Abstract CT054: Phase II study of dianhydrogalactitol in patients with MGMT-unmethylated bevacizumab-naive recurrent glioblastoma
Authors: O'Brien Barbara J. , Bacha Jeffrey A. , Brown Dennis M. , Steino Anne , Schwartz Richard , Kanekal Sarath , Lopez Lorena , Penas-Prado Marta 
Published: July 2017

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary brain cancer. Current standard of care includes surgery, radiation and treatment with temozolomide (TMZ), however nearly all tumors recur and the prognosis for recurrent GBM is dismal. Most GBM tumors have unmethylated promoter status for O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT); a validated biomarker for TMZ-resistance. Second-line treatment with anti-angiogenic agent bevacizumab has not improved overall survival (OS) and 5-year survival is less than 3%. Dianhydrogalactitol (VAL-083) is a bi-functional alkylating agent targeting N7-Guanine and inducing interstrand cross-links, DNA double-strand breaks and cell-death in GBM cell-lines and GBM cancer stem cells. VAL-083’s cytotoxicity is independent of MGMT status and VAL-083 overcomes TMZ-resistance in vitro. Our recent phase I/II clinical trial in recurrent GBM patients failing both TMZ and bevacizumab, suggested VAL-083 offers clinically meaningful survival benefits for patients with recurrent GBM and pinpointing a new dosing regimen (40 mg/m2/d on days 1,2,3 of a 21-day cycle). A pivotal Phase 3 study in recurrent GBM after failing both TMZ and bevacizumab is being planned. If successful, this study will serve as the basis for a New Drug Application (NDA) submission for VAL-083. In addition, a single-arm Phase 2 study to confirm the tolerability of the new dosing regimen in combination with radiotherapy and to explore the activity of VAL-083 in newly diagnosed MGMT-unmethylated GBM patients whose tumors are known to express high MGMT levels is proceeding.

In the present Phase 2 clinical trial, the main goal is to assess the overall survival (OS) in MGMT-unmethylated, recurrent, bevacizumab-naïve GBM.

RATIONALE: The vast majority of GBM patients experience recurrent/progressive disease within a year from initial diagnosis and median survival after recurrence is 3-9 months. Chemotherapy regimens for these patients are lacking and there is a significant unmet medical need. Given VAL-083’s novel alkylating mechanism, promising clinical benefit, and favorable safety profile, a trial studying VAL-083 in MGMT-unmethylated recurrent GBM is warranted.

METHOD: Open label, single-arm, biomarker-driven Phase 2 clinical trial in MGMT-unmethylated adult GBM patients at first recurrence/progression, prior to bevacizumab. 48 patients will be enrolled to determine if treatment with VAL-083 will improve OS at 9-months compared to historical control with lomustine. The patients will receive VAL-083 40mg/m2/day on days 1,2,3 of a 21-day cycle. Patients will be followed until death or for at least 9 months from enrollment, whichever occurs earlier. Survival will be compared to recently published EORTC26101 for recurrent MGMT-unmethylated GBM patients treated with lomustine. Secondary outcome measures include progression-free survival and overall response rate. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02717962.

Citation Format: Barbara J. O'Brien, Jeffrey A. Bacha, Dennis M. Brown, Anne Steino, Richard Schwartz, Sarath Kanekal, Lorena Lopez, Marta Penas-Prado. Phase II study of dianhydrogalactitol in patients with MGMT-unmethylated bevacizumab-naive recurrent glioblastoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr CT054. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-CT054