Recombinant EphB4-HSA Fusion Protein and Azacitidine or Decitabine for Relapsed or Refractory Myelodysplastic Syndrome, Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia, or Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients Previously Treated With a Hypomethylating Agent

A Pilot/Safety Study of sEphB4-HSA in Combination With a Hypomethylating Agent (HMA) for Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and AML Previously Treated With a Hypomethylating Agent

This trial studies the side effects of recombinant EphB4-HSA fusion protein when given together with azacitidine or decitabine in treating patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, or acute myeloid leukemia that has come back or has not responded to previous treatment with a hypomethylating agent. Recombinant EphB4-HSA fusion protein may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Hypomethylating agents, such as azacitidine and decitabine, slow down genes that promote cell growth and can kill cells that are dividing rapidly. Giving recombinant EphB4-HSA fusion protein together with azacitidine or decitabine may work better in treating patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, or acute myeloid leukemia.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Acute Myeloid Leukemia Arising From Previous Myelodysplastic Syndrome; Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukemia; Previously Treated Myelodysplastic Syndrome; Recurrent Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Myelodysplasia-Related Changes; Recurrent Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis; Drug: Azacitidine; Drug: Decitabine; Other: Pharmacological Study; Biological: Recombinant EphB4-HSA Fusion Protein

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To describe the toxicities and assess the tolerability of recombinant EphB4-HSA fusion protein (sEphB4-HSA) in combination with an approved hypomethylating agent (HMA) among patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) who are refractory to or have lost their response to one or more HMAs and among patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) previously treated with a HMA.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To measure the expression of EphB4 among marrow and peripheral blood blasts in patients with MDS & AML at baseline and over the course of treatment.

II. To measure the expression of immune check-point activating ligands (such as PD-L1, PD-L2) on marrow and peripheral blood blasts in patients treated with HMA and sEphB4-HSA in combination.

III. To profile immune subsets (activated and exhausted T cells, natural killer [NK] cells, T regulatory cells, and myeloid derived suppressor cells) in the peripheral blood and marrow in patients treated with HMA and sEphB4-HSA in combination.

IV. To assess efficacy of sEphB4-HSA in combination with an HMA as manifest by International Working Group (IWG) response criteria, as well as time to development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in patients with MDS and time to progression.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive recombinant EphB4-HSA fusion protein intravenously (IV) over 60 minutes on days 1 and 15. Patients also receive azacitidine IV or subcutaneously (SC) on days 1-7 or days 1-5 and 8-9, or decitabine IV on days 1-5. Administration of recombinant EphB4-HSA fusion protein occurs before or after the HMA (not concurrently). Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 12 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 6 months.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 7
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90033
      • USC / Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult subjects with advanced MDS requiring treatment with HMA and either refractory to at least 4 cycles or progressing after previously documented response

  • Patient must be treated within 6 months of the last HMA treatment and must be willing to be treated with the same agent they last received on this study
  • Prior treatment with novel HMA analog of decitabine on clinical trial is allowed; in such cases, decitabine will be used as the standard of care agent
• MDS classified as intermediate 1-risk or high risk according to the international prognostic scoring system (IPSS) or revised-IPSS
• Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML)

• Acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) that was previously treated with HMA and is unfit for intensive chemotherapy

  • Patient must be within 6 months of prior treatment with HMA and must be willing to be treated with the same agent on this study

• During the 8 weeks prior to inclusion in study, subjects must have a baseline bone marrow examination including all of the following:

  • Cytomorphology to confirm bone marrow blasts
  • Cytogenetics
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) status 0-2
• Subject is able to understand and willing to comply with protocol requirements and instructions
• Subject has signed and dated informed consent
• Total bilirubin (except for Gilbert's syndrome) =< 2.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN)
• Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) =< 3 x ULN
• Creatinine =< 2.5 x ULN

• Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) and male patients with WOCBP as partners must be using an adequate method of contraception to avoid pregnancy throughout the study and for up to 12 weeks after the last dose of the investigational agent; subject is practicing an acceptable method of contraception (documented in case report form [CRF]); WOCBP include any female who has experienced menarche and who has not undergone successful surgical sterilization (hysterectomy, bilateral tubal ligation, or bilateral oophorectomy) or is not postmenopausal; post menopause is defined as:

  • Amenorrhea >= 12 consecutive months without another cause or
• For women with irregular menstrual periods and on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), a documented serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level > 35 mIU/mL
• Women who are using oral contraceptives, other hormonal contraceptives (vagina products, skin patches, or implanted or injectable products), or mechanical products such as an intrauterine device or barrier methods (diaphragm, condoms, spermicides) to prevent pregnancy, or are practicing abstinence or where their partner is sterile (e.g., vasectomy) should be considered to be of childbearing potential
• WOCBP must have a negative serum test (minimum sensitivity 25 IU/L or equivalent units of human chorionic gonadotropin [HCG]) within 72 hours prior to the start of investigational product
• Patients with uncontrolled hypertension

