a single-arm, phase ii clinical trial of aspirin to prevent venous thromboembolism in patients with advanced germ cell tumors receiving chemotherapy

Conditions: Germ Cell Tumor; Testicular Cancer

Summary: the purpose of this study is to the 6-month venous thromboembolism (vte)-free rate in participants with advanced germ cell cancer at high risk of vte who are receiving standard of care cisplatin-based chemotherapy and low-dose acetylsalicylic acid (asa) and compare to relevant historical controls

this is a single-arm, two-stage, phase ii study designed to evaluate the 6-month vte-free rate in participants with advanced germ cell cancer at high risk of vte who are receiving standard of care cisplatin-based chemotherapy and low-dose asa as compared to relevant historical controls. stage 1 will consist of 13 participants. if at least 9 of those 13 do not experience a vte event during the first 26 weeks on the asa, stage 2 will be activated. stage 2 will enroll an additional 18 participants for a total of 31. participants will provide their own supply of asa. participants will self-administer a fixed dose of asa (81 mg) by mouth daily for 26 weeks. participants who experience the primary endpoint of vte will stop asa and start standard of care anticoagulation at the direction of the treating investigator. this study will initially open as a single center study at atrium health wake forest baptist comprehensive cancer center (ahwfbccc) and additional investigational site(s) may be added following activation at the lead site.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: 1. written informed consent and hipaa authorization for release of personal health information 2. age ≥ 18 years and ≤ 70 years at the time of consent 3. histological confirmation of stage is or iia or higher testicular or germ cell cancer. primary mediastinal and retroperitoneal gct are allowed. seminoma and non-seminoma histologies are allowed. 4. performance status (ps) of ecog 0-2 at the time of enrollment 5. at least one of the following "high risk" of vte features: a. stage iic or iii or higher per ajcc 8th edition criteria15 i. stage iic - any pt/tx, n3, m0, s0-1 ii. stage iii - any pt/tx, any n, m1, sx iii. stage iiia - any pt/tx, any n, m1a, s0-1 iv. stage iiib - any pt/tx, n1-3, m0, s2 or any pt/tx, any n, m1a, s2 v. stage iiic - any pt/tx, n1-3, m0, s3 or any pt/tx, any n, m1a, s3 or any pt/tx, any n, m1b, any s serum marker (s category) s criteria sx marker studies not available or not performed s0 marker study levels within normal limits s1 ldh \ 10 x normal or hcg \>50,000 iu/l or afp \>10,000 ng/ml b. intermediate or poor risk by igcccg criteria16 i. intermediate risk - testis/retroperitoneal primary and no non pulmonary visceral metastases plus at least one of the following markers: afp \> 1,000 ng/ml to ≤ 10,000 ng/ml, beta-hcg \> 5,000 iu/l and ≤ 50,000 iu/l, ldh \>1.5 x normal and ≤ 10 x normal ii. poor risk - mediastinal primary or non-pulmonary visceral metastases plus at least one of the following markers: afp \> 10,000 ng/ml, beta- hcg \> 50,000 iu/l, ldh \> 10 x normal c. khorana score17 of 2 or higher i. +1 point for testicular/germ cell cancer (all patients will receive +1 for their testicular/germ cell cancer diagnosis. thus, a patient with any other khorana characteristic \[ii-v\] will meet this inclusion criteria.) ii. +1 point for platelet ≥350 x 109/l iii. +1 point for hemoglobin \ 11 x 109/l v. +1 point for bmi \>35 kg/m2 6. planning or recently started 3-4 cycles of standard of care front-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy (bleomycin, etoposide, and platinum \[bep\], etoposide and cisplatin \[ep\], or etoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin \[vip\]). note: asa should be initiated no later than 2 weeks after initiation of standard front-line chemotherapy. 7. as determined by the enrolling investigator, ability of the participant to understand and comply with study procedures for the entire length of the study 8. ability to swallow oral medications exclusion criteria: 1. receiving chemotherapy in adjuvant setting 2. prior vte/pe 3. currently taking anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy. non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (nsaid) use for pain is allowed 4. prior indication for anticoagulation or anticoagulation contraindicated (e.g., active bleed or risk of bleeding, such as history of gastrointestinal ulcers) 5. allergy to asa

Keywords: cancer venous thromboembolism