Epigenetics, Vitamin C, and Abnormal Blood Cell Formation - Vitamin C in Patients With Low-Risk Myeloid Malignancies
EVITA
1 other identifier
interventional
109
2 countries
5
Brief Summary
The primary purpose of this multi-centre, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind phase II study is to investigate if oral vitamin C may change the biology of low-risk myeloid malignancies; i.e., clonal cytopenia of undetermined significance (CCUS), low-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML)-0/1 by reversing the epigenetic changes characteristic of these disease entities. The epigenetic regulator TET2 is the gene most often affected in CCUS. Preclinical studies have shown that active demethylation by the TET enzymes is dependent on vitamin C, and the investigators and collaborators have shown that plasma vitamin C levels are exceedingly low in hematological cancer patients but are easily corrected by oral vitamin C. This study is part of an array of EVITA studies aimed at clarifying whether the standard of care of patients with myeloid malignancies should be changed and oral vitamin C supplement added to the treatment recommendations.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P50-P75 for not_applicable
Started Nov 2017
Longer than P75 for not_applicable
5 active sites
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
Click on a node to explore related trials.
Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
Study Start
First participant enrolled
November 21, 2017
CompletedFirst Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
September 20, 2018
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
September 24, 2018
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
September 27, 2023
CompletedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
September 27, 2025
CompletedApril 17, 2024
April 1, 2024
5.9 years
September 20, 2018
April 16, 2024
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (1)
Median Change from Baseline in Variant Allele Frequency at 12 Months
Median change from baseline to 12 months in mutant allele burden as measured by the variant allele frequency (VAF) and number of mutations in the vitC group vs. the placebo group.
At baseline and at 12 months
Secondary Outcomes (9)
Mean Change from Baseline in 5-hmC/5-mC Level at 3 Months and 12 months
At baseline and at 3 months and 12 months
Mean Change from Baseline in 5-mC at Selected Sites at 12 Months
At baseline and at 12 months
Mean Change from Baseline in H3K9 Methylation at Selected Sites at 12 Months
At baseline and at 12 months
Mean Change from Baseline in Plasma Cytokine Levels at 12 Months
At baseline and at 12 months
Mean Change from Baseline in mRNA Levels of Selected Genes at 12 Months
At baseline and at 12 months
- +4 more secondary outcomes
Study Arms (2)
Vitamin C
EXPERIMENTALVitamin C (ascorbic acid) 500 mg/capsule. Ingestion of 2 capsules (1000 mg) daily for 12 months.
Placebo
PLACEBO COMPARATORPlacebo capsule. Ingestion of 2 capsules daily for 12 months. Placebo will be prepared as capsules that look and taste identical to the vitamin C supplement capsules. The content of the placebo is lactose, potato starch, gelatin, magnesium stearate, and talc.
Interventions
Monotherapy with oral vitamin C supplementation to elevate plasma vitamin C level to the upper end of the physiological range.
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- A diagnosis of CCUS:
- Persistent cytopenia for \> 6 months defined as hgb \< 11.3 g/dL (7 mmol/L) in women and hgb \< 12.9 g/dL (8 mmol/L) in men, thrombocyte count \< 150 x 10\^9/L or neutrophil count \< 1.8 x 10\^9/L
- Normal cytogenetics (with the exception of deletion of the Y chromosome which can be accepted)
- A bone marrow morphology that is not diagnostic of MDS or any other malignancy
- Other common causes of cytopenia (vitamin or other deficiencies, virus infection, etc.) have been ruled out
- Hematolytic conditions have been ruled out
- The presence of a detectable mutation in genes recurrently affected in myeloid malignancy representing a clonal marker (excluding germline mutations)
- A diagnosis of MDS as according to World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 diagnostic criteria
- Revised international prognostic scoring system (IPSS-R) risk score ≤ 3 AND bone marrow blast percentage \< 5 defining low-risk
- A diagnosis of CMML-0 or -1 as according to WHO 2016 diagnostic criteria
- AND
- (All diagnostic categories) The presence of a detectable mutation in genes recurrently affected in myeloid malignancy representing a clonal marker (excluding germline mutations)
You may not qualify if:
- Unwillingness to discontinue any and all use of vitamin C medication/supplementation including multivitamin at least 24 hours prior to Baseline investigations and sampling
- Lack of ability to understand the information given, or lack of willingness to sign a written informed consent document
- Treatment with chemotherapy within the past 6 months
- Patients receiving active treatment for their myeloid malignancy, including investigational agents, with the exception of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and erythropoietin
- History of allergic reactions to ascorbic acid
- Unwillingness to comply with all aspects of the protocol
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
- Rigshospitalet, Denmarklead
- Van Andel Institute - Stand Up To Cancer Epigenetics Dream Teamcollaborator
- University of Southern Californiacollaborator
- Imperial College Londoncollaborator
- University of Copenhagencollaborator
- Odense University Hospitalcollaborator
- Technical University of Denmarkcollaborator
- Aalborg University Hospitalcollaborator
Study Sites (5)
Keck Hospital of University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, 90033, United States
Rigshospitalet
Copenhagen, N/A = Not Applicable, 2100, Denmark
Aalborg University Hospital
Aalborg, Denmark
Herlev University Hospital
Copenhagen, 2730, Denmark
Odense University Hospital
Odense, Denmark
Related Publications (17)
Busque L, Mio R, Mattioli J, Brais E, Blais N, Lalonde Y, Maragh M, Gilliland DG. Nonrandom X-inactivation patterns in normal females: lyonization ratios vary with age. Blood. 1996 Jul 1;88(1):59-65.
