Ziftomenib for the Treatment of Patients With NPM1 Mutated or KMT2A Rearranged Acute Myeloid Leukemia Not Eligible for Standard Therapy

Frontline Ziftomenib in NPM1-Mutated or KMT2A-Rearranged Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Patients Not Eligible for Intensive Induction or Other Therapy

This phase II trial tests how well ziftomenib works in treating patients with NPM1 mutated or KMT2A rearranged acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are not eligible to receive standard therapy. AML is often due to genetic changes in the cancer cells, including mutations in the NPM1 gene and rearrangements involving the KMT2A gene. These mutations result in activation of the menin pathway. Menin is a type of protein in the body that helps to regulate some of the naturally occurring processes in the body, but can also be involved in some types of cancers. Ziftomenib blocks this menin pathway and may prevent the cancer cells from continuing to grow. Giving ziftomenib may kill more cancer cells in patients with NPM1 mutated or KMT2A rearranged AML that are not eligible to receive standard therapy.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Acute Myeloid Leukemia
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Questionnaire Administration; Procedure: Biospecimen Collection; Procedure: Leukapheresis; Procedure: Multigated Acquisition Scan; Procedure: Bone Marrow Biopsy; Procedure: Bone Marrow Aspiration; Drug: Hydroxyurea; Drug: Cytarabine; Procedure: Echocardiography Test; Drug: Ziftomenib

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To determine the efficacy of ziftomenib in treatment-naïve patients with KMT2A-rearranged (r) and NPM1-mutated (m) AML who are not candidates for standard therapy, with primary endpoint of complete remission (CR) + CR/response with hematologic improvement (CRh), assessed after 6 cycles of treatment using the best response achieved in that time.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine rates of transfusion independence for 8- and 16-week periods. II. To determine response including CR, composite CR (CRc) (CR + CRh + CR with incomplete blood count recovery [CRi] + CR with incomplete platelet recovery [CRp]), proportion of patients achieving CRc with negative measurable residual disease (MRD), overall response rate (ORR) (CRc + partial response [PR] + morphologic leukemia free state [MLFS]).

III. To determine duration of response (DOR). IV. To determine overall survival (OS), and event free survival (EFS) at 24 months.

V. To evaluate if ziftomenib treatment improves quality of life using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-29+2 version (v) 2.1 questionnaire.

VI. To assess safety in this patient population by determining the number of patients experiencing adverse events/serious adverse events.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:

I. To assess efficacy in patients with mutations thought to be sensitive to menin inhibition, other than KMT2A rearrangements and NPM1 mutations.

II. To perform measurable residual disease (MRD) monitoring via liquid biopsy to monitor clonal dynamics during treatment.

III. To assess the clonal, biochemical and differentiation changes in AML cells during treatment with menin inhibition using flow cytometry, cytogenetics and serial next generation sequencing on bone marrow specimens before and during treatment to assess for potential resistance mutations or clonal evolution that may be predictors of relapse.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive ziftomenib orally (PO) once daily (QD) on days 1-28 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 28 days for up to 24 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients may also undergo cytoreduction therapy with hydroxyurea up to end of cycle 1, cytarabine within 7 days of starting treatment, or leukapheresis within 7 days of treatment to reduce white blood cell count to =< 10,000/uL. Additionally, patients undergo echocardiography (ECHO) or multigated acquisition scan (MUGA) at screening and bone marrow biopsy and/or aspiration and blood sample collection throughout the study.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 6 months for up to 24 months.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 70
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center; Phone Number: 800-293-5066; Email: OSUCCCclinicaltrials@osumc.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
      • Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
      • Contact: Uma M. Borate, MBBS, MD, MSc; Phone Number: 614-685-9828; Email: Uma.Borate@osumc.edu
      • Principal Investigator: Uma M. Borate, MBBS, MD, MSc

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Signed informed consent must be obtained prior to participation in the study

• Morphologically confirmed diagnosis of the following based on 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) Classification:

  • Treatment-naïve acute myeloid leukemia
  • KMT2A rearrangement (defined as KMT2A translocations) OR NPM1 mutation (defined as NPM1 mutation resulting in cytoplasmic localization, or NPM1c) OR other mutations that have been shown to exhibit sensitivity to menin inhibition. Mutation status will be known from initial diagnosis using standard of care testing, which can be performed locally

• Patients ineligible or unwilling to receive standard of care induction therapy, such as 7+3, hypomethylating agent, venetoclax, or other standard of care (SOC) regimens with ineligibility defined by the following:

  • ≥ 75 years of age with both of the following;

    • Subject must have adequate renal function as demonstrated by a creatinine clearance ≥ 30 mL/min; calculated by the Cockcroft Gault formula or measured by 24-hours urine collection
    • Subject must have adequate liver function as demonstrated by aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 3.0 x upper limit of normal (ULN) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 3.0 x ULN (unless considered due to leukemic organ involvement) OR

