Ketoconazole and Dexamethasone in Prostate Cancer (Keto/Dex)

An Endocrinologically and Pharmacologically Directed Trial of Ketoconazole and Corticosteroids in Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer

This is an open label, phase II, single center trial of ketoconazole/dexamethasone to determine if the administration of ketoconazole/dexamethasone, after disease progression with ketoconazole/hydrocortisone slows or reverses disease progression in men with progressive prostate cancer.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Prostate Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Ketoconazole; Drug: Hydrocortisone; Drug: Dexamethasone

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 32
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • San Francisco, California, United States, 94115
      • University of California, San Francisco

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the prostate.
• Testosterone < 50 ng/dL. Participants must continue primary androgen deprivation with an luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) analogue if they have not undergone orchiectomy.

• Progressive non-metastatic or metastatic disease after androgen deprivation. Participants must have EITHER:

  1. Progression as defined by RECIST criteria. OR
  2. Progressive PSA documented within 4 weeks of enrollment. PSA evidence for progressive prostate cancer consists of a PSA level of at least 5 ng/ml which has risen on at least 2 successive occasions, at least 2 weeks apart. If the confirmatory PSA value is less than the first documented rising PSA value, then an additional test for rising PSA will be required to document progression.

• Participants who are receiving an antiandrogen as part of primary androgen ablation must demonstrate disease progression following discontinuation of antiandrogen.

  1. Disease progression after antiandrogen withdrawal is defined as 2 consecutive rising PSA values, obtained at least 2 weeks apart, or documented osseous or soft tissue progression.
  2. For participants receiving flutamide, at least one of the PSA values must be obtained 4 weeks or more after flutamide discontinuation.
  3. For participants receiving bicalutamide (Casodex) or nilutamide, at least one of the PSA values must be obtained 6 weeks or more after antiandrogen discontinuation.
• Karnofsky Performance Status ≥ 60%.
• Participants receiving any other hormonal therapy, including any dose of megestrol acetate (Megace), Proscar (finasteride), any herbal product known to decrease PSA levels (e.g., Saw Palmetto and PC-SPES), or any systemic corticosteroid must discontinue the agent for at least 4 weeks prior to enrollment.
• Participants on stable doses of bisphosphonates may continue on this medication; further, patients may initiate bisphosphonate therapy at the time of ketoconazole initiation.
• Prior radiation therapy completed ≥ 4 weeks prior to enrollment.
• Liver function tests (alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and Bilirubin) must be within normal limits.
• Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) >1500/µl, Platelet count > 100,00/µl, Creatinine <1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN), Hemoglobin > 8 mg/dl.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Prior chemotherapy for prostate cancer is not allowed with the exception of cases in which chemotherapy has been administered in a neoadjuvant or adjuvant fashion AND >1 year has elapsed since the administration of this therapy.
• No prior ketoconazole, abiraterone, aminoglutethimide or corticosteroids for treatment of progressive prostate cancer.
• No supplements or complementary medicines/botanicals are permitted while on protocol therapy, except for any combination of the following: (conventional multivitamin supplements, selenium, lycopene, soy supplements) No prior radiopharmaceuticals (strontium, samarium) within 8 weeks prior to enrollment.
• No "currently active" second malignancy, other than non-melanoma skin cancer.
• No serious intercurrent infections or nonmalignant medical illnesses that are uncontrolled.
• No psychiatric illnesses/social situations that would limit compliance
• No active or uncontrolled autoimmune disease.
• No adrenal insufficiency as demonstrated by a baseline adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation test demonstrating a peak cortisol >18 µg/dL.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Ketoconazole + Hydrocortisone; po = oral tid = 3 times per day qam = every morning qom = every evening bid = twice daily 1 cycle = 28 days; Ketoconazole: 200mg during first week of study (run-in phase), then 400mg po tid; Hydrocortisone 20mg po qam and 10mg po qpm: If participant has ≥ 30% Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decline at 12 week evaluation, treatment continues until progressive disease (by RECIST criteria OR by Prostate Specific Antigen Working Group (PSAWG) criteria) is documented. After that, drug will be discontinued. If participant has < 30% PSA decline at 12 week evaluation, participant goes off study.	Drug: Ketoconazole; 200mg during first week of study (run-in phase), then 400mg po tid; Other Names: Ketoconazole Oral; Drug: Hydrocortisone; Hydrocortisone 20mg po qam and 10mg po qpm If participant has ≥30% PSA decline at 12 week evaluation, treatment continues until progressive disease (by RECIST criteria OR by PSAWG criteria) is documented. After that, drug will be discontinued. If participant has <30% PSA decline, patient goes off study.
Experimental: Ketoconazole + Dexamethasone; Ketoconazole: 400mg po tid; Dexamethasone 0.5mg po bid: If ≥ 30% PSA decline (Prostate-specific antigen) at 12 week evaluation, administration starts when disease progression (by RECIST criteria OR by PSAWG criteria) is documented.	Drug: Ketoconazole; 200mg during first week of study (run-in phase), then 400mg po tid; Other Names: Ketoconazole Oral; Drug: Dexamethasone; Dexamethasone 0.5mg po bid If ≥ 30% PSA decline (Prostate-specific antigen) at 12 week evaluation, administration starts when disease progression (by RECIST criteria OR by PSAWG criteria) is documented.; Other Names: Dexamethasone Oral

