Clinical trial · Observational
European Prospective Investigation Into Childhood Cancer
Southern European Prospective Investigation Into Childhood Cancer and Nutrition (EPICkids)
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Over the last decades, research has shown that poor nutritional status can adversely impact prognosis and increase toxicities during treatment for childhood cancer. EPICkids is a collaboration between the International Initiative for Pediatrics and Nutrition, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and sites throughout three Southern European countries (Spain, Greece, and Italy). The primary aim of EPICkids is to establish an informational resource on critical nutrition parameters wherein we can describe the trajectory of nutritional status among Southern European children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and favorable biology brain tumors, investigate lifestyle behaviors, sociodemographic factors, and quality of life and correlate these indicators with clinical outcomes. The specimens obtained with the proposed study will foster future studies on nutrition and prevalent childhood cancer as well as establish a framework to develop evidence-based guidelines for European children with cancer, utilizing regional, European data. We plan to recruit 900 patients with ALL and 1400 patients with a favorable biology brain tumor over five years. Nutrition parameters and lifestyle factors will be measured at systematic timepoints over the study period. Stool and blood specimens will be collected at each timepoint. Eligible patients will be between 3 and 21 years of age.
Conditions
Conditions (2)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia | Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
| Brain Tumor | Brain Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Observational | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- label
- Acute lymphoblastic leukemia cohort
- interventionNames
- Other: Observational
- label
- Brain tumor cohort
- interventionNames
- Other: Observational
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Evaluate the association of dietary and lifestyle variables to examine the association of nutritional status and dietary intake with side-effects from treatment and survival in children and adolescents with ALL and favorable biology brain tumors.
- timeFrame
- From diagnosis to 1 year post-end of treatment
Secondary outcomes (4)
- measure
- Examine the association of nutritional status and quality of life in children and adolescents with ALL and favorable biology brain tumors.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 3 Years
- Maximum age
- 21 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: Age: ALL and favorable biology brain tumors: Patient must be between 3 years and 21 years of age at the time of consent. Diagnosis: * ALL: Patients must have newly diagnosed B-cell ALL, T-cell ALL, or mixed phenotype acute leukemia confirmed by immunophenotyping by flow cytometry. * Brain tumors: Patients must have newly diagnosed favorable biology brain tumor confirmed by either pathology report, imaging and/or biochemical studies including low-grade gliomas, medulloblastoma, ependymoma, pituitary tumors, germ cell tumors. Treatment: * ALL and brain tumors: Participants may be children on a clinical trial or "as per" a clinical trial. * ALL: Patients will receive standard leukemia treatment. * Brain tumors: Patients will be treated depending upon standard approach with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy. Patients receiving autologous stem cell transplantation as part of their regimen may be included. Location: ALL and brain tumors: Patients must be receiving treatment at one of the participating centers. Timing: * ALL: Parents/guardians must consent and patient assent, if applicable, within three working days of diagnosis. * Brain tumors: Parents/guardians must consent and assent, if applicable, prior to initiation of chemotherapy, radiation or stem cell transplant. Exclusion Criteria: ALL and brain tumors: * Patients with relapsed or progressive disease, exclusive of patients with unresectable low-grade gliomas who have progressive disease. * Patients with history of other primary malignancy. * Patients with other medical conditions not associated with the malignancy that may interfere with nutritional status/growth and/or microbiome composition, like patients with Down's syndrome, metabolic disorders or celiac disease. Patients with genetic predisposition that may interfere with nutritional status/growth. ALL: * Patient plans to receive hematopoietic stem cell transplant. * Mixed lineage leukemias who receive AML-based protocols. Brain tumors: Children/adolescents who will be managed by observation or surgery only, or diagnosed with ATRT or high-grade gliomas.
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDPerganti F, Huybrechts I, Balduzzi AC, Barr R, Biondi A, Blade AL, Munoz Bravo E, Damasco E, Katsagoni CN, Kattamis A, Lassaletta A, Llopis Lera M, Llort A, Blanco Lopez J, Perez Martinez A, Massimino M, Morales La Madrid A, Moreno L, Munoz Alonso A, Nicolas G, Preziati G, Rizzari S, Della Valle S, Marquez Vega C, Walters M, Kozlakidis Z, Ladas EJ. Southern European Prospective Investigation Into Childhood Cancer and Nutrition (EPICkids): Study design and protocol. PLoS One. 2025 Sep 5;20(9):e0319110. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319110. eCollection 2025. PMID 40911561