Salvage Therapy With High/Low Methotrexate for Loss of Response to Infliximab Dose Escalation

October 16, 2018 updated by: Prof. Arie Levine

Phase 4, Open Lable Non Randomized un Controlled Study. Salvage Therapy With High/Low Methotrexate for Loss of Response to Infliximab Dose Escalation

The goal of the present study is to evaluate if addition of methotrexate can restore remission after loss of response to infliximab after dose escalation.

another goal is to evaluate if low dose methotrexate can maintain remission achieved by regular dose methotrexate by 6 months.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Background: IFX mono-therapy became the method of choice for treatment in pediatric CD, though this strategy has been called into question due to frequent loss of response to IFX requiring dose escalation of IFX or decreased intervals of IFX( up to 40% during the first year) (1). This loss of response has been attributed to development of ATIs and low trough levels of IFX, which can develop after the first infusions. This loss of response will often occur in patients with prior azathioprine exposure (2,3,4).

Currently , the first step during loss of response to infliximab in children is dose escalation either by decreasing the interval between infusions or doubling the dose. However, patients with persistent antibodies or high titers are likely to fail even with dose escalation. The Sonic trial clearly demonstrated that combination therapy with a thiopurine may be more effective than Anti TNF alpha monotherapy (2). Ben Horin et al demonstrated that antidrug antibodies can be reversed and improved anti TNF trough levels obtained by adding an immunomodulator to failed monotherapy due to an antidrug antibody (3).

We have previously shown that in patients with a previous loss of response to two biologics leading to cessation of both biologics can respond to reinduction with adalimumab and methotrexate . Among 12 patients (10 children and two adults) , 6 obtained complete remission. We subsequently lowered the does in several patients without loss of response, and tried stopping methotrexate in 3 patients. All 3 patients relapsed within months of complete cessation of methorexate.In this previous study we took two separate actions that restored response, re-induction and methotrexate therapy. In the current proposal we will take patients that are on escalated therapy and just add methotrexate, in order to evaluate if adding methotrexate once weekly can restore response after loss of response to infliximab after failed dose escalation.It is important to note that methotrexate does not increase the risk of malignancy as co-therapy as far as we know.

Methods: It is a prospective open label phase 4, non randomized uncontrolled study in a small cohort of patients to evaluate if addition of methotrexate can restore remission after loss of response to infliximab after dose escalation in paediatric patients.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

22

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Holon, Israel, 58100
        • The E. Wolfson.Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

8 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Informed consent
  2. Established diagnosis of Crohns disease.
  3. Age: 8 - 18 years ( inclusive)
  4. Active disease PCDAI >10 at least two weeks after infusion.
  5. On Infliximab with at least 3 prior infusions, and still active despite a decreased dose interval ( ≤ 6 weeks) or increased dose of infliximab (≥7.5 mg/kg /dose q 8 weeks).

Comment: Patients who are on combination therapy with a stable thiopurine>8 weeks can also be included ( thiopurine will be stopped at enrollment).

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Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who are primary non responders after first two doses 2. Patients who have had to stop infliximab due to side effects. 3. Patients with known intolerance to methotrexate. 4. Elevated ALT >1.5 normal. 5. Pregnancy. 6. Patients who have insulin-dependent diabetes 7. Patients who have significantly impaired renal function 8. Current bacterial infection/ inflammation including Hepatitis B or C and Pneumonia.

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Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Addition of methotrexate
Addition SC methotrexate at 15 mg/m2, not to exceed 25 mg/m2 . Patients in remission after 4 weeks will reduce their dose by halve. patients not in remission will continue the full dose until 12 weeks.
Infliximab therapy after escalation. SC methotrexate at 15 mg/m2 , not to exceed 25 mg/m2 per week for 4 weeks. Patients in remission after 4 weeks reduce their dose by halve. patients not in remission will continue the full dose until 12 weeks.
Other Names:
  • Rheumatrex
  • Trexall

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
remission
Time Frame: at 12 weeks
remission without additional therapy.
at 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Remission
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Trough levels
Time Frame: week 12
week 12
ATIs
Time Frame: week 12
week 12

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Arie Levine, MD, Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, The E. Wolfson MC, Tel-Aviv University, Holon, Israel

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 9, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

October 9, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 30, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 20, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

October 21, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 18, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 16, 2018

Last Verified

October 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 0143-14-WOMC

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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