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Topical or Oral Minoxidil for the Treatment of Endocrine Therapy-Induced Alopecia in Patients With Stage I-IV Breast Cancer

A Pilot Trial of Topical vs Oral Minoxidil for Treatment of Endocrine Therapy-Induced Alopecia in Breast Cancer Patients

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05417308
Enrollment
50
Registered
2022-06-14
Start date
2023-03-01
Completion date
2027-12-31
Last updated
2026-03-10

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

Conditions

Anatomic Stage I Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IA Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IB Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage II Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IIA Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IIB Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage III Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IIIA Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IIIB Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IIIC Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Anatomic Stage IV Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Endocrine Therapy-Induced Alopecia, Prognostic Stage I Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage IA Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage IB Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage II Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage IIA Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage IIB Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage III Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage IIIA Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage IIIB Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage IIIC Breast Cancer AJCC v8, Prognostic Stage IV Breast Cancer AJCC v8

Brief summary

This early phase I trial studies the possible benefits and/or side effects of topical or oral minoxidil in treating endocrine therapy-induced hair loss (alopecia) in patients with stage I-IV breast cancer. Endocrine therapy-induced alopecia (EIA) is a distressing side effect that leads to reduced quality of life and early cessation of therapy in women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Patients on endocrine therapy commonly report hair loss or thinning. Minoxidil is a drug that may promote hair growth and reduce hair loss. Oral minoxidil may increase hair density in women with EIA, and work the same as topical minoxidil in treating EIA in patients with breast cancer.

Detailed description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate the safety and tolerability of low-dose oral minoxidil in patients with breast cancer and EIA. II. To obtain preliminary data to support whether low-dose oral minoxidil is a reasonable alternative to topical minoxidil in patients with EIA. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms. ARM I: Patients apply minoxidil foam topically to affected areas of the scalp once daily (QD) for up to 12 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. ARM II: Patients receive minoxidil orally (PO) QD for up to 12 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Interventions

Applied topically

OTHERQuality-of-Life Assessment

Ancillary studies

OTHERQuestionnaire Administration

Ancillary studies

Sponsors

Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* Women \>= 18 years of age * Established diagnosis of breast cancer stages I-IV * On endocrine therapy including tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors with or without concurrent use of ovarian function suppression * Self-reporting hair loss since starting endocrine therapy

Exclusion criteria

* Pregnant or nursing women * Current chemotherapy use or prior chemotherapy use within the last 2 years * History of scarring/cicatricial alopecia or alopecia areata * Prior use of oral or topical minoxidil * Prior or ongoing use of spironolactone * Known sensitivity to minoxidil * Untreated hypothyroidism or iron deficiency as determined by thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) with reflex free T4 and ferritin level \> 40 to be checked at the time of enrolling if not completed in the 12 months prior

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Proportion of days assigned medication was taken/appliedUp to 12 monthsFor the oral minoxidil group, the proportion of pills taken will be reported with a 95% confidence interval. For the topical minoxidil group, the proportions of days medication was applied will be reported with a 95% confidence interval.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Occurrence of at least one adverse event (AE) of grade 1 or higherUp to 12 monthsAdverse events will be summarized using National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0 with reporting of the number and percentage of patients affected. The total number of participants with AEs of any grade, and the total number of participants with grade 3 or higher AEs will be compared between randomized groups using Fisher's exact test.
Change in hair densityBaseline to 3 monthsAt least mild-to-moderate improvement in hair density from baseline to 3 months as determined by a board-certified dermatologist from photographs. Will construct two-sided 95% confidence intervals for improvements from baseline and differences between randomized groups. Response will be dichotomized as no improvement versus moderate-to-significant improvement.
Chemotherapy Alopecia Distress Scale (CADS) scoreAt 3 monthsPatients will complete a a self-administered 17-item questionnaire
CADS score physicalAt 6 monthsa self-administered 17-item questionnaire which categorizes questions into 4 subscales including physical
CADS score emotionalAt 12 monthsa self-administered 17-item questionnaire which categorizes questions into 4 subscales including emotional relationship
Patient-reported outcomesAt 3 monthsMean responses to the symptom experience diary questions and the satisfaction items will be compared between groups via t-test.

Countries

United States

Contacts

CONTACTThe Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
OSUCCCClinicaltrials@osumc.edu800-293-5066
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORBrittany L Dulmage, MD

Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 11, 2026