Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of IV Vitamin C in Combination With Standard Chemotherapy for Pancreatic Ca

May 1, 2025 updated by: Thomas Jefferson University

Phase II, Open Label Study of Intravenous Ascorbic Acid in Combination With Gemcitabine and Erlotinib in the Treatment of Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

The investigators recently completed a phase I study of intravenous ascorbic acid (IV AA) plus standard chemotherapy (gemcitabine and erlotinib) in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The investigators determined that the target ceiling dosage of 100 grams of ascorbic acid is safe when given with the chemotherapy. This Phase II trial is an initial test of efficacy of the 100 gram dose of ascorbic acid, which will be given with the same standard chemotherapy. This open label study will recruit up to 35 subjects with metastatic pancreatic cancer who will receive ascorbic acid combined with gemcitabine and erlotinib as front-line treatment. The phase I data suggests that ascorbic acid when given in combination with gemcitabine and erlotinib may result in some tumor response, and the goal of this study is to better evaluate the response and confirm initial safety data

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.

Detailed Description

Intravenous high dose ascorbic acid is a widely used alternative cancer treatment. Patients will receive standard care gemcitabine/erlotinib for treatment of their metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. They will be closely monitored for disease response/ progression. If vitamin C has a beneficial effect on tumour cells, patients may experience a regression of tumor or tumor markers. Additional benefits include scans at no charge to the patient. This study requires several days of treatment per week and treatments are given in two different locations. The intravenous vitamin C treatments are given 3 times per week, these are given every week for an initial cycle of 15 weeks.

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.
11

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.
  • Phase 2

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
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
        • Thomas Jefferson University

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:

  • Males and females of age ≥ 18
  • Histologically or cytologically confirmed pancreatic adenocarcinoma that has metastatic disease measurable by CT, MRI, or PET
  • Subjects with unresectable pancreatic cancer who have had surgery (exploratory laparotomy, biliary, gastrointestinal bypass) are eligible, if the subject has fully recovered from surgery and ≥ 14 days has passed since the operation. Patients with history of pancreatoduodenectomy are eligible provided that there is radiographically documented disease recurrence.
  • ECOG performance status 0-2
  • Laboratory values that would not prevent the patient from receiving chemotherapy as determined by the PI or study oncologist
  • G6PD status ≥ lower limit of normal
  • Serum creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Islet cell or acinar cell carcinoma or cystadenocarcinoma
  • History or known presence of central nervous system (CNS) metastases
  • History of another primary cancer, except:
  • Curatively treated cervical carcinoma in situ, or
  • Curatively resected non-melanomatous skin cancer, or
  • Other primary solid tumor curatively treated with no known active disease present and no treatment administered for ≥ 3 years prior to enrollment
  • Other concurrent anticancer chemotherapy
  • Prior radiotherapy ≤ 14 days, or if subjects have not recovered from radiotherapy
  • Uncontrolled seizure disorder or other serious neurological diseases
  • Any co-morbid disease that would increase risk of toxicity as determined by PI
  • Only locally advanced disease
  • Prior treatment with gemcitabine (for metastatic pancreatic cancer)
  • Subjects requiring chronic use of immunosuppressive agents (eg, methotrexate, cyclosporine, corticosteroids)
  • Recent infection requiring a course of systemic anti-infection that was completed ≤ 14 days prior to enrollment (exception can be made at the judgment of the PI for oral treatment of an uncomplicated urinary tract infection ([UTI])
  • History of any medical or psychiatric condition or addictive disorder, or laboratory abnormality that, in the opinion of the PI, may increase the risks associated with study participation or study drug administration or may interfere with the conduct of the study or interpretation of study requirements
  • Subject unwilling or unable to comply with study requirements
  • Subject who is pregnant or breast feeding
  • Known positive test(s) for human immunodeficiency virus infection, hepatitis C virus, chronic active hepatitis B infection
  • Documented history of alcohol, cocaine or intravenous drug abuse ≤ 6 months of enrollment

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: Ascorbic Acid, Gemcitabine & Erlotinib
Ascorbic Acid (50-100g, 3x weekly) Standard Chemotherapy of Gemcitabine and Erlotinib for Pancreatic Cancer
Drug: Ascorbic Acid
3x per week
Other Names:
  • Vitamin C
  • Ascorbate

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
Safety of Ascorbic Acid in Combination With Gemcitabine and Erlotinib for Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer
Time Frame: 15 weeks
Safety: to assess safety of IVAA in combination with gemcitabine and erlotinib by evaluating the number of adverse events and serious adverse events occurring among study participants.
15 weeks

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
Evaluate Quality of Life Using Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) Quality Assessment Instrument
Time Frame: 15 weeks
1) To evaluate quality of life using Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) quality assessment instrument. The FACT-G questionnaire as well as the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS-29) will be used to assess quality-of-life longitudinally. Quality-of-life scores obtained from the FACT-G and PROMIS-29 will be summarized at multiple time points using means and standard deviations.
15 weeks

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.
Thomas Jefferson University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Daniel A Monti, MD, Thomas Jefferson University
  • Study Chair: Edith P Mitchell, MD, Thomas Jefferson 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

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.
October 1, 2011

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.
January 1, 2016

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.
January 1, 2016

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).
February 22, 2012

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.
March 13, 2012

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.
March 15, 2012

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.
May 4, 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.
May 1, 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.
May 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.
  • 11D.365
  • JT 2181 (Other Identifier: JeffTrial Number)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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