PMID: 8704202BACKGROUNDGenovese G, Kahler AK, Handsaker RE, Lindberg J, Rose SA, Bakhoum SF, Chambert K, Mick E, Neale BM, Fromer M, Purcell SM, Svantesson O, Landen M, Hoglund M, Lehmann S, Gabriel SB, Moran JL, Lander ES, Sullivan PF, Sklar P, Gronberg H, Hultman CM, McCarroll SA. Clonal hematopoiesis and blood-cancer risk inferred from blood DNA sequence. N Engl J Med. 2014 Dec 25;371(26):2477-87. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1409405. Epub 2014 Nov 26.
PMID: 25426838BACKGROUNDJaiswal S, Fontanillas P, Flannick J, Manning A, Grauman PV, Mar BG, Lindsley RC, Mermel CH, Burtt N, Chavez A, Higgins JM, Moltchanov V, Kuo FC, Kluk MJ, Henderson B, Kinnunen L, Koistinen HA, Ladenvall C, Getz G, Correa A, Banahan BF, Gabriel S, Kathiresan S, Stringham HM, McCarthy MI, Boehnke M, Tuomilehto J, Haiman C, Groop L, Atzmon G, Wilson JG, Neuberg D, Altshuler D, Ebert BL. Age-related clonal hematopoiesis associated with adverse outcomes. N Engl J Med. 2014 Dec 25;371(26):2488-98. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1408617. Epub 2014 Nov 26.
PMID: 25426837BACKGROUNDShih AH, Abdel-Wahab O, Patel JP, Levine RL. The role of mutations in epigenetic regulators in myeloid malignancies. Nat Rev Cancer. 2012 Sep;12(9):599-612. doi: 10.1038/nrc3343. Epub 2012 Aug 17.
PMID: 22898539BACKGROUNDTahiliani M, Koh KP, Shen Y, Pastor WA, Bandukwala H, Brudno Y, Agarwal S, Iyer LM, Liu DR, Aravind L, Rao A. Conversion of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in mammalian DNA by MLL partner TET1. Science. 2009 May 15;324(5929):930-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1170116. Epub 2009 Apr 16.
PMID: 19372391BACKGROUNDPastor WA, Aravind L, Rao A. TETonic shift: biological roles of TET proteins in DNA demethylation and transcription. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2013 Jun;14(6):341-56. doi: 10.1038/nrm3589.
PMID: 23698584BACKGROUNDCimmino L, Dawlaty MM, Ndiaye-Lobry D, Yap YS, Bakogianni S, Yu Y, Bhattacharyya S, Shaknovich R, Geng H, Lobry C, Mullenders J, King B, Trimarchi T, Aranda-Orgilles B, Liu C, Shen S, Verma AK, Jaenisch R, Aifantis I. TET1 is a tumor suppressor of hematopoietic malignancy. Nat Immunol. 2015 Jun;16(6):653-62. doi: 10.1038/ni.3148. Epub 2015 Apr 13.
PMID: 25867473BACKGROUNDMonfort A, Wutz A. Breathing-in epigenetic change with vitamin C. EMBO Rep. 2013 Apr;14(4):337-46. doi: 10.1038/embor.2013.29. Epub 2013 Mar 15.
PMID: 23492828BACKGROUNDGrzybowski A, Pietrzak K. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986): the scientist who discovered vitamin C. Clin Dermatol. 2013 May-Jun;31(3):327-31. doi: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2012.08.001.
