Could a cheap altitude pill boost lung cancer treatment?
NCT ID NCT03467360
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This early-phase trial tests whether adding acetazolamide (a drug used for altitude sickness) to standard chemoradiation or radioimmunotherapy can help treat small cell lung cancer. About 27 adults with either localized or extensive small cell lung cancer will receive the combination to find the safest dose and check for early signs of benefit. The idea is that acetazolamide may reduce tumor acidity, potentially making radiation and immunotherapy work better.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- acetazolamide (a drug that blocks carbonic anhydrase enzymes, often used for altitude sickness or glaucoma)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a new way to make standard cancer treatments more effective for small cell lung cancer by targeting tumor acidity.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early Phase 1 trial with only 27 participants, so it is primarily testing safety and dosing. The drug may not improve outcomes or could add side effects without benefit.
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
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Phase 1
The first testing in people. Mainly checks safety and dose, usually in a small group.
- Participants
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About 27 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Aug 2019
- Expected to finish
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Apr 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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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
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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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: * Age \> or = 18 years, * Performance Status 0 to 2, * Patient with an histologically non-metastatic localized (or extensive SCLC sub-group) Small cell lung cancer, * Patient who must start radiotherapy treatment combined with chemotherapy with platinum and etoposide (localized SCLC sub-group) or Patient who received 4 cycles of chemoimmunotherapy with platinum salts, etoposide and immunotherapy (atezolizumab or durvalumab) as the first treatment (extensive SCLC sub-group) Note: The decision of the Multidisciplinary Consultation Team must be notified in the patient's medical file, * Evaluation lesion according to the criteria RECIST 1.1 and / or according to the criteria PERCIST 1.0, * Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 72 hours of the first administration of the study treatment, * If the patient is a woman of childbearing potential, she must be surgically sterile or agree to use two adequate methods of contraception throughout the duration of the study until 1 month after the last administration of the study treatment. Subjects of childbearing potential are those who have not been surgically sterilized or have not been free from menses for \> 1 year, Note: Abstinence is acceptable if it is the patient's usual and preferred form of contraception, * If the male patient has one or more female partners of childbearing age, he / she must agree to use an adequate method of contraception, starting at the first administration of the study treatment up to 1 month after the last administration of the treatment. of the study, Note: Abstinence is acceptable if it is the patient's usual and preferred form of contraception, * Patient willing and able to provide written informed consent/assent for the trial, * Patient affiliated with a health insurance system. Exclusion Criteria: * Patient with metastatic disease, * History of thoracic irradiation or near / in the thoracic irradiation field, * Patient who refuses to participate in the study or unable to agree, * Contraindication to thoracic radiotherapy treatment: congestive heart failure unbalanced (ejection fraction \<30%, clinical signs), severe respiratory failure: * COPD grade IV according to the GOLD classification, * Some GOLD III COPD and any patient with a respiratory defect defined as: oxygen dependence and / or FEV1 \<40% normal and / or, DLCO \<40% predictive value and / or vital capacity \<40% predictive value, * Contraindication to acetazolamide: hypersensitivity to acetazolamide, severe hepatic, renal or adrenal insufficiency, sulfonamide intolerance, history of renal colic, allergy to wheat other than celiac disease, * Patient currently receiving one or more treatments described in section 6.9 of the protocol, * History of cancer, with the exception of cancers in complete remission for more than 5 years, completely resected basal cell carcinoma of the skin or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin that has undergone potentially curative therapy or in situ cervical cancer, * People particularly vulnerable as defined in Articles L.1121-5 to -8 of the French Healthcare Code, including: person deprived of freedom by an administrative or judicial decision, adult being the object of a legal protection measure or outside a state to express their consent, pregnant or breastfeeding women
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Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
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.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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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
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Centre Antoine Lacassagne
RECRUITINGNice, 06189, France
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Centre Hospitalier Princesse grace
TERMINATEDMonte Carlo, Monaco
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