  • ≥ 18 to 74 years of age with at least one of the following co-morbidities:

    • Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 2 or 3;
    • Cardiac history of congestive heart failure (CHF) requiring treatment or ejection fraction ≤ 50% or chronic stable angina;
    • Diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) ≤ 65% or forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) ≤ 65%;
    • Creatinine clearance ≥ 30 mL/min to < 45 ml/min;
    • Moderate hepatic impairment with total bilirubin > 1.5 to ≤ 3.0 x ULN;
    • Venous thromboembolism benefitting from prolonged anticoagulation or presence of prosthetic heart valve or any indication for therapeutic anticoagulation with a single agent
    • Prior history of severe infection requiring hospitalization with risk of recurrence with subsequent immunosuppression
    • Any other comorbidity that the physician judges to be incompatible with standard frontline therapy must be reviewed and approved by the study team before study enrollment
• Peripheral white blood cell (WBC) counts ≤ 10,000/uL. Patients may receive hydroxyurea, cytarabine, or leukapheresis to control and maintain white blood cell count until the end of cycle 1
• Women of childbearing potential must be willing to use a highly effective method of contraception throughout the study and for at least 180 days after the last dose of study treatment
• Non-sterile male patients must agree to use a highly effective method of contraception with partner(s) throughout the study and for at least 90 days after the last dose of study treatment

Exclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia
• Diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis
• Clinically active central nervous system (CNS) leukemia
• Prior treatment for AML except for hydroxyurea and/or cytarabine used for control of leukocytosis
• Treatment with concomitant drugs that are strong inhibitors or inducers of cytochrome P450-isozyme 3A4 (CYP3A4) with the exception of antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirals that are used as standard of care or to prevent or treat infections and other such drugs that are considered absolutely essential for the care of the patient
• Detectable viral load for human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis C, or hepatitis B surface antigen indicative of active infection. Patients with controlled disease will not be excluded from study enrollment
• Pre-existing disorder predisposing the patient to a serious or life-threatening infection (e.g. cystic fibrosis, congenital or acquired immunodeficiency, bleeding disorder, or cytopenias not related to AML)
• Active uncontrolled acute or chronic systemic fungal, bacterial, viral, or other infection
• Mean Fridericia's formula-corrected QT interval (QTcF) > 480 ms on triplicate electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Any psychiatric illness that prevents patient from informed consent process
• Women who are pregnant or lactating. All female patients with reproductive potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 72 hours prior to starting treatment
• Participants requiring dual antiplatelet therapy

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 (ziftomenib); Patients receive ziftomenib PO QD on days 1-28 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 28 days for up to 24 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients may also undergo cytoreduction therapy with hydroxyurea up to end of cycle 1, cytarabine within 7 days of starting treatment, or leukapheresis within 7 days of treatment to reduce white blood cell count to =< 10,000/uL. Additionally, patients undergo ECHO or MUGA at screening and bone marrow biopsy and/or aspiration and blood sample collection throughout the study.

Other: Questionnaire Administration; Ancillary studies; Procedure: Biospecimen Collection; Undergo blood sample collection; Other Names: Biological Sample Collection; Biospecimen Collected; Specimen Collection; Procedure: Leukapheresis; Undergo leukapheresis; Other Names: Leukocytopheresis; Therapeutic Leukopheresis; Leukocyte Adsorptive Apheresis; White Blood Cell Reduction Apheresis; Procedure: Multigated Acquisition Scan; Undergo MUGA; Other Names: Blood Pool Scan; Equilibrium Radionuclide Angiography; Gated Blood Pool Imaging; MUGA; Radionuclide Ventriculography; RNVG; SYMA Scanning; Synchronized Multigated Acquisition Scanning; MUGA Scan; Multi-Gated Acquisition Scan; Radionuclide Ventriculogram Scan; Gated Heart Pool Scan; RNV Scan; Procedure: Bone Marrow Biopsy; Undergo bone marrow biopsy and/or aspiration; Other Names: Biopsy of Bone Marrow; Biopsy, Bone Marrow; Procedure: Bone Marrow Aspiration; Undergo bone marrow biopsy and/or aspiration; Drug: Hydroxyurea; Given hydroxyurea; Other Names: Hydrea; Hydroxycarbamide; Droxia; Litalir; Onco-Carbide; Oncocarbide; Oxeron; SQ 1089; SQ-1089; Syrea; WR 83799; Drug: Cytarabine; Given cytarabine; Other Names: .beta.-Cytosine arabinoside; 1-.beta.-D-Arabinofuranosyl-4-amino-2(1H)pyrimidinone; 1-.beta.-D-Arabinofuranosylcytosine; 1-Beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-4-amino-2(1H)pyrimidinone; 1-Beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine; 1.beta.-D-Arabinofuranosylcytosine; 2(1H)-Pyrimidinone, 4-Amino-1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-; 2(1H)-Pyrimidinone, 4-amino-1.beta.-D-arabinofuranosyl-; Alexan; Ara-C; ARA-cell; Arabine; Arabinofuranosylcytosine; Arabinosylcytosine; Aracytidine; Aracytin; Aracytine; Beta-Cytosine Arabinoside; CHX-3311; Cytarabinum; Cytarbel; Cytosar; Cytosine Arabinoside; Cytosine-.beta.-arabinoside; Cytosine-beta-arabinoside; Erpalfa; Starasid; Tarabine PFS; U 19920; U-19920; Udicil; WR-28453; Procedure: Echocardiography Test; Undergo ECHO; Other Names: Echocardiography; EC; Drug: Ziftomenib; Given PO; Other Names: KO-539; KO 539; KO539; Menin-KMT2A Inhibitor KO 539; Menin-Mixed Lineage Leukemia Protein-Protein Interaction Inhibitor KO 539; Menin-MLL Inhibitor KO-539; Menin-MLL Interaction Inhibitor KO 539

