helpful Links

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.
May 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

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, 2012

Study Completion (Anticipated)

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, 2012

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).
May 13, 2010

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.
May 13, 2010

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.
May 17, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

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.
August 26, 2010

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.
August 25, 2010

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.
August 1, 2010

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.
  • 10-020

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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