Schedules of Dexamethasone in Patients Incorrectly Taking Dexamethasone Premedication (REaCT-dexamethasone) (REaCT-dex)

April 26, 2020 updated by: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

A Single Centre Randomised Study Comparing Standard of Care Schedules of Dexamethasone in Patients Incorrectly Taking Dexamethasone Premedication Prior to Docetaxel Chemotherapy (REaCT-dexamethasone)

Docetaxel chemotherapy is commonly used in patients with breast cancer. With the widespread use of steroid premedication, the incidence of fluid retention and skin toxicity side effects has been minimal. Premedication with dexamethasone (8mg twice daily) is recommended starting the day before chemotherapy and continuing for three days. Patients may forget to take all or part of their premedication prior to docetaxel administration, and additional doses of steroids are frequently give in place of the forgotten oral dose. The processes around treating patients who have incorrectly taken their medication are cumbersome leading to significant delays in patients receiving their chemotherapy while the chemotherapy nurse tries to contact the patients treating physician for guidance on the dose and route of dexamethasone they want administered. Most importantly with the current standard of care procedure, by the time the chemotherapy nurse, pharmacist and medical oncologist have spoken and made a treatment plan, the patient has been waiting for on average of an additional 1-2 hours before actually starting their chemotherapy.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study will randomize cancer patients to a standard dose of dexamethasone 8mg orally or to contact the physician to see what dose they recommend. The current trial proposal could therefore reduce the time for which patients are waiting to receive their chemotherapy, improving time patients need to spend in the hospital and significantly improving practice not just in Ottawa but globally.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Phase 4

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

    • Ontario
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2C2R8
        • The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre

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

17 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients receiving docetaxel chemotherapy for cancer
  • Have incorrectly taken some or all of their dexamethasone premedication
  • ≥19 years of age

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Contraindication to dexamethasone
  • Unable to give informed consent
  • Already included in the study during a prior cycle

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: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Standard of care
Physician's treatment recommendation for dexamethasone premedication
Steroid prophylaxis
Other Names:
  • Decadron
Active Comparator: 8mg PO dexamethasone
8mg PO dexamethasone premedication
Steroid prophylaxis
Other Names:
  • Decadron

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
8mg PO stat is associated with significant reduction in time to commence docetaxel chemotherapy
Time Frame: 1 year
To demonstrate that use of a standard replacement dose of dexamethasone (8mg PO stat) is associated with a significant reduction in the time for patients to commence their docetaxel chemotherapy.
1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Hypersensitivity rate
Time Frame: 2 years
Rates of hypersensitivity reactions to docetaxel
2 years
Fluid retention
Time Frame: 2 years
Number of participants with fluid retention
2 years
Hospital cost
Time Frame: 2 years
The hospital cost for each patient encounter will be estimated using a standardized case-costing methodology that was developed by the Ontario Case Costing Initiatives. This case-costing method is based on the Canadian Institute for Health Information Management Information Systems guidelines. The case-costing system links financial, clinical and patient activity information stored within information systems of the data warehouse to define "intermediate products" (e.g., nursing time, medications, laboratory tests). Direct and indirect hospital costs for each intermediate product used during an encounter are then summed for each patient.
2 years
Skin toxicity
Time Frame: 2 years
Number of participants with skin toxicities
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Tina Hsu, MD, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

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.

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 (Actual)

January 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 30, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

March 15, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 2, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

June 28, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 28, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 26, 2020

Last Verified

April 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Undecided

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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