Clinical Trials

The following research studies are being conducted in Integrative Medicine. If you are interested in participating, call 913-588-6104 to leave your contact information and the clinical research coordinator will contact you.

Hormone Study: Seeking Menopausal Women

If you are a woman in the early years of menopause, you are invited to participate in a University of Kansas Medical Center study to determine if "natural" or bioidentical hormones are safe and a benefit when used as a treatment.

Boidentical hormones are hormones that match the hormones found in a woman's body and are not changed chemically to a synthetic molecule in the laboratory during processing.

Physicians running this study will determine if you are in the first seven years of menopause by your medical history and blood tests. If you qualify, you will be asked to participate.

The study is randomized (like picking a number out of a hat) into one to four groups. In one of the groups, subjects receive a standard type of hormone replacement. In each of the other three groups, subjects receive different types of bioidentical hormones.

You will not be told which group you are assigned to, nor will your doctor know that. Some of the pills you are given may be real hormones while other pills are sugar pills containing no active ingredients (called placebos).

If you are currently taking hormone replacement therapy, you will be expected to stop for three months before you can enter into this study.

Study patients will receive no money for participating in the study. However, the cost of all tests and therapies that are considered part of the study will be covered.

If you are interested in participating in this study or would like more information, please contact our clinical research coordinator at 913-588-6104. 

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Pancreatic Cancer Trial

Translation of in vitro and in vivo Ascorbate Research Into a New Treatment Option for Pancreatic Cancer: Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial Funded by the Hecht Foundation

(1) Safety and Effectiveness of Adding Intravenous Vitamin C to Gemcitabine Chemotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer, and (2) Assessing Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Interactions When Adding Intravenous Ascorbate to Frontline Gemcitabine Chemotherapy in the Treatment of Locally Advanced or Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

This study is in advanced pancreatic cancer patients not eligible for surgical resection undergoing chemotherapy.  The  with a Primary Hypothesis is that adding IV vitamin C to gemcitabine chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer will be safe and not inhibit the effectiveness of gemcitabine chemotherapy. We will determine if it is safe to combine gemcitabine chemotherapy with IV vitamin C. Initially 7 participants will be enrolled and if no significant interaction defined, an additional 7 will be enrolled. We will enroll up to 14 participants with pancreatic cancer. Safety will be assessed by obtaining the following evaluations: toxicity graded by the NCI CTC v 4.0, urinalysis pre- and post-infusion, ECG, basic metabolic panel, bicarbonate (pH surrogate marker), CBC, and osmolality. This protocol will be conducted in the Clinical Translational Science Unit, the Integrative Medicine Infusion Clinic, and The University of Kansas Cancer Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

If deemed safe and no significant change identified in gemcitabine chemotherapy levels, the participants enrolled will be continued on the dual treatment plan of gemcitabine chemotherapy and IV ascorbate given on a prescribed schedule. The participants will be followed until there is progression of disease with a secondary hypothesis that there may be a benefit when combining the front-line chemotherapy with IV ascorbate. If there appears to be a benefit, a Phase II clinical trial is planned. 

If you are interested in participating in this study or would like more information, please contact our clinical research coordinator at 913-588-6104.

Jefferson Foundation: Pharmacokinetic Evaluation of Intravenous Vitamin C