Branched-chain Amino Acid Supplementation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03908255. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
Impact of Branched-chain Amino Acid Supplementation on Quality of Life and Overall Survival in Patients Receiving Liver Directed Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cause of cancer death among men. While several new treatment options have recently become available, they are costly and have a potential for significant, adverse side effects. Many patients diagnosed with HCC also suffer from underlying liver disease, including cirrhosis. As many as 80-90% of patients diagnosed with HCC also have cirrhosis. Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) in cirrhosis is as high as 65-90% and significantly increases the risk of morbidity and mortality as well as decreased quality of life. Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) supplementation has been extensively studied for usefulness in liver disease, specifically to treat hepatic encephalopathy to and preserve and restore muscle mass. Maintenance of liver function and prevention of PEM are essential for improving outcomes in patients with HCC. Branched-chain amino acid supplementation in HCC has been studied extensively in China \& Japan with multiple studies showing improvements in liver function, progression-free survival, and overall survival. Additionally, patients in treatment groups have shown improvement in quality of life indicators. However, these results have yet to be replicated in the United States. Branched-chain amino acid supplementation may be a safe, low-cost approach to improve survival, liver function indicators, and quality of life for patients diagnosed with HCC. In this study, patients with primary HCC will be randomized to either a treatment group, which will receive standard of care and BCAA supplement or to a control group which will receive standard of care and a maltodextrin placebo. Both groups will receive liver-directed therapy including transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and thermal ablation. All patients will complete a quality of life survey (FACT-Hep) at each visit.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT03908255
- Recruitment status
- Withdrawn
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Enrollment
- Not listed
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- May 31, 2021
- Primary completion
- Dec 29, 2022
- Completion
- Dec 29, 2023
- Last update posted
- Jan 27, 2022
2021 – 2023
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Medical Center New Orleans | New Orleans | Louisiana | 70112 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT03908255, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jan 27, 2022 · Synced Sep 13, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT03908255 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.