Evaluation of Possible Safety and Efficacy of Fenofibrate in the Prophylaxis of Doxorubicin Induced Cardiotoxicity in Breast Cancer Patients

NCT ID: NCT06155331

Last Updated: 2025-08-19

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

44 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-12-01

Study Completion Date

2025-01-01

Brief Summary

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This study aims at evaluating the possible safety and efficacy of fenofibrate in attenuating doxorubicin related cardiac toxicity in breast cancer patients.

Detailed Description

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Breast cancer represents the most frequently diagnosed malignancy and the second most common cause of cancer death worldwide (Sung et al., 2021). In Egypt, breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, accounting for 38.8% of cancers in this population, with the estimated number of breast cancer cases nearly 22,700 in 2020 and forecasted to be approximately 46,000 in 2050 (Ibrahim et al., 2014).

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a cytotoxic agent that is commonly used for treatment of breast cancer. Despite its effectiveness, doxorubicin is associated with cumulative and potential cardiotoxicity (Rawat et al.,2021).

Although the precise mechanisms whereby DOX induces myocardial injury have not been fully elucidated, it is widely accepted that DOX induces cardiac injury via several mechanisms, including activation of nuclear factor- Kabba B (NF-ĸB), the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, the generation of free radicals, the promotion of apoptotic cell death, and the suppression of Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) mobilization and function, which are typical changes observed in DOX-induced cardiotoxcity (Cardinale et al., 2020).

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) has been proposed as a key lipid metabolism modulator and regulator of inflammation. There are three isotypes of PPAR (α, β and ȣ) which have distinct but overlapping functions. Fenofibrate, an important PPAR- α agonist, is widely used in in the treatment for hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia (Kim and Kim, 2020). Many studies demonstrated the pleiotropic effects of fenofibrate on the heart that afford direct myocardial protection in addition to the lipid-lowering effects through improvement of vascular endothelial function, reducing oxidative stress and increasing endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activation (Walker et al., 2012; Jen et al., 2016).

In addition recent animal study showed that fenofibrate decreased the transactivation of Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), activated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and increased nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability, which in turn suppressed MMP-2 (matrix 4 metalloproteinase-2) and MMP-9 (matrix metalloproteinase-9), a well-recognized mediator of adverse ventricular fibrosis and subsequent remodeling, which established the role of fenofibrate against DOX-induced cardiotoxicity in mice (Huang et al., 2021). In addition, it is known that DOX- increases circulating N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT- pro-BNP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) that were attenuated by fenofibrate (Huang et al., 2021)

Conditions

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Breast Cancer Stage 2 and 3

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Placebo group

22 patients which will receive four cycles of AC regimen (doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide; each cycle is given every 21 day) plus placebo tablets once daily.

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type OTHER

Placebo is made to look exactly like a real drug but is made of an inactive substance.

Doxorubicin

Intervention Type DRUG

Anthracycline derived chemotherapy used in treatment of breast cancer

Cyclophosphamide

Intervention Type DRUG

Alkylating agent used in treatment of breast cancer

Fenofibrate group

22 patients which will receive four cycles of AC regimen (doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide; each cycle is given every 21 day) plus Fenofibrate 160 mg once daily.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Fenofibrate

Intervention Type DRUG

It is an approved drug for hypercholesterolemia, It lowers lipid levels by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα).

Doxorubicin

Intervention Type DRUG

Anthracycline derived chemotherapy used in treatment of breast cancer

Cyclophosphamide

Intervention Type DRUG

Alkylating agent used in treatment of breast cancer

Interventions

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Fenofibrate

It is an approved drug for hypercholesterolemia, It lowers lipid levels by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα).

Intervention Type DRUG

Placebo

Placebo is made to look exactly like a real drug but is made of an inactive substance.

Intervention Type OTHER

Doxorubicin

Anthracycline derived chemotherapy used in treatment of breast cancer

Intervention Type DRUG

Cyclophosphamide

Alkylating agent used in treatment of breast cancer

Intervention Type DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age ≥ 18 years old.
* Patients with biopsy confirmed diagnosis breast cancer and with stage II and stage III breast cancer according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (TNM staging system of breast cancer).
* Patients with performance status \<2 according to Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score.
* Adequate baseline hematologic values (absolute neutrophilic count ≥ 1.5 × 109/L, platelet count ≥ 100 × 109/L and hemoglobin level ≥ 10 g/dl).
* Patients with adequate liver function (serum bilirubin \< 1.2 mg/dl) and adequate renal function (serum creatinine \< 1.5 mg/d).

