S9626: Megestrol in Treating Hot Flashes Following Treatment for Breast Cancer

November 17, 2015 updated by: Southwest Oncology Group

A Phase III Trial of Placebo Versus Megestrol Acetate 20 MG/Day Versus Megestrol Acetate 40 MG/Day as Treatment for Symptoms of Ovarian Failure in Women Treated for Breast Cancer: SWOG Study S9626

RATIONALE: Megestrol may be effective in treating hot flashes following treatment for breast cancer. It is not yet known which regimen of megestrol is most effective for hot flashes.

PURPOSE: Randomized phase III trial to compare the effectiveness of different doses of megestrol in treating hot flashes in patients who have undergone therapy for breast cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the effectiveness and duration of the benefit of placebo versus low dose megestrol versus high dose megestrol in the reduction of severe and/or frequent hot flashes in patients with previously treated invasive breast cancer. II. Document the effects of various dose levels of megestrol on atrophic vaginitis and dyspareunia in these patients. III. Evaluate the toxicity of this treatment in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to tamoxifen use (yes vs no), number of hot flashes per week (5-34 vs 35-63 vs more than 63), and duration of hot flashes (6 months or less vs longer than 6 months). Patients are randomized to one of three treatment arms. Arm I: Patients receive oral placebo daily. Arm II: Patients receive lower dose oral megestrol daily. Arm III: Patients receive higher dose oral megestrol daily. Patients who do not respond after 3 months of treatment receive an additional dose of oral megestrol daily. Treatment continues for a total of 6 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients are followed at 3 months.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 279 eligible patients (93 per arm) are expected to be accrued.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

288

Phase

  • Phase 3

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

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 120 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Diagnosis of infiltrating breast cancer (T1-3, N0-1, M0) treated with appropriate local and regional therapy Chemotherapy and/or surgery completed At least 10 hot flashes per week OR At least 5 severe or very severe hot flashes per week No prior participation in NCI sponsored breast cancer adjuvant protocol No recurrent or persistent vaginal bleeding If postmenopausal and had any vaginal bleeding within past year, then must have normal endometrial biopsy Hormone receptor status: Not specified

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: Not specified Menopausal status: Pre or postmenopausal Performance status: Not specified Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: Not specified Hepatic: Not specified Renal: Not specified Cardiovascular: No history of deep vein thrombosis Other: Not pregnant or nursing Negative pregnancy test Fertile patients must use effective contraception No other prior malignancy in past 5 years except adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, carcinoma in situ of the cervix, or other adequately treated stage I or II cancer

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: Not specified Chemotherapy: See Disease Characteristics No concurrent chemotherapy Endocrine therapy: Prior hormonal therapy allowed At least 6 months since prior megestrol At least 1 week since prior nonestrogen containing steroid hormones (except tamoxifen) Concurrent tamoxifen allowed only if begun at least 4 months prior to study No other concurrent nonestrogen containing steroid hormones No concurrent estrogen or hormone replacement therapy Radiotherapy: Concurrent radiotherapy allowed Surgery: See Disease Characteristics Prior hysterectomy allowed No concurrent surgery Other: Concurrent nonhormonal prescription or nonprescription medications for hot flashes allowed (e.g., clonidine, ergotamine tartrate, vitamin E, or soy)

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: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Megestrol Acetate/Placebo 20 mg/day
Double blinded Megestrol Acetate 20 mg/day or Megestrol Acetate Placebo 20 mg/day taken for 3 months
Drug: Megestrol Acetate 20mg/day
Double blinded Megestrol Acetate 20 mg/day
Other Names:
  • NSC-71423
Drug: Megestrol Acetate Placebo 20 mg/day
Megestrol Acetate Placebo 20 mg/day
Other Names:
  • NSC-71423
Active Comparator: Megestrol Acetate/Placebo 40 mg/day
Double blinded Megestrol Acetate 40 mg/day or Megestrol Acetate Placebo 40 mg/day taken for 3 months
Drug: Megestrol Acetate 40 mg/day
Double blinded Megestrol Acetate 40 mg/day
Other Names:
  • NSC-71423
Drug: Megestrol Acetate Placebo 40 mg/day
Megestrol Acetate Placebo 40 mg/day
Other Names:
  • NSC-71423

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Effectiveness and duration of the benefit of placebo and 2 dose levels of megestrol acetate in reduction of severe and/or frequent hot flashes in patients with history of adequate local and regional treatment of invasive breast cancer
Time Frame: 3, 6, and 9 months
3, 6, and 9 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Document any effects of various dose levels of megestrol acetate on atrophic vaginitis and dyspareunia
Time Frame: 3, 6, and 9 months
3, 6, and 9 months
Evaluate toxicity of two dose levels of megestrol acetate relative to placebo
Time Frame: 3, 6, and 9 months
3, 6, and 9 months
Feasibility of accrual patients to placebo-controlled study
Time Frame: At registration
At registration

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Southwest Oncology Group

Collaborators

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

  • Study Chair: John W. Goodwin, MD, Cancer Research for the Ozarks

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

April 1, 1998

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2001

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2002

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 5, 2000

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 25, 2004

First Posted (Estimate)

June 28, 2004

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 18, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 17, 2015

Last Verified

November 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CDR0000067962
  • U10CA037429 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • S9626 (Other Identifier: SWOG)
  • NCI-P00-0159 (Other Identifier: NCI)

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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