Skip to content

Collection of Serum Samples in Studying Emotional Stress in Patients With Prostate Cancer

Correlation of Serum Catecholamine With Emotional Stress in Men With Prostate Cancer: A Pilot Study

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03122743
Enrollment
61
Registered
2017-04-21
Start date
2017-02-22
Completion date
2020-09-24
Last updated
2022-03-10

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Hormone-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Recurrent Prostate Carcinoma, Stage IIA Prostate Cancer, Stage IIB Prostate Cancer, Stage II Prostate Cancer, Stage I Prostate Cancer

Brief summary

This pilot research trial studies the collection of serum samples in studying emotional stress in patients with prostate cancer. Studying serum samples from patients with prostate cancer in the laboratory may help doctors determine if levels of epinephrine and cortisol, substances the body makes when stressed, rise or fall with how patients are feeling and/or if those levels are related to clinical information related to prostate cancer.

Detailed description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine if serum epinephrine or cortisol levels in men with prostate cancer correlate with perceived stress or distress over time in two to five consecutive visits. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the change in serum epinephrine levels in men with prostate cancer over time in two to five consecutive visits. II. To determine the change in serum cortisol levels in men with prostate cancer over time in two to five consecutive visits. III. To determine the change in levels of stress in men with prostate cancer over time in two to five consecutive visits IV. To determine the change in levels of distress in men with prostate cancer over time in two to five consecutive visits. TERTIARY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine if serum epinephrine or cortisol levels in men with prostate cancer correlate with prostate cancer progression two to five visits. OUTLINE: Patients undergo collection of serum samples for epinephrine and cortisol levels at baseline and 4 clinical visits. Patients also receive the Self-Perceived Stress questionnaire and the Distress Thermometer questionnaire to measure perceived stress.

Interventions

PROCEDUREBiospecimen Collection

Undergo collection of serum samples

OTHERLaboratory Biomarker Analysis

Correlative studies

OTHERQuestionnaire Administration

Ancillary studies

Sponsors

National Cancer Institute (NCI)
CollaboratorNIH
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
MALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* A confirmed diagnosis of prostate cancer * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0, 1, 2 * Individuals able to understand and willing to sign an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved informed consent document

Exclusion criteria

* History of current or past medical or psychiatric illness that would make participation difficult or not feasible at the discretion of the principal investigator or co-investigators

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in serum cortisol levelsUp to 1 yearWill calculate the change in serum cortisol levels between the first and last assessment and calculate the corresponding change in perceived stress or distress during the same time period. Will estimate the Pearson correlation between the two changes. Will also estimate a 95% confidence interval for this estimated correlation. These calculations will be performed overall (pooling all 3 groups together) and then repeated for each of the three groups of men separately. Will fit a longitudinal mixed model that incorporates the repeated measures taken on each patient. Additional int
Change in perceived stress scores, assessed by the Self-Perceived Stress QuestionnaireUp to 1 yearWill calculate the patient's stress levels at each of the 5 visits using a validated measure of self-perceived stress
Change in serum epinephrine levelsUp to 1 yearWill calculate the change in serum epinephrine levels between the first and last assessment and calculate the corresponding change in perceived stress or distress during the same time period. Will estimate the Pearson correlation between the two changes. Will also estimate a 95% confidence interval for this estimated correlation. These calculations will be performed overall (pooling all 3 groups together) and then repeated for each of the three groups of men separately. Will fit a longitudinal mixed model that incorporates the repeated measures taken on each patient. Additional int
Change in distress score, assessed by the Distress ThermometerUp to 1 yearWill calculate the patient's stress levels at each of the 5 visits using a validated distress thermometer

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in serum cortisol levelsBaseline up to 1 yearWill fit a two-way random effects model to examine the time course of serum cortisol levels.
Change in levels of distress assessed by the Distress ThermometerBaseline up to 1 yearWill fit a two-way random effects model to examine the time course of distress levels.
Change in self-perceived stress, assessed by the Self-Perceived Stress QuestionnaireBaseline up to 1 yearWill fit a two-way random effects model to examine the time course of stress levels.
Change in serum epinephrine levelsBaseline up to 1 yearWill fit a two-way random effects model to examine the time course of serum epinephrine levels.

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in levels of serum prostate specific antigen in patients with complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), or progressive disease (PD)Baseline up to 1 yearWill determine whether there are any differences at each of the time points in serum epinephrine or cortisol levels using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) models.
Change in serum epinephrine area under the curve (AUC) valuesBaseline up to 1 yearWill be compared across the 4-levels of progression (CR, PR, SD, and PD) or 2-levels of progression (CR/PR vs SD/PD) using ANOVA models. These models can be run separately for each of the 3 groups of patients - and also in an overall model with all patients included and a covariate for group and group by AUC value interaction.
Change in serum cortisol AUC valuesBaseline up to 1 yearWill be compared across the 4-levels of progression (CR, PR, SD, and PD) or 2-levels of progression (CR/PR vs SD/PD) using ANOVA models. These models can be run separately for each of the 3 groups of patients - and also in an overall model with all patients included and a covariate for group and group by AUC value interaction.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026