Gemcitabine Hydrochloride and Tanespimycin in Treating Patients With Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer

A Phase II Trial of 17-N-Allylamino-17-Demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) in Combination With Gemcitabine in Patients With Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

This randomized phase II trial is studying three different schedules of gemcitabine hydrochloride and tanespimycin to see how well they work in treating patients with stage IV pancreatic cancer. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gemcitabine hydrochloride and tanespimycin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more tumor cells

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas; Recurrent Pancreatic Cancer; Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: gemcitabine hydrochloride; Drug: tanespimycin

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To assess the effect of gemcitabine hydrochloride and tanespimycin (17-AAG) on 6-month survival rate in patients with stage IV pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine the overall survival of these patients. II. To determine the time to disease progression (TTP) in these patients. III. To determine the confirmed response rate and duration of response in these patients.

IV. To determine the time to treatment failure in these patients. V. To determine the adverse events in these patients.

TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine the effects of treatment on molecular targets, such as CDK4, akt, phospho-akt, Hsp90, Hsp70, and CHK1, and correlate these with clinical endpoints, including survival at 6 months, TTP, response rate, and overall survival.

II. To determine the effect of gemcitabine hydrochloride metabolizing enzyme genotype on toxicity, and clinical outcome.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified according to Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (0, 1, or 2). Patients are randomized to 1 of 3 treatment arms.

ARM I: Patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on day 9 of course one.

ARM II: Patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on days 2 and 9 of course one.

ARM III: Patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on day 8 and tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on days 1 and 9 of course one. Beginning with course two (and for all subsequent courses), all patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on days 2 and 9.

Treatment repeats every 3 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Blood samples are collected at baseline and periodically during treatment for pharmacogenetic studies. Tumor tissue samples that are available are also collected for laboratory studies. Samples are analyzed for number of circulating tumor cells, levels of intracellular targets (e.g., CDK4, akt, phospho-akt, Hsp90, Hsp70, and CHK1), single nucleotide DNA polymorphisms, and Vav1 expression. Samples are analyzed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed periodically for up to 2 years.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 21
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Minnesota
    • Rochester, Minnesota, United States, 55905
      • Mayo Clinic

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Histologically or cytologically confirmed pancreatic adenocarcinoma

  • Clinical stage IV disease
• No known brain metastases
• ECOG performance status 0-2
• Life expectancy ≥ 12 weeks
• Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) ≥ 1,500/mm³
• Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm³
• Total bilirubin normal
• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 2.5 times upper limit of normal (ULN)
• Alkaline phosphatase ≤ 2 times ULN (5 times ULN if liver metastases are present)
• Creatinine normal
• Not pregnant or nursing
• Negative pregnancy test
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

• Ejection fraction > 40% by echocardiogram

  • Patients who received prior anthracyclines must have a normal ejection fraction by echocardiogram
• Corrected QT interval (QTc) < 500 msec
• Pulse oximetry > 88% on room air at rest and after gentle exercise (according to Group Medicare Guidelines)
• No history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to tanespimycin (17-AAG) or gemcitabine hydrochloride
• No known allergy to eggs

• No concurrent uncontrolled illness including, but not limited to, any of the following:

  • Ongoing or active infection
  • Symptomatic congestive heart failure
  • Unstable angina pectoris
  • Cardiac arrhythmia
  • Psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
• No active ischemic heart disease within the past 12 months
• No history of uncontrolled dysrhythmias
• No congenital long QT syndrome
• No left bundle branch block

• No other significant cardiac disease, including any of the following:

  • New York Heart Association class III or IV heart failure
  • Myocardial infarction within the past year
  • Poorly controlled angina
  • Uncontrolled dysrhythmias
  • History of serious ventricular arrhythmia (ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation ≥ 3 beats in a row)
• No clinically significant interstitial lung disease

• No symptomatic pulmonary disease requiring medication, including any of the following:

