The purpose of this study is to learn more about the ability of a substance called arginine to improve the functioning of the immune system in people with a certain type of brain tumor. This could lead to improvements in a type of treatment for brain tumors called immunotherapy. The immune system includes organs, cells, and substances in the body that fight infection and disease. Immunotherapy is a type of treatment that uses the immune system as a tool to seek out and destroy abnormal cells. Immunotherapy requires that the immune system be working properly. Arginine is a normal component of protein (an amino acid) that we all consume in foods such as red meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products and that our bodies can make. Arginine helps the immune system function normally. Recent research has shown that certain types of brain tumors decrease the amount of arginine in the body leading to impaired immune system function. This may interfere with the ability of immunotherapy to fight abnormal cells. We would like to see if giving people with brain tumors arginine in powder form will make their immune systems work better.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
1
Inova Outpatient Surgery Clinic and Inova Fairfax Hospital
Fairfax, Virginia, United States
Change in GBM patients immune function through arginine supplementation
25% increase in the functional response of peripheral T cells
Time frame: study day 0 and 8
Change in control group immune function through arginine supplementation
Observe the change in T cell functional response
Time frame: Study days 0 and 8
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