The PCSK9i Inhibitor Evolocumab - a Surgical Trial of Pharamcodynamics and Kinetics Evaluation

Study Purpose

This Phase 0 surgical window of opportunity trial seeks to evaluate the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) properties of an FDA-approved proprotein convertase/ kexin type 9 serine protease inhibitor (PCSK9i) in patients with primary and recurrent World Health Organization (WHO) grade IV malignant glioma. The investigators intend to evaluate whether a clinically licensed PCSK9i called evolocumab (also known as Repatha) can be repurposed as a potential immunotherapeutic for high grade glioma by testing its ability to access the intracranial space. The primary objective is to evaluate whether evolocumab crosses the blood brain barrier (BBB) and is measurable in the resected tumor specimens of patients with primary and recurrent high grade glioma or glioblastoma.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms

No
Study Type

An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes.


An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.


Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.

Interventional
Eligible Ages 18 Years and Over
Gender All
More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • - Adult patients ≥ 18 years old.
  • - Newly diagnosed or recurrent high grade glioma (HGG) or glioblastoma (GBM) (if recurrent, prior pathology report indicating HGG or GBM) - Adequate hematologic function within 14 days prior to starting evolocumab defined as follows: 1.
Hemoglobin ≥ 10 g/dl (Note: the use of transfusion or other intervention to achieve Hgb ≥ 10.0 g/dl is acceptable) 2. Leukocytes ≥ 1,500/mm3. 3. Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) ≥ 1,000/mm3. 4. Platelets ≥ 100,000/mm3.
  • - Adequate renal function within 14 days prior to starting evolocumab defined as calculated creatinine clearance (CrCL) of ≥ 30 mL/min/1.73m2 by the Cockcroft-Gault formula.
  • - Adequate hepatic function within 14 days prior to starting evolocumab defined as follows: 1.
Total bilirubin ≥ 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN) (Note: Patients with known Gilbert disease without other clinically significant liver abnormalities are not excluded.) 2. AST(SGOT) and ALT(SGPT) ≥ 1.5 × ULN.
  • - Negative serum pregnancy test (in females of childbearing potential) within 48 hours of starting evolocumab.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • - Any patient with a history of a serious hypersensitivity reaction to evolocumab or any of the excipients in evolocumab.
  • - Patients with severe hepatic impairment outside of the range defined in the inclusion criteria within 7 days of starting evolocumab.
  • - History or evidence of central nervous system bleeding as defined by stroke or intraocular bleed (including embolic stroke) not associated with any antitumor surgery within 6 months before enrollment.
  • - Infection requiring intravenous antibiotics that was completed < 1 week of study enrollment (day 1) with the exemption of prophylactic antibiotics for long line insertion or biopsy.
  • - Females of reproductive potential and males who are unwilling to practice an acceptable method(s) of effective birth control while on study through 1 month (2 half-lives) after receiving the last dose of study drug.

Trial Details

Trial ID:

This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.

NCT04937413
Phase

Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans.

Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data.

Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs.

Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.

Early Phase 1
Lead Sponsor

The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.

Duke University
Principal Investigator

The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.

Mustafa Khasraw, MBChB, MD, FRCP, FRACP
Principal Investigator Affiliation Duke University
Agency Class

Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.

Other
Overall Status Recruiting
Countries United States
Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.

Malignant Glioma, Glioblastoma
Study Website: View Trial Website
Additional Details

A maximum of 10 participants will receive 420 mg (the maximum single dose) of evolocumab subcutaneously into their thigh, abdomen or upper arm 7-14 days prior to surgical de-bulking of their tumor. After de-bulking, leftover tissue not required for histological analysis will be collected, and the level of evolocumab will be quantified. At two time points, prior to injection of evolocumab and at time of their surgery, participants will have peripheral blood drawn to analyze serum levels of the drug (for comparison to levels found in their leftover tissue). The investigators will follow-up with participants about 2 weeks after surgery at their post-operative visit. A matched cohort of resected tumor specimens from patients who were not treated with evolocumab from the Duke Brain Tumor Center Biorepository will be used as a comparison for the primary objective and 2 of the 3 secondary objectives of this study comparing brain tumor tissue specimens of patients who did and did not receive evolocumab with respect to lipid metabolism and tumor cells expressing MHC-I.

Arms & Interventions

Arms

Experimental: Single dose of evolocumab

420 mg of evolocumab subcutaneous injection 7-14 days before scheduled surgery for malignant glioma

Interventions

Drug: - Evolocumab

Evolocumab subcutaneous injection

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina

Status

Recruiting

Address

Duke University Medical Center

Durham, North Carolina, 27710

Site Contact

Mustafa Khasraw, MBChB, MD, FRCP, FRACP

[email protected]

9196845301

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