Table of contents
- Trial overview
- Who is being studied
- Study design and phase
- What is being measured
- Trial status and size
Trial overview
The available trial is studying Silibinin in people with Cushing’s disease, a condition linked to excess cortisol.[1] The study is designed to see whether treatment can decrease or normalize cortisol levels in patients with active disease.[1]
This is an interventional study, which means researchers give the study treatment and then measure the results.[1] The brief summary says the goal is to evaluate efficacy, which means how well the treatment works, along with safety in this patient group.[1]
Who is being studied
The target population is patients with active Cushing’s disease.[1] The trial data do not list more detailed inclusion or exclusion rules, so the available information only confirms the disease group being studied.[1]
The study is focused on a small, specific group rather than a broad patient population.[1] This kind of design is common in early studies that try to find out whether a treatment shows a useful signal before larger trials are done.[1]
Study design and phase
The trial is Phase 2, which means it is in an intermediate stage of testing.[1] Phase 2 studies usually look more closely at whether a treatment may work and continue to watch for safety issues in a smaller group of patients.[1]
The study is described as single arm and open label.[1] Single arm means there is only one treatment group, and open label means both the study team and the patients know what treatment is being given.[1]
It is also a dose titration and proof of concept study.[1] Dose titration means the dose may be adjusted during the study, while proof of concept means the trial is trying to show early signs that the treatment may help.[1]
What is being measured
The main outcome is efficacy, assessed after 12 weeks of administration.[1] Researchers will look at several tests that measure cortisol control in different ways.[1]
- 24-hour urinary free cortisol (UFC): a full-day urine test that shows how much cortisol leaves the body.[1]
- Late-night salivary cortisol: a saliva test taken at night, when cortisol should normally be low.[1]
- Low-dose dexamethasone suppression: a test that checks whether cortisol levels drop as expected after a small dose of dexamethasone.[1]
The trial uses a composite endpoint, which means several results are combined to judge success.[1] The study looks for patients whose UFC normalizes or drops by at least 50%, patients with high salivary cortisol at baseline whose levels normalize, and patients who did not suppress normally at baseline but later show normal suppression.[1]
Trial status and size
The trial status is Authorised, meaning it has been approved to move forward.[1] The planned enrollment is 15 patients, so this is a small study.[1]
The study title identifies the trial as Silycus®-21 and describes it as a multicenter study.[1] Multicenter means more than one study site is involved, which can help recruit patients and collect results from different locations.[1]



