Evaluation of Fluoxetine and Cytotoxic Lysosomal Stress in Glioma (FLIRT)

Study Purpose

The purpose of this research study is to determine if fluoxetine increases lysosomal stress in patients with recurrent IDHwt glioma by evaluating LAMP1 expression in tumor samples obtained pre-resection via biopsy and during surgery. Lysosomes are organelles (structures in cells) that contain digestive enzymes (substances that break down chemicals) that help keep the cells free of extra or worn out cell parts. Fluoxetine, a drug approved by the FDA to treat problems like depression and anxiety, can cause changes to structures in cells called lysosomes that then improve how well the chemotherapy drug temozolomide (TMZ) kills cancer cells in the brain.

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 24 Years and Over
Gender All
More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age ≥ 24 years of age Note: Fluoxetine has a warning about suicidal thoughts in children, adolescents, and young adults. Short-term studies did not show an increase in the risk of suicidality with antidepressants compared to placebo in adults beyond age 24. 2. Patients with recurrent glioma. 3. Tumor volume ≥ 1 cm3. 4. Clinical indication for craniotomy for biopsy and resection of the lesion. 5. Clinical indication for repeat treatment with Temozolomide. 6. Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) > 70% 7. Adequate organ function: platelets > 100,000/µL, hemoglobin >9 gm/dL, ANC > 1000/µL; creatinine < 1.5x upper limit of normal (ULN), total bilirubin < 1.5x ULN, AST/ALT < 2.5x ULN within 72 hours prior to first administration of Fluoxetine. 8. Able to undergo MRI brain with and without contrast. 9. If the patient is a sexually active female of childbearing potential, whose partner is male, or if the patient is a sexually active male, whose partner is a female of childbearing potential, the patient must use appropriate contraceptive measures for the duration of the treatment and for 6 months afterwards. Female patients of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test at the time of screening and within 48 hours of starting the infusion of the study drug. 10. Signed informed consent approved by the Institutional Review Board.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients currently taking or who have taken any other anti-depressant medication within the past year. 2. Patients currently taking psychotropic agents or who have taken other psychotropic agents within the past 7 days. 3. Patients with any history of mood/psychotic/substance use disorders. 4. Prior, unrelated malignancy requiring current active treatment except for cervical carcinoma in situ and adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. 5. Patients who are pregnant or breastfeeding. 6. Patients with contrast-enhancing tumor crossing the midline, multifocal tumor, infratentorial tumor, tumor in eloquent brain regions, extensive tumor dissemination (subependymal or leptomeningeal), or in unsafe brain regions per the opinion of the treating neurosurgeon. 7. Patients with worsening neurologic deficits, clinically significant increased intracranial pressure (e.g., impending herniation), uncontrolled seizures, or requirement for immediate palliative treatment. 8. Unstable systemic disease in the opinion of the treating physician. 9. Less than 12 weeks from radiation therapy, unless progressive disease outside of the radiation field or 2 progressive scans at least 4 weeks apart or histopathologic confirmation of recurrent tumor. 10. Treated with immunotherapeutic agents within 4 weeks, alkylating agents within 4 weeks, nitrosoureas within 6 weeks, or non-alkylating chemotherapy within 2 weeks before enrollment, unless the patient has recovered from the expected toxic effects of such therapy. 11. Treated with antiangiogenic agents (i.e., bevacizumab) within 4 weeks before biopsy. 12. Patients who have developed disease progression while receiving temozolomide treatment are not eligible. 13. Patients with allergy to fluoxetine. 14. Patients with known cardiac disease, predisposing to long QT syndrome. 15. Patients with diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, history of bleeding disorders, history of mania or susceptibility to angle-closure glaucoma. 16. Patients with a history or who develop significant hyponatremia (serum sodium less than 130mmol/L) 17. Patients with a history of bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder. 18. Patients with a history of seizure disorder prior to onset of their primary glioma. 19. Patients who are currently taking or have taken in the past 2 months: Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOI), Pimozide, Thioridazine, Drugs metabolized by the CYP2D6 pathway, Tricyclic Antidepressants, Antipsychotics, Serotonergic Drugs, Triptans, Tryptophan, Anticoagulant drugs (e.g., NSAIDs, aspirin, warfarin), Olanzapine. 20. Patients who demonstrated thrombocytopenia following prior treatment with TMZ (platelets < 50,000/µL)

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.