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Complete remission (CR) plus CR/response with hematologic improvement	Will be assessed after 6 cycles of treatment using the best response achieved in that time. Will be calculated in each arm for the efficacy analysis population and reported along with two-sided 95% exact binomial confidence limits, in a modified intent-to-treat analysis.	After 6 cycles of treatment (cycle length = 28 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rate of transfusion independence	Transfusion independence is defined as the proportion of subjects without transfusions during any consecutive 8 weeks (56 days) starting from Study Day 1 and has correlated with palliative benefits in patients with AML [19]. The major criteria for judging response will include physical examination and laboratory evaluation.	Up to 24 months
CR rate	Will also be calculated in the primary efficacy analysis cohort along with 95% exact binomial confidence intervals.	Up to 24 months
Composite CR (CRc) rate	Will also be calculated in the primary efficacy analysis cohort along with 95% exact binomial confidence intervals.	Up to 24 months
CRc with negative measurable residual disease	Will also be calculated in the primary efficacy analysis cohort along with 95% exact binomial confidence intervals.	Up to 24 months
Overall response rate	Will also be calculated in the primary efficacy analysis cohort along with 95% exact binomial confidence intervals.	Up to 24 months
Duration of response	Will be estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier and calculated in the primary efficacy analysis.	From the date first achieved response to the date of progression or relapse or death, whichever occurs first, assessed up to 24 months
Overall survival	Will be estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier and calculated in the primary efficacy analysis.	From date of treatment start to death due to all causes, assessed up to 24 months
Event free survival	Will be estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier and calculated in the primary efficacy analysis.	From initiation of study treatment to the date of confirmed progressive disease, confirmed morphological relapse, treatment failure after 6 cycles of study treatment (cycle length = 28 days) or death from any cause, assessed up to 24 months
Changes in quality of life	Will be measured using Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) 29 +2 version (v) 2.1 and Patient Reported Outcomes (PRO) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). The raw sum will be calculated and converted to the standardized T score. Descriptive statistics will be used to present the PROMIS and PRO-CTCAE scores at each time point, and we will also use graphical display to visualize the change in quality of life over time. Wilcoxon signed rank test will be used to test if the change over time is statistically significant. To further quantify the change over time, linear mixed model will be fit for PROMIS score and PRO-CTCAE score, and if the sample size allows, the model will control for important clinical covariates as well.	Day 1 of each cycle up to completion of treatment (cycle length = 28 days)
Incidence of adverse events (AEs)	AEs will be graded according to CTCAE v 5.0. The toxicity data captured will include type, frequency, grade, severity, timing of onset, duration, and relationship to study drug. Frequency tables will be used to summarize the AE data, where the number of patients with different types of AE will be tabulated by toxicity grade, counting only the highest grade of a certain type of AE occurred to the same patient. All adverse events regardless of attribution as well as those treatment-related AEs will be summarized.	Up to 30 days after last dose of study treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Uma Borate
• Collaborators: Kura Oncology, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Uma M Borate, MBBS, MD, MSc, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• The Jamesline

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): April 10, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 9, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 9, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 16, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 13, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 11, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Hematologic Diseases; Leukemia, Myeloid; Leukemia; Hemic and Lymphatic Diseases; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute; Organic Chemicals; Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds; Investigative Techniques; Therapeutics; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis; Surgical Procedures, Operative; Cytological Techniques; Nucleic Acids, Nucleotides, and Nucleosides; Cytodiagnosis; Amides; Cytidine; Pyrimidine Nucleosides; Pyrimidines; Diagnostic Techniques, Surgical; Nucleosides; Arabinonucleosides; Biological Therapy; Cytapheresis; Blood Component Removal; Leukocyte Reduction Procedures; Cell Separation; Urea; Cytarabine; Hydroxyurea; Biopsy; Specimen Handling; Leukapheresis
• Other Study ID Numbers: OSU-24309; NCI-2025-02414 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program))

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