Clinical trial NCT03526328: DCLK1 as a Marker/Indicator of Stem Cell Response in Barrett's Esophagus/Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
Official title: Doublecortin Like Kinase-1 as a Marker and Indicator of Treatment Response for Intestinal Stem Cells in Barrett's Esophagus and Progression to Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Barrett's Esophagus
Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
Keywords: DCLK1
Serum Biomarker
Barrett's Esophagus
Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
Tumor Stem Cell Marker
Lead sponsor: University of Oklahoma
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-05-16
Enrollment: 32
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 85
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: OTHER
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Patients presenting for upper endoscopy to evaluate symptoms or risk factors such as GERD, dyspepsia, or dysphagia with a finding of BE or EAC; treatment with EMR or RFA for BE with HGD, focal intramucosal adenocarcinoma or esophagectomy for EAC.

Brief summary: The hypotheses are: 1) the intestinal stem cell marker, DCLK1, which is increased in both the epithelium and stroma in colon cancer is also increased in BE (Barrett's esophagus) with HGD (high grade dysplasia) and in EAC (esophageal adenocarcinoma), 2) this expression correlates with disease progression towards EAC and 3) eradication of cells expressing stem cell markers occurs after therapy of EMR (endoscopic mucosal resection) or RFA (radiofrequency ablation) to eradicate BE with HGD and intramucosal adenocarcinoma and esophagectomy for EAC. We will test our hypotheses with the following aims: 1) To characterize the cell specific expression patterns of intestinal stem cell biomarkers in BE patients and correlate them with serum expression and disease progression, 2) To examine prospectively the effects of EMR, RFA or esophagectomy on the expression of stem cell biomarkers and the progression to EAC.

Detailed description: Barrett's esophagus (BE) is a metaplasia of normal squamous epithelium. BE can progressively develop more abnormal features like low-grade intraepithelial dysplasia (LGID), high-grade intraepithelial dysplasia (HGID) before ultimately developing esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), with a low 5-year survival rate of 20 % or less. Recent evidence for the existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) has advanced our understanding of cancer and has opened doors to new therapeutic strategies in cancer treatment. The fundamental goals of this project are to determine the effectiveness of endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) on eradication of putative intestinal stem cell markers that are overexpressed in BE with HGID and EAC. A better understanding of the cellular mechanisms that regulate the progression from normal squamous mucosa to EAC has enormous implications in the diagnosis and treatment of esophageal cancer. The presence of a CSC in esophageal cancer has been reported in both dysplastic BE/ EAC as well as in mouse models of the disease. The central hypotheses of the current proposal are: elimination of cells expressing stem cell markers occurs after ablative therapies (EMR/RFA) to eradicate BE with HGID/ EAC, and monitoring of stem cell marker expression during follow-up will correlate with disease recurrence or appropriate clinical response. Recently, we have reported that DCLK1, although minimally expressed in normal distal esophageal squamous mucosa, is markedly expressed in BE epithelium and EAC. We will test our central hypotheses with the following specific aims: 1. To prospectively characterize the cell specific expression patterns of putative intestinal stem cell biomarkers in BE patients and correlate them with serum/plasma protein expression and disease progression, 2. to examine prospectively the effects of EMR/RFA on the expression of putative stem cell biomarkers and correlate them with serum/plasma protein expression and disease progression and/or recurrence, and 3. to examine prospectively the effects on EMR/ RFA on esophageal-related quality of life and dysphagia during the endoscopic intervention period as well as following completion. The studies proposed have the potential to offer new insights for both the early diagnosis and monitoring of therapeutic response of future therapies for EAC. Moreover, these studies may identify novel biomarkers that can aid in the confirmation of HGID and potentially predict disease onset, progression and/or recurrence. Finally, these studies have the potential to provide preliminary data that will serve as the rationale for large scale multicenter trials to compare the effectiveness of EMR and RFA in BE with respect to clinical outcome, molecular features and effect on putative tumor stem cells. The recent identification of DCLK1 as a marker that distinguishes between normal and tumor stem cells in a rodent model of intestinal tumorigenesis lends support for our rationale for examining DCLK1 as a potential mediator of the neoplastic response in BE.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* BE length of 12 cm or less
* presence of non-dysplastic BE on 2 sequential endoscopies or low-grade intraepithelial dysplasia (LGIN), high-grade intraepithelial dysplasia (HGIN) or EAC in BE segment on 2 endoscopies in the previous 6 months
* no signs of metastasis on endoscopic ultrasonography or computerized tomography scan.

Exclusion Criteria:

* pre-RFA EMR with cancer at the resection margin
* greater than T1sm1 invasion
* poor differentiation or worse
* angiolymphatic invasion
* esophageal stenosis preventing passage of an 11.3 mm endoscope
* persistent visible lesions after EMR before RFA and invasive cancer on biopsies after EMR pre-RFA.

Primary outcomes:
measure: cell-specific expression patterns of putative intestinal stem cell biomarkers in BE patients; correlation of markers with serum/plasma protein expression and disease progression.
timeFrame: 2 yrs
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Oklahoma City
country: United States
facility: Gastroenterology
state: Oklahoma
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Oklahoma
name: Ahmed Bolkhir, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Vega KJ, May R, Sureban SM, Lightfoot SA, Qu D, Reed A, Weygant N, Ramanujam R, Souza R, Madhoun M, Whorton J, Anant S, Meltzer SJ, Houchen CW. Identification of the putative intestinal stem cell marker doublecortin and CaM kinase-like-1 in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2012 Apr;27(4):773-80. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2011.06928.x.