A Phase IB 2 Dose Trial of IRS-1 HSV C134 (IND 17296) Administered Intratumorally in Patients With Recurrent Malignant Glioma

The purpose of this study is to determine how safe and how well-tolerated the experimental study drug, C134 is when administered twice into the brain where the tumor is located. This is a Phase IB 2 dosing study. All the patients who take part in this study will receive the same type of experimental treatment. There is no "placebo" in this study. The patient will receive the dose of C134 administered, which will be added in the tumor infiltrated tissue in the area of the resection cavity. Anywhere from 4-12 patients are expected to take part in the study; the final number will depend on the safety results.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Glioblastoma; Astrocytoma; Astrocytoma, Grade III; Astrocytoma, Grade IV; Gliosarcoma, Adult; Gliosarcoma of Brain; Glioblastoma (GBM)
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: C134; Drug: C134

Detailed Description

This study is divided into the following sections, also called phases: the Initial Screening Phase, Initial Treatment Phase, Initial Treatment Follow-up Phase, 2nd Treatment Screening Phase, 2nd Treatment Phase, 2nd Treatment Follow-up Phase. Before the subject can participate in the study, tests will be performed to make sure that the subject qualifies for the study. This is called the Initial Screening Phase. If the subject qualifies for the study they will then enter the Initial Treatment Phase which is the phase where they will receive the study drug and then enter the Initial Follow-up Phase. If there are signs of progression, the subject will be entered into the 2nd Treatment Phase.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 12
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Alabama
    • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35294
      • The University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed recurrent/progressive glioblastoma multiforme, Grade 3 or Grade 4 astrocytoma, or gliosarcoma.
• Prior therapy. Patients must have failed a course of external beam radiotherapy to the brain at least 4 weeks prior to enrollment.
• Age ≥18 years. Because no dosing or adverse event data are currently available on the use of C134 in patients <18 years of age, children are excluded from this study but will be eligible for future pediatric phase 1 single-agent trials.
• Karnofsky Performance Status ≥70%.
• Life expectancy of greater than 4 weeks.

• Patients must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below:

  • Leukocytes ≥ 3,000/ μl
  • absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1,500/ μl
  • platelets ≥ 100,000/ μl
  • total bilirubin within normal institutional limits
  • AST(SGOT)/ALT(SGPT) ≤ 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
  • Creatinine within normal institutional limits or creatinine clearance≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal.
• Residual lesion must be ≥1.0 cm in diameter as determined by MRI.
• The effects of C134 on the developing human fetus are unknown. For this reason, women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception prior to study entry and for the first six months after receiving C134. Because it is currently unknown if C134 can be transmitted by sexual contact, a barrier method of birth control should be employed. Should a woman become pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately.
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
• Females of childbearing potential must not be pregnant; this will be confirmed by a negative serum pregnancy test within 14 days prior to starting study treatment.
• Steroid use is allowed as long as dose has not increased within 2 weeks of scheduled initial C134 administration. Whenever possible, the patient should be on a steroid dose that is equivalent to a dexamethasone dose of ≤ 2mg daily at study entry and initial treatment.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have had chemotherapy, cytotoxic therapy, immunotherapy or gene therapy within 6 weeks prior to entering the study, surgical resection within 4 weeks prior to entering the study, or have received experimental viral therapy at any time (e.g., adenovirus, retrovirus or herpesvirus* protocol unless approved by DSMB). Also, those who have not recovered from adverse events due to therapeutic interventions administered more than 4 weeks earlier.
• Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents (except C134 per protocol).
• Enhancing tumor diameter larger than 5.5 cm for initial treatment or subsequent treatment if only stereotactic biopsy is planned. If resection is planned at the time of second treatment, there is no limit to tumor size at that time. In other words, if the tumor enlarges from less than 5.5 cm to larger than 5.5 cm during the interval between treatment one and two, as long as a resection is planned along with treatment two, no limit in size is present (Note: this size limitation has been derived from experience with prior oHSV therapeutics in malignant glioma).
• History of allergic reactions or CTCAE version 5.0 Grade IV toxicity attributed to C134 or compounds of similar biologic composition to C134.
• Tumor involvement which would require ventricular, brainstem, basal ganglia, occipital lobe, or posterior fossa inoculation or would require access through a ventricle in order to deliver treatment. Additionally, patients with bilateral enhancing tumor are not eligible.
• Prior history of encephalitis, multiple sclerosis. Patient with other active CNS infections are also excluded.
• Active oral herpes lesion.
• Concurrent therapy with any drug active against HSV (acyclovir, valaciclovir, penciclovir, famciclovir, ganciclovir, foscarnet, cidofovir).
• Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or any other medical condition that precludes surgery. Also, psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
• Required steroid increase within 2 weeks of initial scheduled C134 administration. When possible, the patient should be on a dexamethasone equivalent dose of ≤ 2mg daily at the time of treatment.
• Known history of allergic reaction to IV contrast material that is not amenable to pre-treatment by UAB protocol.
• Have a pacemaker, ferro-magnetic aneurysm clips, metal infusion pumps, metal or shrapnel fragments, or certain types of stents that preclude MRI.
• Received Bevacizumab (Avastin) therapy within 4 weeks of scheduled C134 administration.

