Leflunomide in Combination With Decitabine for Treatment of Relapsed or Refractory Myelodysplastic Syndromes

April 20, 2026 updated by: Konstantinos Sdrimas, West Virginia University

Phase I/II Study of Leflunomide in Combination With Decitabine for Treatment of Relapsed or Refractory (R/R) Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS)

The goal of this interventional clinical trial is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of leflunomide in combination with decitabine as treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory myelodysplastic syndromes (R/R MDS).

The main question this study aims to answer are to evaluate and estimate the maximum tolerated doses and/or biologically active doses of the combination of leflunomide-decitabine in participants.

Decitabine will be administered at a dose of 20 mg/m2 by continuous intravenous infusion over one hour repeated daily for 5 days with repeating cycle every 4 weeks. Leflunomide is administered orally at 10 to 20 mg once daily (without a loading dose) for 14 to 21 days, as part of a 28-day treatment cycle in adult subjects with R/R MDS. After 12 cycles (study duration) responding patients can continue progression with the assigned doses.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a phase I/II dose-escalation trial to estimate the activity of leflunomide in combination with decitabine for treatment of relapsed or refractory MDS. Leflunomide will be administered orally daily with decitabine IV for 5 days as part of a 28-day treatment cycle in adult subjects with R/R MDS. Patients who have been previously treated with decitabine will be eligible. The trial will consist of dose escalation to evaluate safety and tolerability of leflunomide in combination with decitabine. There will be no intra-patient dose escalation or reduction. In the event of an RLT, one or both drugs (leflunomide or decitabine) could be withheld at the discretion of the treating physician and on the basis of the expected adverse event. The period for determination of RLT will be from the first day of treatment until 30 days after receiving the first dose of leflunomide + decitabine. After 12 cycles (study duration) responding patients can continue progression with the assigned doses.

Staging studies, including bone marrow biopsy and complete blood counts will be performed within 45 days prior to study enrollment and again within 30 days after completing Cycle 3, Cycle 6, and Cycle 12 and within 30 days of discontinuing study treatment. A repeat bone marrow biopsy will be performed at the end of the study (Cycle 12). Patients will be followed every 3 months for 2 years after completion of study.

Study assessments will also include monitoring of all toxicities and adverse events. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE), version 5.0, will be used for grading adverse events and all toxicities

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

26

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • West Virginia
      • Morgantown, West Virginia, United States, 26506
        • Recruiting
        • West Virginia University Cancer Institute

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patient has pathologically confirmed diagnosis of MDS

  • Patient has currently measurable disease meeting the following criteria:

    • Bone marrow biopsy with more than 5% blasts, AND
    • Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) less than 1,000/mcL, and/or platelet count less than 100,000/mcL and/or hemoglobin levels less than 10g/dL
  • Patient has received one prior treatment with a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (DNMTi), also commonly called hypomethylating agent (HMA). Patients whose MDS has IDH1/IDH2 mutations should have received at least one available IDH1/IDH2 inhibitor
  • Patient has an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status less than or equal to 2

  • Patient has the following required baseline laboratory data (eligibility can be based on local lab results):

    • Total serum bilirubin level less than or equal to 2 times ULN
    • Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) greater than or equal to 45 mL/min/1.73 m2
  • Patients who have undergone alloHSCT are eligible if they are more than 28 days post stem cell infusion, have no evidence of GVHD > Grade 1, and are more than a week off all immunosuppressive therapy
  • If a female of childbearing potential, the patient has a negative serum or urine pregnancy test result within 7 days prior to the first dose of treatment. Women of non-childbearing potential are those who are postmenopausal greater than one year or who have had a bilateral tubal ligation or hysterectomy
  • If female of childbearing potential or a male patient, patient agrees to use an effective contraceptive method from the time of informed consent, during the course of the study, and for 3 months following the last dose of treatment
  • Patient understands and voluntarily signs the written informed consent prior to any study-specific procedures. A copy of the signed informed consent form will be retained by the treating institution

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients receiving any other investigational agents, or concurrent chemotherapy or immunotherapy
  • Patients with progression to acute myeloid leukemia
  • Patients with other malignancies requiring systemic chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy in the last four weeks
  • Patients with uncontrolled bacterial, viral or fungal infections (undergoing appropriate treatment and with progression of clinical symptoms)
  • Patients with active or latent tuberculosis
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that per Principal Investigator's judgment would limit compliance with study requirements
  • Females who are pregnant or breast feeding
  • Any other clinical conditions that in the opinion of the investigator would make the subject unsuitable for the study

