Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for Propylene Glycol-Free Melphalan HCl (EVOMELA®) in Combination With Fludarabine and Total Body Irradiation Based Reduced Intensity Conditioning for Haploidentical Transplantation

Study Description

Brief Summary: This is an open-label, single-arm, phase II study to determine the safety of propylene glycol-free melphalan HCl (EVOMELA®), in combination with fludarabine and total-body irradiation-based reduced-intensity conditioning for haploidentical transplantation. In addition, the study evaluates the one-year progression-free survival of patients undergoing this treatment.

Detailed Description: OVERVIEW: Elderly and infirm patients with hematological malignancies often cannot undergo allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) because of high-toxicity rates and nonrelapse mortality (NRM) associated with higher-intensity conditioning allografts. Reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) transplantation has emerged as an attractive alternative for these populations. FLUDARABINE/MELPHALAN. In RIC, fludarabine is often used as the lymphocyte-depleting component to facilitate donor-cell engraftment. This drug can be given once daily because of its plasma half-life. M.D. Anderson pioneered the use of fludarabine melphalan (FLU/MEL) conditioning, which has since gained wide usage. (1) Melphalan is convenient, has broad antitumor activity in hematologic malignancies and has immunosuppressive effects. The Flu/Mel conditioning regimen can provide long-term disease control, especially in the subset of patients with chemo sensitive disease. (1) TOTAL-BODY IRRADIATION. In a recent study, total-body irradiation (200 cGy) was used with flu/mel for advanced lymphoma treated with HCT. With a median follow-up time close to two years, the survival of these mostly advanced, relapsed/refractory patients was very encouraging with overall survival of 54% and progression-free survival of 54% for the entire group. (2) Treatment-related mortality was low at day 100 (9.1%) and two years (19%) after transplantation, with stable engraftment achieved in the great majority of patients. PROPYLENE GLYCOL-FREE MELPHALAN HCL (EVOMELA®). In theory, intensifying the dose of melphalan in flu/mel conditioning could provide better disease control post HCT, allowing more time for curative graft-versus-leukemia effects to emerge. The use of the commercial formulation of melphalan (Alkeran®) proved somewhat problematic, however, because it must be reconstituted with propylene glycol, a substance that has been associated with toxic side effects. The substitution of Captisol® in propylene glycol-free melphalan HCl (EVOMELA®) for Injection (Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) for the excipients found in Alkeran®, directly overcomes the formulation limitations noted with Alkeran®. STUDY RATIONALE. The preliminary data suggest that the substitution of Captisol® in EVOMELA® for the excipients found in Alkeran® directly overcomes the formulation limitations and provides a potentially safer melphalan formulation for administration at higher doses used in HCT conditioning regimens. Based on these observations, we now propose a phase II study of a RIC regimen consisting of EVOMELA® in combination with fludarabine and total-body irradiation for patients undergoing haplo-HCT. The study will investigate the safety and tolerability of this conditioning approach. While the FDA indication for EVOMELA® is for myeloablative conditioning prior to autologous HCT in patients with multiple myeloma, we anticipate our study will provide critical preliminary data to explore this formulation in allogeneic HCT conditioning.

Keywords

Eligibility

Minimum Age: 18 Years

Eligible Ages: ADULT, OLDER_ADULT

Sex: ALL

Healthy Volunteers: No

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