Excluded patient groups:

• Pregnant women are excluded from this study because C134 is a viral oncolytic therapy with unknown potential for teratogenic or abortifacient effects. Because there is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with C134 breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with C134.
• Immune deficient, because patients with immune deficiency will be unable to mount the anticipated immune response underlying this therapeutic rationale, HIV-seropositive patients are excluded from this study. Other treatment studies for this disease that are less dependent on the patients' immune response are more appropriate for HIV-seropositive patients.

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: Initial Treatment; Patients will undergo a contrasted MRI scan to determine the site for stereotactic biopsy. For dose #1, patients will be treated under monitored local anesthesia, or at the surgeon's discretion, under general anesthesia. Patients will then undergo stereotactic biopsy of their tumor. While evidence of radiation damage or necrosis may be present on the frozen section, inoculation with C134 will only proceed if viable, recurrent glioma is also present on the frozen section. The dose level of C134 will be 1 x 105 plaque forming units (pfu). Virus will be inoculated via catheters placed stereotactically in enhancing regions of tumor or immediately adjacent in non-enhancing tumor infiltrated regions at up to 5 different loci (each injection over 2 minutes). Catheters will be removed directly after administration for treatment 1.	Drug: C134; Initial Treatment . C134 Dose #1; Drug: C134; 2nd Treatment. C134 Dose #2
Experimental: 2nd Treatment; Before dose #2 administration, patients will undergo preoperative assessment of their disease status. If they are deemed to have had a complete response (CR), no treatment will be undertaken until there is evidence of a possible recurrence. If this does not occur until after week 16, the patient's situation will be discussed with the DSMB and a decision made about possible second treatment. If the patient has had a partial response or stable disease, and their tumor remains less than 5.5 cm in size, they wil lbe treated with stereotactic biopsy using the same technique described for dose #1 If the patient has suffered progression or peudoprogression, or if in the estimation of the surgeon it is not safe to perform inoculation alone, they will undergo craniotomy for resection of the tumor.	Drug: C134; Initial Treatment . C134 Dose #1; Drug: C134; 2nd Treatment. C134 Dose #2

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Safety of a two dose intracerebral injection of C134 virus	Adverse events will be monitored and any changes in status will be recorded for each patient as outlined in CTCAE v4.0 reporting requirements.	Enrollment - 12 Month

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Time to survival	Patients survival will be recorded (Kaplan-Meier)	Enrollment - 12 Month
Time to progression	Patients will receive contrast-enhanced MRI to monitor progression (changes in tumor volume or tumor enhancement assessed by the iRANO criteria). As indicated in the criteria, biopsy and/or resection may be performed in instances of uncertainty. Determination of time to progression (in months) will be recorded for each patient and median progression-free survival will be calculated for the entire cohort (Kaplan-Meier).	Enrollment - 12 Month
Composition of the white blood cells	White blood cell subset analysis by FACS, as a percent of total white blood cell number.	Enrollment - 12 Month
Measurement of HSV Titer	Detection and quantification of HSV antibody titer via ELISA, pfu/mL.	Enrollment - 12 Month
Measure interferon levels	Intracellular lymphocyte interferon levels will be assessed by FACS analysis ng/mL	Enrollment - 12 Month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: James Markert, MD

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 2, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 24, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 25, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): September 26, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 6, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 31, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Glioblastoma; Glioma; Astrocytoma; Gliosarcoma
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-300013560; HT94252310805 (Other Identifier: DoD)

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.: No