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with AML whose white blood cell count exceeds 25,000
• Corrected QT (QTc) (Fridericia Correction Formula) > 480 on electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Patients whose electrolytes (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium) are abnormal or cannot be normalized with standard intervention on the day of treatment with study drug
• Patients who are actively receiving any other anticancer therapy
• Patients with a history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to HMAs
• Patients with a diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia
• Patients with short life expectancy (less than 3 months) due to comorbidity other than MDS
• Female subjects who are nursing or pregnant (positive serum or urine Beta-human chorionic gonadotropin [B-hCG] pregnancy test)
• Patients with current alcohol or drug abuse
• Patients who have received treatment with an investigational drug within 30 days preceding the first dose of study medication
• Patients with uncontrolled inter-current illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
• Patients infected with hepatitis B, C or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), unless they are on stable and effective antiviral treatment
• Patients with a condition requiring systemic treatment with either corticosteroids (> 10 mg daily prednisone equivalent) or other immunosuppressive medications within 14 days of randomization; inhaled or topical steroids and adrenal replacement steroid doses > 10mg daily prednisone equivalent, are permitted in the absence of uncontrolled autoimmune disease
• MEDICATION-RELATED EXCLUSION CRITERIA
• Patients with uncontrolled hypertension (HTN) (> 160/90) will not be admitted onto the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Treatment (sEphB4-HSA, azacitidine, decitabine); Patients receive recombinant EphB4-HSA fusion protein intravenously (IV) over 60 minutes at a dose of 15mg/kg on days 1 and 15 of a 28-day cycle. Patients also receive azacitidine IV or subcutaneously (SC) at a dose of 75mg/m2 on days 1-7 or days 1-5 and 8-9 on a 28-day cycle, or decitabine IV at a dose of 20 mg/m2 on days 1-5 on a 28-day cycle. Administration of recombinant EphB4-HSA fusion protein occurs before or after the HMA (not concurrently). Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 12 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis; Correlative studies; Drug: Azacitidine; Given IV or SC; Other Names: 5 AZC; 5-AC; 5-Azacytidine; 5-AZC; Azacytidine; Azacytidine, 5-; Ladakamycin; Mylosar; U-18496; Vidaza; Drug: Decitabine; Given IV; Other Names: 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine; Dacogen; Decitabine for Injection; Deoxyazacytidine; Dezocitidine; Other: Pharmacological Study; Correlative studies; Biological: Recombinant EphB4-HSA Fusion Protein; Given IV; Other Names: sEphB4-HSA

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Assessment of Toxicity to Hypomethylating Agent (HMA)	Toxicity will be assessed and graded according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version (v)4.0, after each cycle.	Up to 13 months (up to 12 cycles + 30 days) from the start of treatment.
Overall Response Defined as the Occurrence of Complete Response, Marrow Complete Response, Partial Response, or Hematological Improvement	Responses assessed by the International Working Group (IWG) 2023 criteria are a set of standardized guidelines used to assess treatment response in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). These criteria are designed to evaluate a patient's response based on hematologic improvements, such as changes in blood counts and transfusion independence.	Up to 56 days (2 courses of protocol treatment)
Time to Death From Any Cause	Will be displayed with Kaplan-Meier plots.	up to 1 year (12 cycles)
Time to Disease Progression	This will be measured from the start of treatment to the first disease progression or recurrence. Patients who are progression free at the time of last follow-up will be censored; death prior to progression will be counted as an event.	up to 1 year (12 cycles)
Tolerability Defined as the Ability to Complete Two Courses of Treatment Without the Occurrence of Dose Limiting Toxicity and the Ability to Begin Course 3 Within 4 Weeks and Graded According to the NCI CTCAE v4.0	Will be tabulated and reported according to grade, type, cycle, and attribution.	Up to 3 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Change in the Percent of Bone Marrow and Peripheral Blood Blasts Expressing EphB4 Assessed by Flow Cytometry	At Baseline, then up to 3 years.
T-cell Subset Profile Assessed by Flow Cytometry	At Baseline, then up to 2 years.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California
• Collaborators: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Casey O'Connell, MD, University of Southern California

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 20, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 19, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): March 27, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 25, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 8, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): May 10, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 8, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 5, 2026
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Neoplasms; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Hematologic Diseases; Leukemia, Myeloid; Myelodysplastic-Myeloproliferative Diseases; Bone Marrow Diseases; Leukemia; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Hemic and Lymphatic Diseases; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute; Leukemia, Myelomonocytic, Chronic; Organic Chemicals; Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds; Therapeutics; Drug Administration Routes; Drug Therapy; Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides; Cytidine; Pyrimidine Nucleosides; Pyrimidines; Aza Compounds; Nucleosides; Ribonucleosides; Decitabine; Azacitidine; Injections
• Other Study ID Numbers: 9L-16-6 (Other Identifier: USC / Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center); NCI-2017-00623 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program)); P30CA014089 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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.: No