Chemoprevention of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) With Valproic Acid (GAMA)

January 30, 2018 updated by: Barretos Cancer Hospital

Phase 0 Clinical Trial With Valproic Acid as a Chemopreventive Agent in Patients With Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Previously Treated

This study evaluates the addition of valproic acid as a chemopreventive drug in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients that do not have signs of recurrence or residual disease. The participants will be randomized 1:1 (valproic acid : placebo). The primary outcome is to document histone acetylation and DNA methyltransferase expression (DNMT) in saliva collected from participants when comparing valproic acid arm with placebo arm.

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.

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

Chemoprevention is an attractive strategy to reduce the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, although past trials have not demonstrated its feasibility.

Valproic acid (VA) is a modifier of epigenetic events as it is an histone deacetylase inhibitor and causes DNMT degradation. The histone deacetylase inhibitors (e.g. VA) encompasses a new class of anti-tumor drugs, that can affect multiple pathways related to tumor initiation and progression due to histone and non-histone protein acetylation and DNMT degradation. VA promote histone acetylation when orally administered with a dose of 20-40 mg/kg, per day or 1000/1500 mg, per day.

Initially the authors will study saliva from participants documenting if there is saliva histone acetylation and if a difference in DNMT expression in saliva exists when comparing valproic acid arm to placebo arm (biological validation) after giving placebo or valproic acid for three months.

This will be the initial step of a bigger project. If authors prove that there will be a difference in histone acetylation and/or DNMT expression between groups they will launch a randomized, double blind, placebo control clinical trial (phase 3 clinical trial), to evaluate VA action as a chemopreventive agent in HNSCC patients who usually carries a high chance to develop recurrence (stages III/IV) or second primary malignancies (stages I/II/III/IV).

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.
42

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.
  • Early Phase 1

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

  • Brazil
    • São Paulo
      • Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil, 14784-400
        • Barretos Cancer Hospital

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

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients that signed the formal consent;
  • Previous history of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with no more than three years of follow-up;
  • History of squamous cell carcinoma in the following sub-sites: oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx and hypopharynx;
  • Absence of active malignant disease (HNSCC) with at least three months of follow-up (without signs of residual disease, recurrence or second primary invasive tumors);
  • Normal liver, hematologic and renal function.
  • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status: 0, 1 or 2;
  • Smoking history (current smokers or former smokers). Former users were defined as patients who had quit smoking at least one year prior to diagnosis and smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Any active malignancy;
  • History of invasive malignancies (other than HNSCC) diagnosed within the last 2 years (controlled non-melanoma skin cancer are an exception);
  • History of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, chronic liver disease or chronic pancreatic disease;
  • Any comorbid medical or psychiatric disorder that it is not well controlled;
  • Patients under immunosuppression or under systemic corticosteroid therapy to treat any active autoimmune disease;
  • Patients that still have documented toxicities greater than grade 1 (CTCEA NCI v4.0) due to the previously treated HNSCC;
  • Patients that are pregnant or breast-feeding;
  • Patients that are in routine use of the following medications due to drug interaction: phenytoin, carbamazepine, barbiturates, chlorpromazine, diazepam, clonazepam, lamotrigine, primidone, amitriptyline, nortriptyline, ethosuximide, warfarin, tolbutamide or topiramate;
  • Any medical condition or mental disorder that can potentially increase their risk during the trial (e.g. epilepsy, active infection, schizophrenia);
  • Patients that are already under valproic acid use due to neurological or psychiatric disorders;
  • Patients that are allergic/intolerant to valproic acid;
  • Patients with alcoholism history within the past year or that was under alcoholism treatment in the same period;
  • Institutionalized patients.

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: PREVENTION
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • 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.
EXPERIMENTAL: Valproic Acid
Valproic acid will be orally administered in a total dose of 1500mg per day (500mg, every 8 hours), for three months.
Drug: Valproic Acid
Half of the participants will receive valproic acid orally for three months. Saliva and blood will be sampled in the study entry. The participants will be followed with blood tests every month for three cycles. After the third cycle, saliva and blood will be sampled once more. Finally, histone acetylation and DNMT expression will be studied comparing the samples collected in different timelines and comparing them to saliva collected in placebo arm.
Other Names:
  • Depakote
  • Depakene
  • Depacon
  • Divalproex
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Placebo
Placebo will be orally administered in a total dose of three capsules per day (every 8 hours), for three months.
Drug: Placebo
The other half of the participants will receive placebo for three months. Saliva and blood will be sampled in the study entry. The participants will be followed with blood tests every month for three cycles. After the third cycle, saliva and blood will be sampled once more. Finally, histone acetylation and DNMT expression will be studied comparing the samples collected in different timelines and comparing them to saliva collected in valproic acid arm.
Other Names:
  • Inert, not active

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
Changes in protein or histone acetylation
Time Frame: Three months after study enrollment
Saliva samples will be collected in baseline and three months after study enrolment. Histone acetylation will be quantified (through ELISA method) and compared in the same arm (if there will be a change in histone acetylation when looking at these different timelines) and between arms (if one group will have or will not have more histone acetylation than the other).
Three months after study enrollment

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
Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events
Time Frame: Day 1 of each new cycle up to 3 months (3 months of treatment and 3 months of follow-up), in other words, from day 1 of the first cycle until the date of first documented emergent adverse event, assessed up to 6 months
Evaluation of incidence of treatment-induced adverse events at the beginning of each new cycle (day 1, every 30 days, for a total of six months) using Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Effects (CTCAE v.4.0).
Day 1 of each new cycle up to 3 months (3 months of treatment and 3 months of follow-up), in other words, from day 1 of the first cycle until the date of first documented emergent adverse event, assessed up to 6 months
Change in DNA methyltransferases expression. (DNMT)
Time Frame: Three months after study enrollment
Saliva samples will be collected in baseline and three months after study enrolment. DNA methyltransferases expression (through microarray method) will be compared in the same arm (if there will be a change in DNMT expression when looking at these different timelines) and between arms (if one group will have or will not have a different DNMT expression when compared to the other).
Three months after study enrollment

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.
Barretos Cancer Hospital

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: Ricardo Gama, MD, PHD, Barretos Cancer Hospital
  • Study Director: André Lopes Carvalho, MD, PHD, Barretos Cancer Hospital
  • Study Chair: Luciano de Souza Viana, MD, PHD, Barretos Cancer Hospital

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

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.
December 1, 2015

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.
December 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.
July 1, 2017

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, 2015

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.
November 17, 2015

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.
November 20, 2015

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.
February 1, 2018

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.
January 30, 2018

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.
September 1, 2016

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.
  • BarretosCH - Head and Neck

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

As soon as we have results they will be shared.

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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