Quercetin Chemoprevention for Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Patients With Fanconi Anemia

April 16, 2026 updated by: Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Fanconi anemia (FA) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by progressive bone marrow failure, variable congenital abnormalities and a predisposition to malignancy, particularly acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Improved transplant outcomes are modifying the natural history of Fanconi Anemia. Improved transplant survival, no radiation exposure, and almost no GVHD increases the importance of addressing later SCC even further. The investigators hypothesize that quercetin will prevent or delay the development of SCC and associated complications, there by ameliorating or delaying the need for potentially lethal treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy for the same.

Funding Source - FDA Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD)

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Fanconi anemia (FA) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by progressive bone marrow failure, variable congenital abnormalities and a predisposition to malignancy, particularly acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Currently, the only curative treatment option for the hematological complications of FA include hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The investigators hypothesize that quercetin will prevent or delay the development of SCC and associated complications, there by ameliorating or delaying the need for potentially lethal treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy for the same.

This study is an open-label, single arm study. This study will enroll approximately 45 post-HCT patients with FA, and approximately 10 patients with FA without history of HCT. In both groups, patients with or without existing pre-malignant lesions or history of SCC will be allowed to participate, if they wish so and at the discretion of the PI. All patients will be treated with oral quercetin.

The investigators will determine the efficacy of Quercetin in reducing buccal micronuclei (a surrogate marker of DNA damage and susceptibility to squamous cell carcinoma due to genomic instability) in post-HCT patients with fanconi anemia (FA).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

48

Phase

  • 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
    • Ohio
      • Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45229
        • Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

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

1 year and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of FA
  • Able to take enteral medication
  • Patients ≥2 years

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Renal failure requiring dialysis
  • Total bilirubin >3 mg/dl and/or SGPT >200 at time of enrollment
  • Patients receiving digoxin therapy, who are unable to discontinue either treatment due to medical reasons
  • Patients who are pregnant or breastfeeding or are at risk of pregnancy or fathering a baby and are unable to use acceptable methods of birth control during the length of the study
  • Patients who have received quercetin supplementation or other antioxidants within the last 30 days
  • Patients receiving radiation therapy, chemotherapy or immunotherapy for treatment of SCC.

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Quercetin
All patients will be treated with oral quercetin.
Drug: Quercetin (dietary supplement)
Quercetin will be administered twice daily at an adjusted dose based on weight for a maximum total daily dose of 4000mg/day. If the patient is 70 kg or more, the dose will automatically be assigned at the maximum dose of 4000mg/day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With at Least 20% Reduction of Buccal Micronuclei
Time Frame: 1 year

Efficacy of Quercetin in reducing buccal micronuclei.

A 20% reduction in the average total number of micronuclei will be considered a success of the intervention.
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Parinda A Mehta, MD, Cincinnati Children's Hosptial Medical Center

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)

May 8, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 6, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

January 9, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 19, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 19, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

March 26, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 16, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2018-0073
  • 6353 (Other Grant/Funding Number: FDA Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

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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