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants Who Achieved a Second Decline in Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Following Progression on First Regimen	The number of participants who experience a ≥30% decline in PSA between the time of first progression on ketoconazole and hydrocortisone and eight weeks after dexamethasone therapy was initiated.	Up to 5 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Median Change Over Time in Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone (ACTH) Levels for Participants Taking Ketoconazole/Hydrocortisone	Nonparametric Wilcoxon test for matched pairs will be used to test the difference in ACTH levels from baseline until the time of disease progression for participants taking ketoconazole/hydrocortisone for participants with evaluable laboratory values.	Up to 5 years
Relationship of ACTH to the Duration of Castration Prior to Treatment With Ketoconazole/Hydrocortisone and With Response	The Spearman rank correlation will be calculated to explore the relationship between the baseline ACTH level and the duration of castration prior to the start of any ketoconazole therapy	Up to 2 years
Change in Testosterone Levels Over Time for Participants on Dexamethasone	For PSA responders to ketoconazole/ hydrocortisone continuing with dexamethasone treatment after initial disease progression, the overall pattern of testosterone levels will be investigated with nonparametric methods for statistical analyses. This will include Friedman's analysis of variance method using ranks for repeated measures. A key comparison using the Wilcoxon test for matched pairs will investigate the change in testosterone from progression #1 to progression #2.	Up to 5 years
Change in Estrodiol Levels Over Time for Participants on Dexamethasone	For PSA responders to ketoconazole/ hydrocortisone continuing with dexamethasone treatment after initial disease progression, the overall pattern of estrodiol levels will be investigated with nonparametric methods for statistical analyses. This will include Friedman's analysis of variance method using ranks for repeated measures. A key comparison using the Wilcoxon test for matched pairs will investigate the change in estrodiol from progression #1 to progression #2.	Up to 5 years
Change in Serum Adrenal Androgen (AA) Levels Over Time for Participants on Dexamethasone Over Time	For PSA responders to ketoconazole/ hydrocortisone continuing with dexamethasone treatment after initial disease progression, the overall pattern of AA levels will be investigated with nonparametric methods for statistical analyses. This will include Friedman's analysis of variance method using ranks for repeated measures. A key comparison using the Wilcoxon test for matched pairs will investigate the change in AA levels from progression #1 to progression #2.	Up to 5 years
Change in Cortisol Levels Over Time for Participants on Dexamethasone Over Time	For PSA responders to ketoconazole/ hydrocortisone continuing with dexamethasone treatment after initial disease progression, the overall pattern of cortisol levels will be investigated with nonparametric methods for statistical analyses. This will include Friedman's analysis of variance method using ranks for repeated measures. A key comparison using the Wilcoxon test for matched pairs will investigate the change in cortisol levels from progression #1 to progression #2.	Up to 5 years
Change in Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Levels Over Time for Participants on Dexamethasone Over Time	For PSA responders to ketoconazole/ hydrocortisone continuing with dexamethasone treatment after initial disease progression, the overall pattern of DHEA levels will be investigated with nonparametric methods for statistical analyses. This will include Friedman's analysis of variance method using ranks for repeated measures. A key comparison using the Wilcoxon test for matched pairs will investigate the change in DHEA levels from progression #1 to progression #2.	Up to 5 years
Change in Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEA-S) Levels Over Time for Participants on Dexamethasone Over Time	For PSA responders to ketoconazole/ hydrocortisone continuing with dexamethasone treatment after initial disease progression, the overall pattern of DHEA-S levels will be investigated with nonparametric methods for statistical analyses. This will include Friedman's analysis of variance method using ranks for repeated measures. A key comparison using the Wilcoxon test for matched pairs will investigate the change in DHEA-S levels from progression #1 to progression #2.	Up to 5 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Terence Friedlander, MD, University of California, San Francisco

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 11, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 11, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): October 9, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 17, 2009
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 18, 2009
• First Posted (Estimate): December 21, 2009

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 29, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 12, 2020
• Last Verified: June 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Dexamethasone; Ketoconazole
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Urogenital Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Genital Neoplasms, Male; Prostatic Diseases; Prostatic Neoplasms; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Anti-Infective Agents; Autonomic Agents; Peripheral Nervous System Agents; Enzyme Inhibitors; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Antiemetics; Gastrointestinal Agents; Glucocorticoids; Hormones; Hormones, Hormone Substitutes, and Hormone Antagonists; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; Protease Inhibitors; Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A Inhibitors; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors; Hormone Antagonists; Antifungal Agents; Steroid Synthesis Inhibitors; 14-alpha Demethylase Inhibitors; Dexamethasone; Dexamethasone acetate; BB 1101; Ketoconazole; Hydrocortisone
• Other Study ID Numbers: 09553; NCI-2011-01263 (Registry Identifier: NCI Clinical Trials Reporting Program (CTRP))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: Yes