Yeast fiber may boost cancer immunotherapy in melanoma patients
NCT ID NCT04513028
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looks at whether beta-glucan, a natural fiber from yeast, can improve the immune response to the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab in people with stage III or IV melanoma. Researchers will measure changes in immune cells from blood samples. The goal is to understand how beta-glucan affects the immune system, not to directly treat the cancer.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
-
About 30 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
-
Nov 2020
- Expected to finish
-
Jan 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
-
Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
-
18 years and older
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Any patients with suspected (clinical) or definitive (tissue) diagnosis of Stage III-IV melanoma starting or continuing adjuvant Pembrolizumab without active evidence of disease (NED). * Must be treatment naïve or have had treatment no less than 6 months prior to enrollment * 18 years or older * Must be able to take pills * ECOG performance status of 0-3 * Ability to understand and willingness to sign a written informed consent * Members of all racial and ethnic groups are eligible for this study Exclusion Criteria: * History of hypersensitivity reactions attributed to beta-glucan * Patients receiving continuous or other ongoing immunosuppressive therapy * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, autoimmune diseases, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Any patients who have serious autoimmune toxicity during the study period, or those who have disease recurrence during the 6-week study period should be excluded and analyzed separately * Patients with mucosal melanoma * Patients with concurrent malignancy or recent history thereof
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Melanoma stage III are added.
By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
-
The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
-
The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
-
A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
University of Louisville
RECRUITINGLouisville, Kentucky, 40202, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can injecting immune drugs directly into tumors revive response to checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma?
- Can a short Pre-Surgery immunotherapy course replace Long-Term adjuvant treatment for melanoma?
- Can interferon keep melanoma from coming back after surgery?
- Pee power: urine bacteria may predict melanoma treatment success
- Could an immune-boosting pill make melanoma treatments work better?
- Could a Low-Protein diet boost immunotherapy for melanoma?