NCT05634707
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.

Primary Brain Tumor, Brain Tumor, Recurrent
Study Website: View Trial Website
Additional Details

The purpose of this study is to determine whether oral fluoxetine can induce lysosomal stress and enhance Temozolomide (TMZ)-induced cell death in patients diagnosed with recurrent malignant glioma. The primary objective is to determine if fluoxetine increases lysosomal stress in patients with recurrent IDHwt glioma by evaluating LAMP1 expression in tumor samples obtained pre-resection via biopsy and during surgery. Following consent, an optional biopsy may be performed to confirm recurrence of high-grade glioma. Recurrent glioma patients for whom retreatment with TMZ is appropriate and who are able to undergo tumor resection after 1 cycle of temozolomide will be enrolled in this study. Following enrollment, patients will randomly be assigned to (1:2) a study arm: control (n=10) or experimental (n=20). Within the experimental arm, two maintenance dose levels of fluoxetine are planned

  • - 40mg OD (n=10) and 60mg OD (n=10).
Patients randomized to the control arm will receive only 50 mg/m2 TMZ daily for 7 days (Days 6-12), followed by resection 21 days after initiation of the TMZ cycle. Patients randomized to the experimental arm will receive fluoxetine at 20 mg/day for 5 days (loading initiation dose) followed by a maintenance dose of 40 mg/day starting on Day 6 (dose level 1) or 60 mg/day starting on Day 6 (dose level 2) This truncated initiation period of fluoxetine has been discussed with the psychiatry department at Duke University Hospital and has been judged to be safe given the additional monitoring precautions that are being included as part of this study. On Day 6, patients will start treatment with 50 mg/m2 TMZ daily for 7 days (Days 6-12). Resection will occur 21 days after initiation of the TMZ cycle on Day 27. Patients will remain on their assigned dose of fluoxetine through resection and follow-up, as long as the treatment regimen is tolerated. The change between baseline and post-resection will be computed to determine if co-administration of fluoxetine and TMZ will result in increased expression of LAMP1 on resected glioma cells. Within each group, a Wilcoxon signed-rank test will be conducted to determine if there are significant within group changes. A Kruskal-Wallis test will compare the three patient groups (Control Group, Fluoxetine Group [low-dose], Fluoxetine Group [high-dose]) with respect to these changes. If data suggests that parametric method are appropriate, then analysis of variance and a paired t-test will be conducted. Risks commonly associated with fluoxetine include nausea, diarrhea, lack of appetite, dry mouth, upset stomach or heartburn, constipation, insomnia, anxiety, nervousness, drowsiness, tremor, unusual dreams, headaches, dizziness, yawning, swelling of face, low body temperature, sexual dysfunction, rash, hives and itching, sweating, flu-like symptoms, sore throat, stuffy nose, and fever.

Arms & Interventions

Arms

Experimental: Fluoxetine pre-surgery

Patients randomized to the experimental arm will receive fluoxetine at 20 mg/day for 5 days (initiation dose) followed by a maintenance dose of 40 mg/day starting on Day 6 (dose level 1) or 60 mg/day starting on Day 6 (dose level 2).

Active Comparator: Temozolomide pre-surgery

Temozolomide pre-surgery (control) arm will receive 50 mg/m2 temozolomide daily for 7 days (Days 1-7), followed by resection or biopsy 21 days after initiation of the temozolomide cycle.

Interventions

Drug: - Fluoxetine

Patients randomized to the experimental arm will receive fluoxetine 20mg/day for 5 days before escalation to a maintenance dose at day 6. On day 6, patients will start treatment with 50 mg/m2 TMZ daily for 7 days (Days 6-12) Arm 2A (n=10) - Escalate to maintenance 40mg/day fluoxetine on day 6 Arm 2B (n=10) - This arm will be opened as long as there are less than 3/10 dose limiting toxicities in Arm 2A. Patients will escalate to maintenance 60mg/day fluoxetine on day 6

Drug: - Temozolomide

Patients randomized to the control arm will receive 50 mg/m2 temozolomide daily for 7 days (Days 1-7), followed by resection or biopsy 21 days after initiation of the temozolomide cycle.

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.

Durham, North Carolina

Status

Recruiting

Address

The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University

Durham, North Carolina, 27710

Site Contact

Mustafa Khasraw, MBChB, MD, FRCP, FRACP

[email protected]

919-684-5301

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