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Leflunomide + Decitabine Treatment

Participants will receive combination treatment for 12 cycles consisting of 28 days. Utilizing a conventional 3+3 design, Decitabine will be at a dose of 20 mg/m2 and will be administered by intravenous infusion over 1 hour daily for 5 days each 28-day cycle. Leflunomide will have a dose escalation schedule starting at (Level +1) as follows:

Dose Escalation (Level -2): Leflunomide 10mg once daily by mouth x 14 days/cycle (Level -1): Leflunomide 10mg once daily by mouth x 21 days/cycle (Level +1): Leflunomide 20mg once daily by mouth x 14 days/cycle (Level +2): Leflunomide 20mg once daily by mouth x 21 days/cycle
Drug: Leflunomide 10mg
Leflunomide 10mg tablet
Other Names:
  • Arava
Drug: Leflunomide 20mg
Leflunomide 20mg tablet
Other Names:
  • Arava
Drug: Decitabine
Decitabine dose of 20 mg/m2
Other Names:
  • Dacogen

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of incidences of regimen limiting toxicities (RLTs)
Time Frame: Date of first treatment up to 13 months

Percentages of incidences of RLTs defined as:

  • A need to reduce the dose of one or both of the treatments
  • Discontinue the treatment due to dose limiting toxicities, AE/SAE
  • Be withheld at the discretion of the treating physician and on the basis of the expected adverse event
Date of first treatment up to 13 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of Complete Remission (CR) Rate (3rd cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days following the end of the 3rd cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of patients achieving complete remission (CR) rate defined as bone marrow (BM): <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist), and peripheral blood (PB): hemoglobin (Hb) ≥10 g/dL, platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L; blasts 0%. Full cytogenetic clearance of baseline abnormalities (complete cytogenetic response)
Within 30 days following the end of the 3rd cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of Complete Remission (CR) Rate (6th cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days following the end of the 6th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of patients achieving complete remission (CR) rate defined as bone marrow (BM): <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist), and peripheral blood (PB): hemoglobin (Hb) ≥10 g/dL, platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L; blasts 0%. Full cytogenetic clearance of baseline abnormalities (complete cytogenetic response)
Within 30 days following the end of the 6th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of Complete Remission (CR) Rate (12th cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days of the end of the 12th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of patients achieving complete remission (CR) rate defined as bone marrow (BM): <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist), and peripheral blood (PB): hemoglobin (Hb) ≥10 g/dL, platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L; blasts 0%. Full cytogenetic clearance of baseline abnormalities (complete cytogenetic response)
Within 30 days of the end of the 12th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
CR + complete remission with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) (3rd cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days following the end of the 3rd cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of participants that achieve CR + complete remission with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) - defined as BM: <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist) and PB: Not meeting criteria for CR or CRL, no Hb threshold required, platelets ≥50 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥0.5 × 109/L; blasts 0%
Within 30 days following the end of the 3rd cycle (cycle = 28 days)
CR + complete remission with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) (6th cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days following the end of the 6th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of participants that achieve CR + complete remission with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) - defined as BM: <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist) and PB: Not meeting criteria for CR or CRL, no Hb threshold required, platelets ≥50 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥0.5 × 109/L; blasts 0%
Within 30 days following the end of the 6th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
CR + complete remission with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) (12th cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days following the end of the 12th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of participants that achieve CR + complete remission with partial hematologic recovery (CRh) - defined as BM: <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist) and PB: Not meeting criteria for CR or CRL, no Hb threshold required, platelets ≥50 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥0.5 × 109/L; blasts 0%
Within 30 days following the end of the 12th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
CR + CRh + complete remission with limited count recovery (CRL) including CR bilineage (CRbi) and CR unilineage (CRuni) (3rd cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days following the end of the 3rd cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of participants that achieve CR + CRh + complete remission with limited count recovery (CRL) including CR bilineage (CRbi) and CR unilineage (CRuni) - defined as BM: <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist), and PB: blasts 0%; CRuni: PB, not meeting CR but only 1 of the following: Hb ≥10 g/dL; platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L; CRbi: PB, not meeting CR but only 2 of the following: Hb ≥10 g/dL; platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L
