This phase II trial studies how well oxaloacetate works in reducing cognitive complaints in stage 0-IIIA breast cancer survivors. Oxaloacetate is a natural substance found in the body and is available as a nutritional supplement. Giving oxaloacetate may reduce inflammation in the brain that could be contributing to cognitive complaints seen after cancer treatments.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. To examine the effectiveness of anhydrous enol-oxaloacetate (oxaloacetate) in reducing cognitive complaints in breast cancer patients over the course of 8 weeks. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To assess the tolerability of oxaloacetate. II. To examine whether oxaloacetate has an effect on the neurocognitive domain of executive function. III. To examine whether oxaloacetate has an effect on patient reported fatigue, insomnia, and depressive symptoms. IV. To collect blood for assessment of inflammatory markers and glutamate levels. OUTLINE: Patients receive anhydrous enol-oxaloacetate orally (PO) twice daily (BID) for 8 weeks in the absence of worsening symptoms or unacceptable toxicity. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 4 weeks.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
18
Given PO
Ancillary studies
UCLA / Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Los Angeles, California, United States
Change in Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive Function Perceived Cognitive Impairment (FACT-Cog PCI) score
Patients who have an improvement in the FACT-Cog PCI of at least 4 points will be considered to have a positive response. The response proportion will be further characterized using a point estimate and 95% exact binomial confidence interval.
Time frame: Baseline up to day 57
Incidence of adverse events
Will be assessed by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.
Time frame: Up to day 57
Fatigue
Will be assessed by Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory. Scores will be summarized as means and standard deviations and confidence intervals will be calculated. Changes will also be summarized as effect sizes to support design of a future trial.
Time frame: At day 57
Insomnia
Will be assessed by the Insomnia Severity Index. Scores will be summarized as means and standard deviations and confidence intervals will be calculated. Changes will also be summarized as effect sizes to support design of a future trial.
Time frame: At day 57
Depressive symptoms
Will be assessed by Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. Scores will be summarized as means and standard deviations and confidence intervals will be calculated. Changes will also be summarized as effect sizes to support design of a future trial.
Time frame: At day 57
Neurocognitive tests
Subjects will be assessed by the California Verbal Learning Test-2nd edition, Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised, Golden Stroop, Trail Making Test, Verbal Fluency, Connor's Continuous Performance Test-II. All scales listed will have the individual scores transformed by using published normative data, therefore the unit of measure will be the same for the listed tests; higher scores indicate better performance.
Time frame: Up to day 57
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