  • Dyspnea
  • Dyspnea on exertion
  • Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea
  • Significant pulmonary disease requiring oxygen*, including chronic obstructive/restrictive pulmonary disease
• No pulmonary or cardiac symptoms ≥ grade 2
• No history of cardiac or pulmonary toxicity after receiving anthracyclines (e.g., doxorubicin hydrochloride, daunorubicin hydrochloride, mitoxantrone hydrochloride, bleomycin, or vincristine)
• No prior chemotherapy for metastatic disease
• No prior radiotherapy to the chest
• No prior radiotherapy that potentially included the heart in the field (e.g.,mantle radiotherapy)
• More than 3 months since prior adjuvant chemotherapy or chemotherapy for locally advanced disease
• More than 3 weeks since prior radiotherapy
• No concurrent medications that prolong or may prolong QTc
• No concurrent antiarrhythmic drugs
• No concurrent prophylactic colony-stimulating factors
• No other concurrent investigational agents
• No other concurrent anticancer therapy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Arm I (combination chemotherapy); Patients receive 750 mg/m2 gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and 154 mg/m2 tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on day 9 of course one. Beginning with course two (and for all subsequent courses), all patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on days 2 and 9.	Drug: gemcitabine hydrochloride; 750 mg/m2 Given IV; Other Names: Gemzar; gemcitabine; dFdC; difluorodeoxycytidine hydrochloride; Drug: tanespimycin; 154 mg/m2 Given IV; Other Names: 17-AAG; 17-N-Allylamino-17-Demethoxygeldanamycin
EXPERIMENTAL: Arm II (combination chemotherapy); Patients receive 750 mg/m2 gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and 154 mg/m2 tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on days 2 and 9 of course one. Beginning with course two (and for all subsequent courses), all patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on days 2 and 9.	Drug: gemcitabine hydrochloride; 750 mg/m2 Given IV; Other Names: Gemzar; gemcitabine; dFdC; difluorodeoxycytidine hydrochloride; Drug: tanespimycin; 154 mg/m2 Given IV; Other Names: 17-AAG; 17-N-Allylamino-17-Demethoxygeldanamycin
EXPERIMENTAL: Arm III (combination chemotherapy); Patients receive 750 mg/m2 gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on day 8 and 154 mg/m2 tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on days 1 and 9 of course one. Beginning with course two (and for all subsequent courses), all patients receive gemcitabine hydrochloride IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 8 and tanespimycin IV over 1 hour on days 2 and 9.	Drug: gemcitabine hydrochloride; 750 mg/m2 Given IV; Other Names: Gemzar; gemcitabine; dFdC; difluorodeoxycytidine hydrochloride; Drug: tanespimycin; 154 mg/m2 Given IV; Other Names: 17-AAG; 17-N-Allylamino-17-Demethoxygeldanamycin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Six Month Survival Rate	A patient that is alive at 6 months is considered a treatment "success". Estimated by the number of successes divided by the total number of evaluable patients. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals for the true success proportion will be calculated according to the approach of Duffy and Santner.	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall Survival Time	Overall Survival time is defined as the time from registration to death due to any cause. Estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier.	Assessed up to 2 years from registration
Time to Disease Progression	The time to disease progression is defined as the time from registration to the time of confirmed disease progression using the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST). Estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier. Complete Response (CR): Disappearance of all target lesions and normalization of tumor biomarkers (CA 19-9 or CEA). Partial Response (PR): At least a 30% decrease in the sum of largest dimension(LD) of target lesions taking as reference the baseline sum LD.	Time from registration to documentation of disease progression, assessed up to 2 years
Confirmed Response Rate	A confirmed response is defined as a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) observed in two consecutive evaluations at least 4 weeks apart using the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST). Estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier. Complete Response (CR): Disappearance of all target lesions and normalization of tumor biomarkers (CA 19-9 or CEA). Partial Response (PR): At least a 30% decrease in the sum of largest dimension(LD) of target lesions taking as reference the baseline sum LD.Evaluated using RECIST criteria.	2 consecutive evaluations at least 4 weeks, up to 6 courses of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Robert McWilliams, Mayo Clinic

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2008
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): January 1, 2011
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 19, 2007
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 19, 2007
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): December 20, 2007

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): July 25, 2014
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 23, 2014
• Last Verified: September 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Carcinoma; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Endocrine System Diseases; Digestive System Neoplasms; Endocrine Gland Neoplasms; Pancreatic Diseases; Adenocarcinoma; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Anti-Infective Agents; Antiviral Agents; Enzyme Inhibitors; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; Antimetabolites; Antineoplastic Agents; Immunosuppressive Agents; Immunologic Factors; Gemcitabine
• Other Study ID Numbers: NCI-2009-00156; N01CM17104 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); MC0542; CDR0000445454 (REGISTRY: PDQ (Physician Data Query))