Within 30 days following the end of the 3rd cycle (cycle = 28 days)
CR + CRh + complete remission with limited count recovery (CRL) including CR bilineage (CRbi) and CR unilineage (CRuni) (6th cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days following the end of the 6th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of participants that achieve CR + CRh + complete remission with limited count recovery (CRL) including CR bilineage (CRbi) and CR unilineage (CRuni) - defined as BM: <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist), and PB: blasts 0%; CRuni: PB, not meeting CR but only 1 of the following: Hb ≥10 g/dL; platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L; CRbi: PB, not meeting CR but only 2 of the following: Hb ≥10 g/dL; platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L
Within 30 days following the end of the 6th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
CR + CRh + complete remission with limited count recovery (CRL) including CR bilineage (CRbi) and CR unilineage (CRuni) (12th cycle)
Time Frame: Within 30 days following the end of the 12th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of participants that achieve CR + CRh + complete remission with limited count recovery (CRL) including CR bilineage (CRbi) and CR unilineage (CRuni) - defined as BM: <5% myeloblasts (dysplasia may persist), and PB: blasts 0%; CRuni: PB, not meeting CR but only 1 of the following: Hb ≥10 g/dL; platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L; CRbi: PB, not meeting CR but only 2 of the following: Hb ≥10 g/dL; platelets ≥100 × 109/L; neutrophils ≥1.0 × 109/L
Within 30 days following the end of the 12th cycle (cycle = 28 days)
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (alloHSCT)
Time Frame: Enrollment up to 3 years
The percentage of participants that proceed to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (alloHSCT).
Enrollment up to 3 years
Overall Survival (OS)
Time Frame: From first treatment up to 3 years
Overall Survival (OS) defined for all patients of the trial; measured from the first day of receiving study drugs on the clinical trial to the date of death by any cause
From first treatment up to 3 years
Event-free survival (EFS)
Time Frame: From first treatment up to 3 years
Event-free survival (EFS) defined for all patients of the trial; measured from the first day of receiving study drugs to the date of treatment failure, or relapse from CR or CRh or CRL, or death by any cause. Treatment is defined as failure to achieve CR or CRh or CRL after at least three cycles of treatment; the date of treatment failure is defined as date of marrow evaluation after the last course of treatment.
From first treatment up to 3 years
Relapse-free survival (RFS) defined only for patients achieving CR or CRh or CRL;
Time Frame: From the date of achievement of a CR/CRh/CRL up to 3 years
Relapse-free survival (RFS) defined only for patients achieving CR or CRh or CRL; measured from the date of achievement of a CR/CRh/CRL until the date of relapse or death from any cause; RFS and disease-free survival (DFS) have been used with the same definition.
From the date of achievement of a CR/CRh/CRL up to 3 years
Progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
Time Frame: Enrollment up to 3 years
Percentage of participant progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
Enrollment up to 3 years
Percentage of Red Blood Cell transfusion independence
Time Frame: Date of first treatment up to 3 years
The percentage of participants that achieve the conversion from red blood cell transfusion dependence to transfusion independence. Transfusion Independence is defined as a period of time, usually 8 weeks, with no transfusion between first dose of study drug and the last dose of study drug + 30 days.
Date of first treatment up to 3 years

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage Clonal Evolution
Time Frame: Enrollment up to 3 years
Percentage of participants with clonal evolution. Defined as mutations in founding clone, expansion of subclone(s), and convergent clonal evolution of signaling gene mutations; assessed by chromosomal analysis, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and mutational analysis by next generation sequencing in bone marrow evaluation.
Enrollment up to 3 years
Percentage of platelet transfusion independence
Time Frame: Date of first treatment up to 3 years
The percentage of participants that achieve the conversion from platelet transfusion dependence to transfusion independence (persons who transition from needing regular platelet transfusions to no longer requiring them).
Date of first treatment up to 3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

West Virginia University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Konstantinos Sdrimas, MD, West Virginia University

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.

General Publications

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 (Actual)

July 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 25, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 3, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

April 11, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 23, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 20, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2502109808

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

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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