PMID: 23738385BACKGROUNDNishikimi M, Fukuyama R, Minoshima S, Shimizu N, Yagi K. Cloning and chromosomal mapping of the human nonfunctional gene for L-gulono-gamma-lactone oxidase, the enzyme for L-ascorbic acid biosynthesis missing in man. J Biol Chem. 1994 May 6;269(18):13685-8.
PMID: 8175804BACKGROUNDBlaschke K, Ebata KT, Karimi MM, Zepeda-Martinez JA, Goyal P, Mahapatra S, Tam A, Laird DJ, Hirst M, Rao A, Lorincz MC, Ramalho-Santos M. Vitamin C induces Tet-dependent DNA demethylation and a blastocyst-like state in ES cells. Nature. 2013 Aug 8;500(7461):222-6. doi: 10.1038/nature12362. Epub 2013 Jun 30.
PMID: 23812591BACKGROUNDLiu M, Ohtani H, Zhou W, Orskov AD, Charlet J, Zhang YW, Shen H, Baylin SB, Liang G, Gronbaek K, Jones PA. Vitamin C increases viral mimicry induced by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Sep 13;113(37):10238-44. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1612262113. Epub 2016 Aug 29.
PMID: 27573823BACKGROUNDKo M, Huang Y, Jankowska AM, Pape UJ, Tahiliani M, Bandukwala HS, An J, Lamperti ED, Koh KP, Ganetzky R, Liu XS, Aravind L, Agarwal S, Maciejewski JP, Rao A. Impaired hydroxylation of 5-methylcytosine in myeloid cancers with mutant TET2. Nature. 2010 Dec 9;468(7325):839-43. doi: 10.1038/nature09586.
PMID: 21057493BACKGROUNDAgathocleous M, Meacham CE, Burgess RJ, Piskounova E, Zhao Z, Crane GM, Cowin BL, Bruner E, Murphy MM, Chen W, Spangrude GJ, Hu Z, DeBerardinis RJ, Morrison SJ. Ascorbate regulates haematopoietic stem cell function and leukaemogenesis. Nature. 2017 Sep 28;549(7673):476-481. doi: 10.1038/nature23876. Epub 2017 Aug 21.
PMID: 28825709BACKGROUNDLykkesfeldt J. Ascorbate and dehydroascorbic acid as reliable biomarkers of oxidative stress: analytical reproducibility and long-term stability of plasma samples subjected to acidic deproteinization. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Nov;16(11):2513-6. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-07-0639.
PMID: 18006947BACKGROUNDHansen JW, Westman MK, Sjo LD, Saft L, Kristensen LS, Orskov AD, Treppendahl M, Andersen MK, Gronbaek K. Mutations in idiopathic cytopenia of undetermined significance assist diagnostics and correlate to dysplastic changes. Am J Hematol. 2016 Dec;91(12):1234-1238. doi: 10.1002/ajh.24554. Epub 2016 Nov 8.
PMID: 27717004BACKGROUNDGreenberg PL, Tuechler H, Schanz J, Sanz G, Garcia-Manero G, Sole F, Bennett JM, Bowen D, Fenaux P, Dreyfus F, Kantarjian H, Kuendgen A, Levis A, Malcovati L, Cazzola M, Cermak J, Fonatsch C, Le Beau MM, Slovak ML, Krieger O, Luebbert M, Maciejewski J, Magalhaes SM, Miyazaki Y, Pfeilstocker M, Sekeres M, Sperr WR, Stauder R, Tauro S, Valent P, Vallespi T, van de Loosdrecht AA, Germing U, Haase D. Revised international prognostic scoring system for myelodysplastic syndromes. Blood. 2012 Sep 20;120(12):2454-65. doi: 10.1182/blood-2012-03-420489. Epub 2012 Jun 27.
PMID: 22740453BACKGROUND
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Interventions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Kirsten Grønbæk, Professor
Rigshospitalet, Denmark
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- not applicable
- Allocation
- RANDOMIZED
- Masking
- QUADRUPLE
- Who Masked
- PARTICIPANT, CARE PROVIDER, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
- Masking Details
- Randomization performed by the independent provider of study medication (Glostrup Pharmacy).
- Purpose
- PREVENTION
- Intervention Model
- PARALLEL
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
- PI Title
- Professor, MD, DMSc
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
September 20, 2018
First Posted
September 24, 2018
Study Start
November 21, 2017
Primary Completion
September 27, 2023
Study Completion
September 27, 2025
Last Updated
April 17, 2024
Record last verified: 2024-04
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will not share