Exclusion Criteria

* Patients with prior exposure to anthracyclines in the last 6 months.
* Patients with evidence of metastasis at the initial assessment.
* Concomitant use of antioxidant vitamins (vitamin A, C, E).
* Presence of clinical evidence for severe cardiac illness (angina pectoris, uncontrolled hypertension, arrhythmias and left ventricular ejection fraction \<50%).
* Patients with inflammatory diseases (ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis).
* Patients with conditions associated with oxidative stress (smoking, tuberculosis, comorbid obesity).
* Patients who are candidates for monoclonal antibodies such as Trastuzumab and other targeted therapy (HER2 positive patients).
* Patients with active liver disease (cirrhosis, fatty liver, hepatitis C, etc..).
* Patients with myopathy.
* Patients with renal impairment, including those with end-stage renal disease and those receiving dialysis.
* Pregnant and breast feeding women.
* Known allergy to the fenofibrates.
* Concurrent use of statin, colchicine, ciprofibrate, idelalisib, ivacaftor, aspirin low strength, clopidogrel, warfarin, enzyme inducers (phenytoin, phenobarbitone, carbamazepine,…), enzyme inhibitors (allopurinol, MAOI, SSRI,…), drugs with high plasma protein binding capacity (sulfonamides, valproate, oral hypoglycemic, warfarin,…) in order to avoid potential pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic drug interactions.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

75 Years

Eligible Sex

FEMALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Tanta University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Hagar Khaled Bassuony Dewidar

Instructor of clinical pharmacy

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Hagar Dewidar, Instructor

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Tanta University

Locations

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Hagar Dewidar

Tanta, Elgharbya, Egypt

Site Status

Countries

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Egypt

References

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Amin MB, Greene FL, Edge SB, Compton CC, Gershenwald JE, Brookland RK, Meyer L, Gress DM, Byrd DR, Winchester DP. The Eighth Edition AJCC Cancer Staging Manual: Continuing to build a bridge from a population-based to a more "personalized" approach to cancer staging. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017 Mar;67(2):93-99. doi: 10.3322/caac.21388. Epub 2017 Jan 17.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28094848 (View on PubMed)

Cardinale D, Iacopo F, Cipolla CM. Cardiotoxicity of Anthracyclines. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2020 Mar 18;7:26. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2020.00026. eCollection 2020.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32258060 (View on PubMed)

Czupryniak L, Joshi SR, Gogtay JA, Lopez M. Effect of micronized fenofibrate on microvascular complications of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2016 Aug;17(11):1463-73. doi: 10.1080/14656566.2016.1195811. Epub 2016 Jun 15.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27267786 (View on PubMed)

Huang WP, Yin WH, Chen JS, Huang PH, Chen JW, Lin SJ. Fenofibrate attenuates doxorubicin-induced cardiac dysfunction in mice via activating the eNOS/EPC pathway. Sci Rep. 2021 Jan 13;11(1):1159. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-80984-4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33441969 (View on PubMed)

Ibrahim AS, Khaled HM, Mikhail NN, Baraka H, Kamel H. Cancer incidence in egypt: results of the national population-based cancer registry program. J Cancer Epidemiol. 2014;2014:437971. doi: 10.1155/2014/437971. Epub 2014 Sep 21.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25328522 (View on PubMed)

Jen HL, Liu PL, Chen YH, Yin WH, Chen JW, Lin SJ. Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor alpha Reduces Endothelin-1-Caused Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy by Inhibiting Nuclear Factor-kappaB and Adiponectin. Mediators Inflamm. 2016;2016:5609121. doi: 10.1155/2016/5609121. Epub 2016 Oct 11.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27807394 (View on PubMed)

Kim NH, Kim SG. Fibrates Revisited: Potential Role in Cardiovascular Risk Reduction. Diabetes Metab J. 2020 Apr;44(2):213-221. doi: 10.4093/dmj.2020.0001.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32347023 (View on PubMed)

Rawat PS, Jaiswal A, Khurana A, Bhatti JS, Navik U. Doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity: An update on the molecular mechanism and novel therapeutic strategies for effective management. Biomed Pharmacother. 2021 Jul;139:111708. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.111708. Epub 2021 May 13.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 34243633 (View on PubMed)

Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, Bray F. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021 May;71(3):209-249. doi: 10.3322/caac.21660. Epub 2021 Feb 4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33538338 (View on PubMed)

Walker AE, Kaplon RE, Lucking SM, Russell-Nowlan MJ, Eckel RH, Seals DR. Fenofibrate improves vascular endothelial function by reducing oxidative stress while increasing endothelial nitric oxide synthase in healthy normolipidemic older adults. Hypertension. 2012 Dec;60(6):1517-23. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.112.203661. Epub 2012 Oct 29.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23108655 (View on PubMed)

Dewidar HK, Ghannam AA, Mostafa TM. Fenofibrate attenuates doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer: a randomized controlled trial. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2025 Jun 3. doi: 10.1007/s00210-025-04326-1. Online ahead of print.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 40459761 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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Breast cancer and fenofibrate

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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