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New trials in leukemia: Could your patient benefit?


 

A number of late-phase clinical trials in leukemia have opened in recent months. Maybe one of your patients could benefit from being enrolled.

Adults and children with acute or chronic leukemias

A phase 2 study partnering with the National Marrow Donor Program is seeking individuals aged 1-65 years with lymphoma or one of the following leukemias: “acute leukemia”, acute lymphoblastic (ALL), acute myelogenous (AML), mixed-phenotype acute, chronic myelogenous (CML), and chronic lymphocytic (CLL). Researchers hope to find a way to improve outcomes of hematopoietic-cell transplantation from mismatched, unrelated donors. Participants will receive the transplant and one of seven drug regimens and will be followed for a year. The trial plans to enroll 180 people and began recruiting on Sept. 30 in California, New York, and Virginia. The primary outcome is overall survival (OS). Quality of life (QoL) will not be measured.

Mast-cell leukemia (MCL)

Adults with MCL are sought for a phase 2 study of bezuclastinib, an experimental tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (TKI) called CGT9486. CGT9486 blocks the activity of a mutated version of tyrosine-kinase receptor KIT, called KIT D816V, which is known to cause systemic mastocytosis. Participants will receive oral CGT9486 daily for up to 18 months. The study opened in October, aiming for 140 participants with any advanced systemic mastocytoses (including MCL) at sites in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Utah. OS and QoL will be tracked.

Previously Treated CLL/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL)

Patients with CLL/SLL who have progressed on previous therapy can join a phase 3 study of another experimental oral TIK, pirtobrutinib, this time targeting Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK). BTK plays a key role in the lifecycle of white blood cells. Participants will receive either “fixed-duration” pirtobrutinib plus venetoclax (Venclexta) and rituximab (Ruxience, Riabni, Truxima, Rituxan, MabThera) or the venetoclax-rituximab combo only, for up to 5 years. Investigators started recruiting in September, aiming for 600 participants across Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, and Tennessee. Progression-free survival is the primary outcome; OS is a secondary outcome and QoL will not be tracked.

High-grade myeloid cancers with measurable residual disease

Patients with AML, myelodysplastic syndrome with excess blasts-2 or myeloid neoplasm, and whose original disease is still present, are eligible for a phase 2 study of CPX-351 (daunorubicin-cytarabine, Vyxeos). The intravenous chemotherapy was approved in 2017 for certain types of AML. The goal of this study is to determine if pretreatment with CPX-351 improves the outcome of donor stem-cell transplantation. Patients will either undergo immediate transplantation or receive CPX-351 for up to 10 days followed 60 days later by the transplant. The study, being conducted at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, started recruiting 130 patients in August. The primary outcome is OS; QoL will not be tracked.

Newly diagnosed Philadelphia-negative ALL

Patients aged 22 or older with Philadelphia-negative ALL who have not received chemotherapy or radiation therapy are invited to join a trial of calaspargase pegol (Asparlas). The therapy was approved in 2018 for ALL in children and young adults (1 month to 21 years). The aim of this study is to confirm the recommended doses and evaluate the drug’s safety and pharmacodynamics in adults over aged 21. Each participant will receive six 2-hour infusions of calaspargase pegol over several months. The primary outcomes are safety and drug activity; OS is a secondary outcome and QoL will not be measured. The study opened on July 7 and aims to recruit 122 participants in 11 states.

Untreated adults with TP53-mutant AML

Adult patients with previously untreated AML who have at least one TP53 gene mutation are sought for a phase 3 study of magrolimab, an investigational anti-CD47 monoclonal antibody. Participants will be treated for up to 27 months with either magrolimab plus azacytidine (Vidaza), venetoclax plus azacytidine (patients deemed “appropriate for nonintensive therapy”), or standard chemotherapy (those “appropriate for intensive therapy”). In patients who received nonintensive therapy, OS is the primary outcome; OS in all participants is a secondary outcome, and QoL won’t be assessed. The trial opened in July and aims to recruit 346 individuals in Hong Kong, Australia, and the United States (California, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas).

All trial information is from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

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