RecruitingPhase 2NCT04049331

Testosterone Replacement in Male Cancer Survivors With Fatigue and Low Testosterone

Improving Patient-Important Outcomes With Testosterone Replacement in Hypogonadal Men With a Prior History of Cancer

Sponsor

Seattle Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Research

Enrollment

240 participants

Start Date

Mar 22, 2021

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

Hypogonadism, Male Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic

Summary

The overall goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of a testosterone drug called Depo-Testosterone (or 'testosterone cypionate'), an FDA-approved drug for improving fatigue, sexual function, quality of life, body composition, muscle strength, and physical activity in young cancer survivors who report fatigue and have low testosterone. Main hypothesis is that Testosterone administration in young male cancer survivors who are in remission for at least 1 year, report cancer-related fatigue and have symptomatic testosterone deficiency will be associated with greater improvements in fatigue scores compared with placebo.

Eligibility

Sex: MALEMin Age: 18 YearsMax Age: 54 Years

Inclusion Criteria6

Cancer survivors who have received chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy for their cancer and are now in remission for at least one year
Non-hormone-dependent cancer, including most solid tumors, lymphomas and leukemias
Age: 18-54 years
Serum testosterone, measured by mass spectrometry (gold standard method), of <348 ng/dl and/or free testosterone <70 pg/ml. The lower limits of the normal range for total testosterone in healthy young men (age 19-40 years), is 348 ng/dL and the lower limits of free testosterone is <70 pg/ml in the Framingham Heart Study sample97. Therefore, young symptomatic men with total testosterone <348 ng/dl could be considered testosterone deficient. As sex hormone binding globulin levels may be elevated in some men with cancer (resulting in elevation in total testosterone level), some of these symptomatic men may still be hypogonadal despite having total testosterone above this cut-off limit. However; their free testosterone levels may still be below the lower limit of normal. Thus, we will also include men with free testosterone <70 pg/mL.
Self-reported fatigue. We have selected these symptoms because they are commonly reported in male cancer survivors. Fatigue will be defined as a score on Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) subscale of <40, which best divides cancer patients from the general population with 84% accuracy, and was used as the cut-off for the NIA-funded 50-million-dollar testosterone trial (The T-Trial).
Ability and willingness to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria16

Men with hormone-dependent cancers (breast, prostate or adenocarcinoma of unknown origin)
Men with brain cancer (potential cognitive impairment)
Use of anabolic agents (testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, growth hormone) within the past 6 months
Appetite stimulating agents e.g. megestrol acetate within the past 6 months
Systemic glucocorticoids e.g. prednisone 20 mg daily or equivalent doses of other glucocorticoids for more than two weeks in the past 6 months
Baseline hematocrit >48%
PSA >4 ng/ml in Caucasians; >3 ng/ml in African-Americans
Men with 1st order relatives with a history of prostate cancer
Uncontrolled congestive heart failure
Severe untreated sleep apnea
Myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, revascularization surgery, or stroke within 3 months
o Previous stroke with residual cognitive or functional deficits; Mini-Mental State Examination score <24
Serum creatinine >2.5 mg/dL; ALT 3x upper limit of normal
Poorly controlled diabetes as defined by hemoglobin A1c >8.5%; Body mass index (BMI) >45 kg/m2
Untreated unipolar depression (treated depression with medications or counseling will be allowed
Bipolar disorder or schizophrenia