Epirubicin and Thalidomide in Treating Patients With Liver Cancer

July 17, 2013 updated by: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

A Phase II Study Of Epirubicin And Thalidomide In Unresectable Or Metastatic Hepatocellular Carcinoma

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy such as epirubicin use different ways to stop tumor cells from dividing so they stop growing or die. Thalidomide may stop the growth of hepatocellular (liver) cancer by stopping blood flow to the tumor. Combining epirubicin with thalidomide may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the effectiveness of combining epirubicin with thalidomide in treating patients who have unresectable or metastatic liver cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

OBJECTIVES:

  • Determine the antitumor activity of epirubicin and thalidomide in patients with locally unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma.
  • Determine the toxic effects of this regimen in these patients.

OUTLINE: Patients receive epirubicin on days 1, 8, and 15 and thalidomide on days 1-21. Courses repeat every 28 days.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 12 patients per year will be accrued for this study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

12

Phase

  • Phase 2

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

    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
        • Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center at Dana Farber Cancer Institute
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
        • Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer 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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

  • Diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

    • Locally unresectable or metastatic disease
  • Measurable disease
  • No clinically apparent CNS metastases
  • No carcinomatous meningitis

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

Age

  • Over 18

Performance status

  • ECOG 0-2

Life expectancy

  • At least 12 weeks

Hematopoietic

  • Absolute neutrophil count at least 1,500/mm^3
  • Platelet count at least 75,000/mm^3

Hepatic

  • SGOT no greater than 5 times upper limit of normal
  • Bilirubin no greater than 3.0 mg/dL
  • INR no greater than 1.5*
  • Albumin at least 2.0 g/dL NOTE: *Not required for patients receiving full anticoagulation with warfarin for deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism

Renal

  • Creatinine no greater than 2.0 mg/dL

Cardiovascular

  • No myocardial infarction within the past 6 months
  • LVEF normal by echocardiogram or MUGA

Other

  • Not pregnant or nursing
  • Fertile patients must use effective contraception
  • Willing and able to participate in the System for Thalidomide Education and Prescribing Safety (STEPS) program
  • No uncontrolled serious medical or psychiatric illness
  • No other concurrent uncontrolled malignancy

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

Biologic therapy

  • Not specified

Chemotherapy

  • No more than 1 prior chemotherapy regimen for hepatocellular carcinoma
  • No prior chemoembolization to the liver

Endocrine therapy

  • Not specified

Radiotherapy

  • Not specified

Surgery

  • More than 2 weeks since prior major surgery

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
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Antitumor activity
Toxic effects

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Andrew X. Zhu, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

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

December 1, 2001

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 7, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 8, 2003

First Posted (Estimate)

April 9, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

July 18, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 17, 2013

Last Verified

October 1, 2006

More Information

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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