Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci (ACF): a double-blind randomized controlled trial

<p style="text-align:justify;"> <b>Background:</b> Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly occurring neoplasms and a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and new preventive strategies are needed to lower the burden of this disease. Eicosapentaenoic acid (...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Higurashi, T, Hosono, K, Endo, H, Takahashi, H, Iida, H, Uchiyama, T, Ezuka, A, Uchiyama, S, Yamada, E, Ohkubo, H, Sakai, E, Maeda, S, Morita, S, Natsumeda, Y, Nagase, H, Nakajima, A
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: BioMed Central 2012
_version_ 1797094320890707968
author Higurashi, T
Hosono, K
Endo, H
Takahashi, H
Iida, H
Uchiyama, T
Ezuka, A
Uchiyama, S
Yamada, E
Ohkubo, H
Sakai, E
Maeda, S
Morita, S
Natsumeda, Y
Nagase, H
Nakajima, A
author_facet Higurashi, T
Hosono, K
Endo, H
Takahashi, H
Iida, H
Uchiyama, T
Ezuka, A
Uchiyama, S
Yamada, E
Ohkubo, H
Sakai, E
Maeda, S
Morita, S
Natsumeda, Y
Nagase, H
Nakajima, A
author_sort Higurashi, T
collection OXFORD
description <p style="text-align:justify;"> <b>Background:</b> Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly occurring neoplasms and a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and new preventive strategies are needed to lower the burden of this disease. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid that is widely used in the treatment of hyperlipidemia and prevention of cardiovascular disease, has recently been suggested to have a suppressive effect on tumorigenesis and cancer cell growth. In CRC chemoprevention trials, in general, the incidence of polyps or of the cancer itself is set as the study endpoint. Although the incidence rate of CRC would be the most reliable endpoint, use of this endpoint would be unsuitable for chemoprevention trials, because of the relatively low occurrence rate of CRC in the general population and the long-term observation period that it would necessitate. Moreover, there is an ethical problem in conducting long-term trials to determine whether a test drug might be effective or harmful. Aberrant crypt foci (ACF), defined as lesions containing crypts that are larger in diameter and stain more darkly with methylene blue than normal crypts, are considered as a reliable surrogate biomarker of CRC. Thus, we devised a prospective randomized controlled trial as a preliminary study prior to a CRC chemoprevention trial to evaluate the chemopreventive effect of EPA against colorectal ACF formation and the safety of this drug, in patients scheduled for polypectomy.<br/><br/> <b>Methods:</b> This study is a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized controlled trial to be conducted in patients with both colorectal ACF and colorectal polyps scheduled for polypectomy. Eligible patients shall be recruited for the study and the number of ACF in the rectum counted at the baseline colonoscopy. Then, the participants shall be allocated randomly to either one of two groups, the EPA group and the placebo group. Patients in the EPA group shall receive oral 900-mg EPA capsules thrice daily (total daily dose, 2.7 g per day), and those in the placebo group shall receive oral placebo capsules thrice daily. After one month’s treatment with EPA/placebo, colonoscopic examination and polypectomy will be performed to evaluate the formation of ACF, and the cell-proliferative activity and cell-apoptotic activity in normal colorectal mucosa and colorectal polyps.<br/><br/> <b>Discussion:</b> This is the first study proposed to explore the effect of EPA against colorectal ACF formation in humans.<br/><br/> This trial has been registered in the University hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) Clinical Trials Registry as UMIN000008172. </p>
first_indexed 2024-03-07T04:12:30Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:c84ea154-5265-4797-ac12-ad97bcc8a9b0
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T04:12:30Z
publishDate 2012
publisher BioMed Central
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:c84ea154-5265-4797-ac12-ad97bcc8a9b02022-03-27T06:51:18ZEicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci (ACF): a double-blind randomized controlled trialJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:c84ea154-5265-4797-ac12-ad97bcc8a9b0EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordBioMed Central2012Higurashi, THosono, KEndo, HTakahashi, HIida, HUchiyama, TEzuka, AUchiyama, SYamada, EOhkubo, HSakai, EMaeda, SMorita, SNatsumeda, YNagase, HNakajima, A <p style="text-align:justify;"> <b>Background:</b> Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly occurring neoplasms and a leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and new preventive strategies are needed to lower the burden of this disease. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid that is widely used in the treatment of hyperlipidemia and prevention of cardiovascular disease, has recently been suggested to have a suppressive effect on tumorigenesis and cancer cell growth. In CRC chemoprevention trials, in general, the incidence of polyps or of the cancer itself is set as the study endpoint. Although the incidence rate of CRC would be the most reliable endpoint, use of this endpoint would be unsuitable for chemoprevention trials, because of the relatively low occurrence rate of CRC in the general population and the long-term observation period that it would necessitate. Moreover, there is an ethical problem in conducting long-term trials to determine whether a test drug might be effective or harmful. Aberrant crypt foci (ACF), defined as lesions containing crypts that are larger in diameter and stain more darkly with methylene blue than normal crypts, are considered as a reliable surrogate biomarker of CRC. Thus, we devised a prospective randomized controlled trial as a preliminary study prior to a CRC chemoprevention trial to evaluate the chemopreventive effect of EPA against colorectal ACF formation and the safety of this drug, in patients scheduled for polypectomy.<br/><br/> <b>Methods:</b> This study is a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized controlled trial to be conducted in patients with both colorectal ACF and colorectal polyps scheduled for polypectomy. Eligible patients shall be recruited for the study and the number of ACF in the rectum counted at the baseline colonoscopy. Then, the participants shall be allocated randomly to either one of two groups, the EPA group and the placebo group. Patients in the EPA group shall receive oral 900-mg EPA capsules thrice daily (total daily dose, 2.7 g per day), and those in the placebo group shall receive oral placebo capsules thrice daily. After one month’s treatment with EPA/placebo, colonoscopic examination and polypectomy will be performed to evaluate the formation of ACF, and the cell-proliferative activity and cell-apoptotic activity in normal colorectal mucosa and colorectal polyps.<br/><br/> <b>Discussion:</b> This is the first study proposed to explore the effect of EPA against colorectal ACF formation in humans.<br/><br/> This trial has been registered in the University hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) Clinical Trials Registry as UMIN000008172. </p>
spellingShingle Higurashi, T
Hosono, K
Endo, H
Takahashi, H
Iida, H
Uchiyama, T
Ezuka, A
Uchiyama, S
Yamada, E
Ohkubo, H
Sakai, E
Maeda, S
Morita, S
Natsumeda, Y
Nagase, H
Nakajima, A
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci (ACF): a double-blind randomized controlled trial
title Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci (ACF): a double-blind randomized controlled trial
title_full Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci (ACF): a double-blind randomized controlled trial
title_fullStr Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci (ACF): a double-blind randomized controlled trial
title_full_unstemmed Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci (ACF): a double-blind randomized controlled trial
title_short Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci (ACF): a double-blind randomized controlled trial
title_sort eicosapentaenoic acid epa efficacy for colorectal aberrant crypt foci acf a double blind randomized controlled trial
work_keys_str_mv AT higurashit eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT hosonok eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT endoh eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT takahashih eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT iidah eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT uchiyamat eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT ezukaa eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT uchiyamas eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT yamadae eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT ohkuboh eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT sakaie eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT maedas eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT moritas eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT natsumeday eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT nagaseh eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial
AT nakajimaa eicosapentaenoicacidepaefficacyforcolorectalaberrantcryptfociacfadoubleblindrandomizedcontrolledtrial