The goal of this study is to investigate that a common cholesterol lowering agent (atorvastatin) alone or combining with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (aspirin) would reduce the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in high-risk individuals with Lynch syndrome.
This is an exploratory biomarker trial to assess the ability of atorvastatin (common cholesterol lowering agent) alone or combining with aspirin (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer in high-risk individuals with Lynch Syndrome. Subjects will be stratified based on their prior history of polyps/cancer to receive atorvastatin without or with aspirin for 6 weeks. Blood and normal colon biopsies will be obtained at Day 0 and at 6 weeks on study. Tissue endpoints for analysis include cell proliferation, apoptosis and changes in gene expression. Circulating lipid profiles and metabolic function, and post-treatment questionnaires will be used to assess the acceptability of the study.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
43
No history of colorectal cancer and no colorectal adenomas within 5 years.
History of colorectal cancer and/or history of colorectal adenomas within 5 years.
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Proliferation (Ki-67) and apoptosis (active caspase 3) by immunohistochemical staining
Effect of Atorvastatin or/and Aspirin on normal colonic proliferation and apoptosis will be evaluated by comparing of immunohistochemical staining of Ki-67 and active caspase 3 using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsies collected before and at the 6 weeks of drug treatments. Number of positive cells and total number of evaluated cells will be collected for both assays. Data of cells with positive Ki-67 or active caspase 3 will be expressed as % of positive cells (# positive cells/#total evaluated cells x 100). Statistical analyses will be performed to compare the difference between baseline and 6-weeks data.
Time frame: Changes from baseline to 6 weeks
Genome-wide expression analyses using RNA-Seq
Effect of Atorvastatin or/and Aspirin on gene expressions in normal colonic epithelial cells will be analyzed using RNA-Seq. Total RNA will be extracted from frozen biopsies. RNASeq libraries will be generated and sequenced on an Illumina platform and analyzed. Differential expression between samples at baseline and 6-weeks of drug treatment will be assessed for statistical significance. Genes with false discovery rat ≤ 0.05 and a fold-change ≥ 2 will be considered significant.
Time frame: Changes from baseline to 6 weeks
Rate of adherence of healthy patients with Lynch Syndrome to a 6-week of the treatment regimen (atorvastatin ± aspirin).
Medication Adherence to the 6-week course of Atorvastatin or/and Aspirin preventive therapy will be assessed by one question in the follow -up survey which participants complete at the end of the study :"Over 6 weeks of preventive therapy, how many Atorvastatin/Aspirin pills did you forget to take?" In addition, participants will be asked to return medication bottle(s) with or without pills. RA will count pills and record number of missing pills in the system.
Time frame: 6 weeks
Frequency of adverse events among patients administered atorvastatin ± aspirin for 6 weeks
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The adverse event assessment form is used to collect initial and follow-up information for non-serious and serious adverse events for patients participating in the study. Participants are contacted by RA every two weeks to assess side effects and toxicity. A grading scale from 1 to 5 (1-mild, 2-moderate, 3-severy, 4-life-threatining, 5- death related to AE) and causality (1-unrelated, 2-unlikly, 3-possible, 4-probable, 5-definite, NA- not assessed) are recorded for each adverse event (AE) term. Each AE is reviewed by principal investigator and entered into patient's electronic medical record (EMR)
Time frame: 6 weeks
Acceptability of the pilot study intervention and the willingness of the subject to participate in a similar larger study.
Acceptability of the study approach 6 Likert-type items (7 point scale) will assess participants' perceptions of various aspects of the study design as a measure of whether changes need to be made to the study methods or design prior to a larger multi-institutional trial. Participants' scores will be summed and a mean score generated. Mean scores \> 4 will be considered in the acceptable range. Our threshold target is 75% of participants with a mean score in the acceptable range.
Time frame: 6 weeks