Open Labeled Placebo in Reducing Cancer Related Fatigue in Patients With Advanced Cancer

Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm Clinical Trial

Official title:

Open Labeled Placebo for Treatment of Cancer Related Fatigue in Patients With Advanced Cancer

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Active, not recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03927885
• Other study ID #: 2018-0526
• Secondary ID: NCI-2019-0102720
• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2/Phase 3
• Start date: March 30, 2019
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2026

Study information

• Verified date: February 2024
• Source: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This phase II/III trial studies an open labeled placebo to see how well it works compared with waitlist control in reducing cancer related fatigue in patients with cancer that has spread to other places in the body. A placebo is not a drug and is not designed to treat any disease or illness. Recent studies have found that cancer related fatigue symptoms in cancer survivors are improved with open labeled placebo (that is, patients know they are taking a placebo). It is not yet known how well an open labeled placebo works when compared with waitlist control in reducing cancer related fatigue.

Description:

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. To determine the effects of open labeled placebo one tablet twice a day (OLP) compared to waitlist control (WLC) for reducing cancer-related fatigue (CRF) as measured by the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) subscale in fatigued advanced cancer patients at the end of one week. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the preliminary efficacy open labeled placebo (OLP) and WLC on various fatigue dimensions - (Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory, MFSI-SF), depression (The Center for Epidemiologic Studies - Depression [CES-D]), cancer symptoms (Edmonton Symptom Assessment System [ESAS]), function and strength (six minute walk test, and 30-sec chair stand test), Global Symptom Evaluation (GSE), and quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General [FACT-G]) in these advanced cancer patients. II. To determine effects of OLP on fatigue symptom composite score (ESAS fatigue, pain and depression) at the end of 1st and 4th week. III. To examine the adherence and safety for the OLP as treatment for cancer related fatigue. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms. ARM I: Patients receive open labeled placebo orally (PO) twice daily (BID) for 4 weeks in the absence of disease progression. ARM II: Patients are assigned to a waiting list during week 1. Beginning in week 2, patients receive open labeled placebo PO BID for 3 weeks in the absence of disease progression.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2026
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2026
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient with a diagnosis of advanced cancer (metastatic or recurrent incurable solid tumors)
• Presence of fatigue of >= 4/10 on Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) Fatigue item (0-10 severity scale)
• Patient should describe fatigue as being present for a minimum of 2 weeks prior to screening
• Uncontrolled pain; patient is on opioids for the treatment of cancer pain, he/she must have had no major dose change (> 25%) for at least 48 hours prior to study entry. Change in opioid dose after study entry is allowed
• Patient must be 18 years of age or older. The questionnaires used in this study have been validated only in the adult population
• Patient must be willing to engage in telephone follow up with research staff
• Patient must have telephone access to be contacted by the research staff
• Hemoglobin level of >= 8 g/dL. Patient may receive packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusion so as to have hemoglobin level of >= 8 g/dL so at participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Surgery, or pain relieving procedures within 2 weeks of entry into the study or during the study period
• Patients with history of substance abuse (Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye opener [CAGE] >= 2+), cognitively impaired (MD Anderson Symptom [MDAS] > 7)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm
• Metastatic Malignant Solid Neoplasm
• Neoplasms
• Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm

Intervention

Other:
• Placebo Administration
Given open labeled placebo PO
• Quality-of-Life Assessment
Ancillary studies
• Questionnaire Administration
Ancillary studies
• Waiting List
Assigned to a waiting list

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	M D Anderson Cancer Center	Houston	Texas

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center	National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in cancer related fatigue	Will use t-tests to assess the mean changes and standard deviations from baseline to follow-up between the groups.	Baseline up to 1 week
Secondary	Change in quality of life (QOL)	Will use t-tests to assess the mean changes and standard deviations from baseline to follow-up between the groups. The percentage of patients who report 'better' in each group will be reported. Will also compare the % of patients who report 'somewhat better' to "a great deal better" in each group and report the difference between groups (chi-square tests).	Baseline up to 4 weeks
Secondary	Change in function strength	Will use t-tests to assess the mean changes and standard deviations from baseline to follow-up between the groups. The percentage of patients who report 'better' in each group will be reported. Will also compare the % of patients who report 'somewhat better' to "a great deal better" in each group and report the difference between groups (chi-square tests).	Baseline up to 4 weeks
Secondary	Change in Global Symptom Evaluation (GSE)	Will use t-tests to assess the mean changes and standard deviations from baseline to follow-up between the groups. The percentage of patients who report 'better' in each group will be reported. Will also compare the % of patients who report 'somewhat better' to "a great deal better" in each group and report the difference between groups (chi-square tests).	Baseline up to 4 weeks
Secondary	Changes in cluster composite scores of sleep disturbance	The primary comparison will be using changes in cluster composite scores of sleep disturbance from baseline to end of week 1 between the placebo arm and waitlist control arm. Exploratory graphical analysis of the data will be done. If the assumptions of the t-test are violated, will use the Wilcoxon rank sum test.	Baseline up to 1 week
Secondary	Changes in cluster composite scores of fatigue	The primary comparison will be using changes in cluster composite scores of fatigue from baseline to end of week 1 between the placebo arm and waitlist control arm. Exploratory graphical analysis of the data will be done. If the assumptions of the t-test are violated, will use the Wilcoxon rank sum test.	Baseline up to 1 week
Secondary	Changes in cluster composite scores of pain	The primary comparison will be using changes in cluster composite scores of pain from baseline to end of week 1 between the placebo arm and waitlist control arm. Exploratory graphical analysis of the data will be done. If the assumptions of the t-test are violated, will use the Wilcoxon rank sum test.	Baseline up to 1 week
Secondary	Changes in cluster composite scores of depression	The primary comparison will be using changes in cluster composite scores of depression from baseline to end of week 1 between the placebo arm and waitlist control arm. Exploratory graphical analysis of the data will be done. If the assumptions of the t-test are violated, will use the Wilcoxon rank sum test.	Baseline up to 1 week
Secondary	Adherence	Will use a chi-square to test the difference in adherence between each placebo group versus waitlist control group.	Up to 4 weeks
Secondary	Incidence of adverse events	Will calculate the chi-square statistic to test the difference in adverse events between placebo group versus waitlist control group.	Up to 4 weeks

External Links

•   M D Anderson Cancer Center