Histidine and Immunotherapy Response in Colorectal Cancer

May 12, 2026 updated by: Jing-yuan Fang, MD, Ph. D

Mechanistic Study of Histidine-mediated Regulation of Antigen Presentation in Colorectal Cancer to Enhance Sensitivity to Immunotherapy

This observational study aims to investigate the role of histidine and its transporter SLC15A3 in modulating the sensitivity of colorectal cancer to immunotherapy. By analyzing the expression of SLC15A3 in tumor/normal colonic tissues from patients with colorectal cancer and assessing serum histidine metabolic levels, the study seeks to identify potential targets associated with therapeutic resistance and explore possible intervention strategies to improve immune checkpoint blockade treatment efficacy.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

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.
150

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients with pathologically confirmed colorectal cancer who received care at the Department of Gastroenterology, Department of Oncology, or Department of General Surgery at Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Participants aged ≥18 years and ≤100 years.
  2. Patients pathologically diagnosed with colorectal cancer based on colonoscopy or surgical specimens and biopsy examination; or patients who previously received PD-1 monoclonal antibody immunotherapy for colorectal cancer.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Age <18 years.
  2. Presence of poorly controlled metabolic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hyperuricemia, or hyperthyroidism.
  3. Presence of other severe gastrointestinal diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, ischemic bowel disease, familial adenomatous polyposis, liver cirrhosis, MUTYH-associated polyposis (MAP), Lynch syndrome (LS), or Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS).
  4. History of other malignant tumors, or pathological diagnosis of colorectal inflammatory polyps, hyperplastic polyps, neuroendocrine tumors, neuroendocrine carcinoma, or mixed neuroendocrine-non-neuroendocrine neoplasms.
  5. History of neurological or psychiatric disorders, such as epilepsy or depression.
  6. Unqualified specimens, including hemolyzed serum samples or tissue samples that were not properly preserved in time.

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.
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.
Colorectal cancer patients
Patients with pathologically confirmed colorectal cancer. Colorectal tumor and adjacent normal tissue specimens will be analyzed for SLC15A3 expression, or serum specimen will be analyzed for histidine-related metabolites, or whole blood samples will be analyzed for peripheral blood immune cell functions.
Other: Immunohistochemistry or immunofluorescence
Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) colorectal tumor and adjacent normal tissue specimens will be analyzed for SLC15A3 expression by immunohistochemistry and/or immunofluorescence.
Other: Flow cytometry
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) will be separated from whole blood samples and assessed for immune cell phenotype and functional markers by flow cytometry.
ICB responders
Patients with colorectal cancer who previously received PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade and achieved a clinical response. Tumor tissue will be analyzed for SLC15A3 expression, and serum specimen will be analyzed for histidine-related metabolites.
Other: Immunohistochemistry or immunofluorescence
Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) colorectal tumor and adjacent normal tissue specimens will be analyzed for SLC15A3 expression by immunohistochemistry and/or immunofluorescence.
Other: Serum metabolomic analysis or ELISA
Serum specimens from patients with colorectal cancer will be analyzed for histidine and related metabolites and selected biomarkers by metabolomics and/or ELISA.
ICB non-responders
Patients with colorectal cancer who previously received PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade and did not achieve a clinical response. Tumor tissue will be analyzed for SLC15A3 expression, and serum specimen will be analyzed for histidine-related metabolites.
Other: Immunohistochemistry or immunofluorescence
Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) colorectal tumor and adjacent normal tissue specimens will be analyzed for SLC15A3 expression by immunohistochemistry and/or immunofluorescence.
Other: Serum metabolomic analysis or ELISA
Serum specimens from patients with colorectal cancer will be analyzed for histidine and related metabolites and selected biomarkers by metabolomics and/or ELISA.

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
SLC15A3 expression
Time Frame: Baseline archival tissue specimen from surgical resection or diagnostic biopsy.
SLC15A3 expression measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) or immunofluorescence in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded colorectal tumor and adjacent normal tissue specimens.
Baseline archival tissue specimen from surgical resection or diagnostic biopsy.
Serum histidine concentration
Time Frame: Baseline and after 9 weeks (one round of treatment).
Serum histidine concentration measured using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) in serum samples collected before treatment initiation and, where available, after 9 weeks (one round of treatment).
Baseline and after 9 weeks (one round of treatment).

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
Progression-free survival
Time Frame: 5 years.
Progression-free survival, defined as the time from initial diagnosis or treatment initiation to documented disease progression, recurrence, or death from any cause, whichever occurs first, in patients with colorectal cancer with available follow-up information.
5 years.
Overall survival
Time Frame: 5 years.
Overall survival, defined as the time from initial diagnosis or treatment initiation to death from any cause in patients with colorectal cancer with available follow-up information.
5 years.
Percentage of IFN-gamma-positive T cells
Time Frame: Baseline and after 9 weeks (one round of treatment).
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from archived blood samples of patients with colorectal cancer will be assessed by flow cytometry to evaluate the percentage of IFN-gamma-positive T cells as a T cell effector function marker. Samples collected before treatment initiation and, where available, after 9 weeks (one round of treatment) will be analyzed.
Baseline and after 9 weeks (one round of treatment).
Percentage of granzyme B-positive T cells
Time Frame: Baseline and after 9 weeks (one round of treatment).
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from archived blood samples of patients with colorectal cancer will be assessed by flow cytometry to evaluate the percentage of granzyme B-positive T cells as a T cell effector function marker. Samples collected before treatment initiation and, where available, after 9 weeks (one round of treatment) will be analyzed.
Baseline and after 9 weeks (one round of treatment).
Clinicopathological characteristics
Time Frame: Baseline at initial diagnosis or tissue collection.
Clinicopathological characteristics of patients with colorectal cancer, including age, sex, tumor location, AJCC TNM stage, and histological grade, extracted from available medical records.
Baseline at initial diagnosis or tissue collection.

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.
Jing-yuan Fang, MD, Ph. D

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: Jing-Yuan Fang, M.D., Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, NHC Key Laboratory of Digestive Diseases, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

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 (Estimated)

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, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

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, 2027

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).
April 24, 2026

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 12, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

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 14, 2026

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 14, 2026

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 12, 2026

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, 2026

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.
  • KY2025-053-B

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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